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

Published Opinions From New Jersey's Appellate Courts This Week

Catching up with our appellate courts, here are summaries of the three published opinions (two by the Supreme Court and one by the Appellate Division, in addition to the COVID...

An Unsurprising Grant of Review by the Supreme Court

As discussed here, earlier this year, the Appellate Division affirmed in part and reversed in part the Law Division's dismissal of a case that challenged an ordinance of the City...

Four New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new matters. Two of the cases are civil appeals and two are criminal matters. In East Bay Drywall, LLC...

City of Newark May Impose, and Need Not Negotiate Over, a COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for City Employees

In re City of Newark and Newark Police Superior Officers Ass'n, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC, represents the City...

This Week in the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court issued its first three opinions of the new Term this week. Here are summaries of those rulings: Bozzi v. City of Jersey City, ___ N.J. ___ (2021)....

The First Grants of Supreme Court Review of the New Term

The Supreme Court announced its first group of new cases for this Term. Of the three cases, each came to the Court by a different route. A-1-21, State v. Ramirez,...

An Adverse Inference Arising From Spoliation Cannot Arise in Order to Allow a Party to Prove a Claim Against a Non-Party to the Case

27-35 Jackson Avenue, LLC v. Samsung Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Ltd., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This opinion, issued today and authored by Judge Messano, is the...

The Next Several Weeks

This year, the fall Jewish holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot) all land on weekdays. As a result of that and certain other things, posts on this blog will...

Judge Jane Grall (1949-2021)

Judge Jane Grall died on August 20 at age 72. A graduate of Trinity College in Washington, DC, she taught social studies in Cranford for six years before attending Rutgers...

Catching Up Again, With the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division

After this post about the Supreme Court's busy August, that Court decided two more cases. Both were criminal appeals. Here are summaries: State v. Hannah, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This...

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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....