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

"To Each His Own": The Affidavit of Merit Statute Requires an Affidavit From a "Like-Licensed" Professional

Hill International, Inc. v. Atlantic City Bd. of Educ., 438 N.J. Super. 562 (App. Div. 2014). The Affidavit of Merit statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-26 to -29, requires that a plaintiff in...

Is the Supreme Court Fed Up With COAH?

When last we left the saga of the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH") and its "third round rules" for the calculation of municipal obligations for low and moderate-income housing, the...

A "Bright-Line Directive": Post-Verdict, Ex Parte Communications Between a Judge and Jury Are Always Forbidden

Davis v. Husain, 220 N.J. 270 (2014). "Post-verdict ex parte communication between the trial court and jurors cannot be countenanced." That is the holding of today's opinion, for a unanimous Supreme...

With Ironies Abounding, the United States Supreme Court Rules on Removal Under CAFA

Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, ___ U.S. ___ (2014). This case reached a fairly simple conclusion: a notice of removal that removes to federal court a putative...

The First Opinion by Justice Solomon

State v. Jaffe, 220 N.J. 114 (2014). As discussed here, the first opinion written by a new Justice is generally a unanimous decision in a relatively unexceptional case. Today, Justice Solomon, a...

The Rent Control Trilogy

On this date thirty-nine years ago, the Supreme Court decided three seminal rent conrol cases, which have come to be known as the "rent control trilogy." Troy Hills Village v....

"Brown" Wins a Tax Penalty Appeal in the Supreme Court

United Parcel Service Gen. Servs. Co. v. Director, Div. of Taxation, 220 N.J. 90 (2014). This per curiam decision of the Supreme Court today affirmed an Appellate Division decision, written by Judge...

Co-Op Owner Has Free Speech Right to Leaflet as Part of Campaign for Co-Op Board Seat

Dublirer v. 2000 Linwood Avenue Owners, Inc., 220 N.J. 71 (2014). In State v. Schmid, 84 N.J. 585 (1980), and New Jersey Coalition Against War in the Middle East v....

Penalizing "A Want of Clairvoyance"

Joseph v. United States, ___ U.S. ___ (2014). Most if not all appellate courts have a rule that issues not raised in an opening brief cannot be raised in subsequent...

Justice Robert L. Clifford (1924-2014)

Justice Robert L. Clifford died on Saturday, November 29. He was 89 years old. Justice Clifford served on the Supreme Court for twenty one years, from 1973 to 1994. During...

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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."...

Supreme Court to Take Up Two Published Appellate Division Opinions

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

South Seaside Park Can Detach Itself From Berkeley Township

Whiteman v. Township Council of Berkeley Township, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). South Seaside Park is a small (490 year-round residents) barrier island community that has been annexed to the Township of Berkeley ("the Township"). South Seaside Park sought to deannex itself from the Township and to be annexed instead to the Borough of Seaside Park. South Seaside Park followed a statutory petitioning procedure in doing so. The Township refused consent. South Seaside Park went to court and won a ruling from the Law Division that rejected the Township's refusal. The Appellate Division affirmed. Yesterday, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson, the Supreme Court affirmed as well....

Megan's Law "Not Likely to Pose a Threat to the Safety of Others" Extends to Non-Sexual as Well as Sexual Re-Offenses

In re Registrant S.O., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). This appeal presented a pure legal issue relating to the "public safety prongs" contained in the termination provisions of Megan's Law, N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(f), and the Community Supervision for Life statute ("CSL"), N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4(c). Judge Vanek crystallized that "novel" issue as "whether, on a registrant's application to terminate Megan's Law and CSL obligations, the phrase ‘not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others' should be broadly interpreted with the trial court considering threats to safety from subsequent non-sexual and sexual offenses or whether the inquiry should be limited to the threat of sexual re-offense only." The panel held that the broader view was the correct one....