NJ Appellate Law Blog – NJ Appellate Lawyer Bruce D. Greenberg blogs about Appeals and Appellate Law Practice

Two New Supreme Court Grants of Review

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new appeals. One matter is before the Court on leave to appeal, while the Court granted certification in the...

The Wage Payment Law Does Not Override An Independent Contractor Agreement Between A Real Estate Salesperson And A Broker For Whom The Salesperson Works

Kennedy v. Weichert Co., 257 N.J. 290 (2024). As discussed here, this putative class action case addressed whether written agreements under which plaintiff, a licensed real estate salesperson, entered in...

Non-Disparagement Provision in Law Against Discrimination Settlement Agreement Violates Public Policy

Savage v. Township of Neptune, 257 N.J. 204 (2024). N.J.S.A. 10:5-12.8(a) ("section 12.8") is a provision of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("LAD"). Enacted in 2019 during the "#MeToo"...

The Supreme Court Voids, As Overbroad, A Regulation to the Extent That It Requires State Harassment or Discrimination Investigators to "Request" That Interviewees "Not Discuss Any Aspect of the Invest

Usachenok v. State of New Jersey, Department of the Treasury, 257 N.J. 184 (2024). N.J.A.C. 4A:7-3.1(j) is a regulation intended "to protect the integrity of the investigation [of harassment or...

The Second Half of April

In the second half of April, the Supreme Court issued one published opinion and the Appellate Division delivered four such rulings. Here are summaries: C.R. v. M.T., 248 N.J. 428...

The County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey Is Not a Public Agency Subject to the Open Public Records Act

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey, 257 N.J. 87 (2024). The ACLU of New Jersey sought five categories of records from defendant...

The Supreme Court Reverses in Comprehensive Neurosurgical v. The Valley Hospital

Comprehensive Neurosurgical, P.C. v. The Valley Hospital, 257 N.J. 33 (2024). As discussed here, the question presented to the Supreme Court in this appeal, which was the subject of today's...

Five New Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five new cases. All of them are civil matters. Three of the cases involved published opinions of the Appellate Division...

An Additur Anniversary

On April 1, 1957, the Supreme Court decided Fisch v. Manger, 24 N.J. 66 (1957). The key issue there was whether the practice of additur, under which a trial judge...

The Supreme Court Affirms in the State v. Harrell Confrontation Clause Case

State v. Harrell, 256 N.J. 590 (2024). As discussed here, this case presented the following question for the Supreme Court: "Under the circumstances presented, is the alleged victim's recorded statement...

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Sentencing Counsel's Limited Investigation of Defendant's Citizenship Was Not Constitutionally Ineffective in the Circumstances

State v. Hernandez-Peralta, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Wainer Apter's decision today for a 5-2 Supreme Court majority began by phrasing the issue presented. "In this appeal, we consider whether sentencing counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate defendant's citizenship status beyond asking him if he was a United States citizen and receiving an unequivocal ‘yes,' and therefore not advising him that his plea could make him subject to deportation." The majority found, based on the particular facts, that counsel was not constitutionally ineffective, reversing the two lower courts. Justice Noriega, joined by Justice Fasciale, dissented....

The 2025-26 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner announced the 2025-26 General Assignment Order. It is available here....

New Jersey's Charity Care Program for Hospitals is Not a Per Se Unconstitutional Taking of Property

Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). New Jersey has had a charity care program, in one form or another, for 178 years. As Justice Fasciale summarized the current charity care program in his opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court, under the current program "hospitals cannot turn away a patient for inability to pay, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.64, and patients who qualify for charity care shall not be billed for services rendered, N.J.A.C. 10:52-11.4. Instead, ‘disproportionate share hospitals' (DSHs), or hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of low-income patients, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, receive annual subsidies from the Health Care Subsidy Fund (HCSF) in exchange for providing charity care, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, .58, .58d."...

A Municipal Court Administrator is Employed by the Township, Not the Administrative Office of the Courts

Palmisano v. State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The opening paragraph of Judge Marczyk's opinion for the Appellate Division well encapsulates what the appeal was about and what the result was. "Plaintiff Lindsay Palmisano appeals from the trial court's April 1, 2024 order dismissing her complaint with prejudice against defendant State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts and Municipal Division (AOC) pursuant to Rule 4:6-2(e). The primary issue on appeal is whether plaintiff, a municipal court administrator, is an employee of the AOC, thereby allowing her to assert a claim against the AOC under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49. Based on our review of the record and the applicable legal principles, we conclude plaintiff was employed by Vernon Township (Township), not the AOC, and, therefore, we affirm."...