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

Where a Party Denies Agreeing to Arbitration, a Court, Not an Arbitrator, Must Decide Threshold Issues of the Validity of the Agreement

Knight v. Vivint Solar Developer, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). In Goffe v. Foulke Mangagement Corp., 238 N.J. 191 (2019), the Supreme Court ruled that threshold issues...

Two Accelerated Appeals, and Two Others, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new cases. In two of them, the Court set accelerated schedules. The first of those, which involves five consolidated...

Should Res Ipsa Loquitur be Modified? The Appellate Division Says No, Absent a "Signal" From the Supreme Court

Pannucci v. Edgewood Park Senior Housing- Phase 1, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). As Judge Ostrer explained in his opinion for the Appellate Division today, the "settled...

The Third Circuit Shoots Down the Trump Campaign's Attack on the Pennsylvania Vote

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ___ Fed. Appx. ___ (3d Cir. 2020). This blog does not often cover non-precedential decisions of appellate courts. But...

Selection of Marijuana Alternative Treatment Center Operators Must Go Back to the Drawing Board

In re Medical Marijuana Alt. Treatment Ctrs. for Pangea Health & Wellness, LLC, 465 N.J. Super. 343 (App. Div. 2020). On this relatively quiet day before Thanksgiving, the Appellate Division...

Conservation Easements: An Anniversary

On this date in 1986, the Supreme Court decided Ridgewood v. Bolder Foundation, 104 N.J. 337 (1986). The issue there was "whether a taxpayer may reduce, for real estate tax...

Headed for the Supreme Court: Do Auction Sales Contracts Require a Three-Day Attorney Review Provision?

Sullivan v. Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., 465 N.J. Super. 243 (App. Div. 2020). As Judge Firko stated in the first sentence of her opinion in this case,...

The Supreme Court Takes Up Two More Criminal Cases

The courts are closed today for Veterans Day, so it is an opportunity to catch up on two grants of certification that the Supreme Court issued last week. Both involve...

Dog Bite, OPRA, "Ministerial Act," and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new appeals. As is often the case, the nature of those matters is very varied. In Goldhagen v. Pasmowitz,...

The Senate Grants Justice Fernandez-Vina Tenure

As expected, and deserved, the Senate voted yesterday to grant tenure to Justice Fernandez-Vina. The vote was 34-0. This extends the Justice's service on the Court into February 2022, when...

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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....