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

Strasenburgh v. Straubmuller

On this date in 1996, the Supreme Court decided Strasenburgh v. Straubmuller, 146 N.J. 527 (1996). Justice O'Hern's opinion for a unanimous Court addressed a number of intricate issues involving...

"Egregious Fault" by Spouse May Bar Any Award of Alimony

Clark v. Clark, 429 N.J. Super. 61 (App. Div. 2012). Generally, "marital fault is irrelevant" to a determination of alimony. However, in Mani v. Mani, 183 N.J. 70 (2005), the Supreme Court recognized...

New Jersey Appellate Law Blog's Second Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of New Jersey Appellate Law blog. The past year has been a busy one. The 225 posts since last October 18 have commented on events ranging from...

A New COAH Abolition Appeal for the Supreme Court

On July 6, 2012, the Supreme Court granted review of In re Plan for the Abolition of the Council on Affordable Housing, 424 N.J. Super. 410 (App. Div. 2012), a...

Girls in Little League

On this date in 1974, with a one-sentence summary affirmance of the Appellate Division, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Little League Baseball, Inc. had to admit girls aged...

The Supreme Court of New Jersey Takes Up an Arbitration Case

The Supreme Court of the United States has been very active in granting review of cases seeking to compel arbitration in various contexts. Now, the Supreme Court of New Jersey...

The Supreme Court Goes Mobile

The Supreme Court of New Jersey announced yesterday that webcasts of archived Supreme Court oral arguments can now be viewed in an MP4 format, on notepads, smart phones, or other...

A Bill of Rights Anniversary

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress proposed twelve amendments to the Constitution. The first two of those amendments, which addressed the number of constitutents for each representative in Congress...

A Milestone Date for Motions for Leave to Appeal

On this date in 1956, the Appellate Division decided Romano v. Maglio, 41 N.J. Super. 561 (App. Div. 1956). For 56 years, that opinion, written by Judge Clapp for himself...

Adverse Ruling by Civil Service Commission Precluded Employee From Bringing CEPA Lawsuit

Winters v. North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue, 212 N.J. 67 (2012). When a public employee who is the subject of a disciplinary proceeding before the Civil Service Commission ("the...

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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....