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

The 1,000th Post: A Rare Published Affirmance on the Opinion Below

In re Adoption of Monroe Tp. Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, 442 N.J. Super. 563 (App. Div. 2015). Many intermediate appellate courts frequently issue opinions that affirm on the...

Physician Who Was Retired at the Time of "the Occurrence That is the Basis for the Action" is Not "Statutorily Authorized to Testify" as an Expert in a Medical Malpractice Case

Medina v. Pitta, 442 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2015). The New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-37 to -42 ("PFA"), "established enhanced qualification...

Severance of and Discovery Regarding UIM and Bad Faith Claims

Wacker-Ciocco v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 439 N.J. Super. 603 (App. Div. 2015). In Procopio v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 433 N.J. Super. 377 (App. Div. 2013), discussed here, the...

No Constitutional Right to Have "Ability to Pay" Experts Appointed at Public Expense

Schochet v. Schochet, 435 N.J. Super. 542 (App. Div. 2014). In Pasqua v. Council, 186 N.J. 127 (2006), the Supreme Court ruled that "the appointment of counsel to assist parents...

Applying the Teacher Tenure Act

Platia v. Hamilton Tp. Bd. of Educ., 434 N.J. Super. 382 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiff was employed as a special education teacher for more than three academic years in a...

Condemnation Commissioners' Award Becomes "Nugatory" Upon Appeal and Cannot be Reinstated

State, Comm'r of Transportation v. Shalom Money Street,LLC, 432 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2013). What happens to an award issued by condemnation commissioners for a taking when parties appeal that award...

Arbitrator's Decision That the State Must, Against Its Will, Pay Part of Camden Firefighters' Salaries, is Reversed

In re City of Camden and International Ass'n of Firefighters, Local 788, 429 N.J. Super. 309 (App. Div. 2013). For over ten years, the City of Camden has been in such dire...

Making Concessions at Oral Argument

Today, while I was waiting to argue an appeal in the Appellate Division, an argument before mine illustrated the idea that sometimes it is the right move to concede that...

Where a Shopping Center Lease Requires the Landlord to Maintain the Parking Lot, a Tenant is Normally Not Liable to a Patron Injured in That Lot

Kandrac v. Marrazzo's Market at Robbinsiville, 429 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2012). "[A]s a general rule, when a commercial tenant in a multi-tenant shopping center has no control or contractual obligation...

Firing Alcoholic Employee for Failing Random Alcohol Test Required Only of Alcoholics, Where No Issue of Job Performance was Raised, Could Violate NJLAD

A.D.P. v. ExxonMobil Research & Eng. Co., 428 N.J. Super. 518 (App. Div. 2012). Plaintiff had worked for defendant ("Exxon") for over 29 years. Exxon required her to sign an agreement that...

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The Supreme Court Clarifies New Jersey's Automobile Exception to the Requirement of a Search Warrant

State v. Fenimore, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Both the United States and New Jersey Constitutions protect the people against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and prohibit the issuance of search warrants without "probable cause." Both federal and New Jersey law, however, recognize an "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement. But New Jersey's automobile exception is narrower than the federal exception, as the Supreme Court stated in State v. Witt, 223 N.J. 409 (2015). Today, the Supreme Court ruled that the Appellate Division in this case had interpreted Witt too broadly in reversing a Law Division decision to exclude evidence from a warrantless search. The Supreme Court reversed and excluded the evidence....

"Liberal Standards" for Standing "Are Not Equivalent to No Standards At All," the Supreme Court Says

New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., ___ N.J. ___ (2025). As Justice Pierre-Louis observed in her opinion for a unanimous Court in this case today, New Jersey state courts have long "take[n] a more liberal approach to standing than federal law." But in this appeal, the statute sued upon, the Franchise Practices Act, N.J.S.A. 56:10-1 et seq. ("FPA"), stated that only a "franchisee" could sue its franchisor. Because plaintiff here ("NJCAR") was not a franchisee but an association of franchisees, NJCAR lacked standing to bring a FPA case....

Compassionate Release Act Does Not Require Physical Examination of Inmates Seeking Relief, But Denial of Relief in This Case Was Arbitrary and Capricious

M.R. v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Plaintiff appealed the denial of his petition for release under the Compassionate Release Act, N.J.S.A. 30:4-123.51 ("CRA"). He argued that he had not been physically examined by a physician, and that the statute required a physical examination. The Appellate Division determined that the statute did not require a physical examination and upheld the denial of compassionate release. Today, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Hoffman, the Supreme Court agreed that no physical examination was required, but reversed the denial of compassionate relief as insupportable....

Prosecutor's Prejudicial Comments During Summation Required Vacation of Conviction on Weapons and Criminal Restraint Charges

State v. Kelly, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). Judge Gummer wrote the panel's opinion in this case. The panel reversed defendant's conviction on weapons and criminal restraint charges, based on a set of facts remarkably similar to those in State v. Daniels, 182 N.J. 80 (2004)....