NJ Appellate Law Blog

The Standard of Review of Administrative Agency Decisions

Oceanside Charter School v. New Jersey Dep't of Education, 418 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2011). On the merits, this decision, written by Judge Carchman, stands for a simple proposition: a...

Broad Powers of an Arbitrator

Manger v. Manger, 417 N.J. Super. 370 (App. Div. 2010). The parties in this matrimonial action settled some of their differences before a judge shortly before a scheduled trial. They then agreed...

Cy Pres Payment of Unclaimed Funds in Class Actions

In re Pet Food Products Liability Litigation, 629 F.3d 333 (3d Cir. 2010). This lengthy opinion affirms the certification of a settlement class but reverses the approval of the settlement in one...

Marioni v. Roxy Garments Delivery Co., Inc., 417 N.J. Super. 269 (App. Div. 2010). In this opinion by Judge Fisher, a former Monmouth County Chancery judge, the Appellate Division discusses the broad...

Third Circuit Explains Twombly Pleading Standard

West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. v. UPMC, 627 F.3d 85 (3d Cir. 2010). The standards for a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under New Jersey's Rule 4:6-2(e) make...

Abuse of Discretion Standard

Lucante v. Lucante, 2010 WL 4570211 (App. Div. Nov. 15, 2010). This opinion contains a lengthy discussion of the concept of abuse of discretion. There are a number of useful...

Shortcut Blocked

Washington Commons, LLC v. City of Jersey City, 416 N.J. Super. 555 (App. Div. 2010). Where two prior lawsuits between the parties were already finally concluded, and no case was...

Dehydrated Peaches

In re R.B., 2010 WL 4340645 (App. Div. Nov. 4, 2010). This opinion quotes a nice turn of phrase regarding the limitations on an appellate court's review of credibility issues:...

Sometimes an Agency is Wrong

n re Hearn, 417 N.J. Super. 289 (App. Div. 2010). In this published opinion by Judge Ashrafi, the Appellate Division recognized that it gives deference to an agency's view of its own...

Supreme Court to Review "Law of the Case" Decision

When may one Appellate Division panel overturn a decision of another panel in a prior interlocutory appeal in the same case? That is the question in Lombardi v. Masso, in...

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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."...

Standards of review