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

The Crystal Ball: Third Circuit Predictions as to State Law

In re Makowka, 754 F.3d 143 (3d Cir. 2014). This opinion by Judge Hardiman, involving as it does an issue of Pennsylvania law with bankruptcy implications, likely would ordinarily be of...

Unemployment Benefits for Employee Fired Due to Refusal, for Secular Reasons, to be Vaccinated Against the Flu

Valent v. Board of Review, 436 N.J. Super. 41 (App. Div. 2014). June Valent is a registered nurse who worked at Hackettstown Community Hospital. In order to minimize the incidence of...

The New Jersey Civil Rights Act and the Comma Conundrum

Perez v. Zagami, LLC, 218 N.J. 202 (2014), and Cottrell v. Zagami, LLC, 218 N.J. 217 (2014). In these two cases, the Supreme Court addressed the question of whether the...

Noisy Neighbors as a Nuisance

Traetto v. Palazzo, 436 N.J. Super. 6 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiff sought to enjoin defendants, her next-door neighbors, from allowing their son to play the drums in defendants' detached garage....

Jurisdiction Over "High-Low" Agreements

Bryan v. Erie County Office of Children & Youth, 752 F.3d 316 (3d Cir. 2014). A "high-low agreement" is one in which parties agree that, regardless of the outcome of...

Recall of Post-Age 70 Retired Superior Court Judges is Constitutional

State v. Buckner, 437 N.J. Super. 8 (App. Div. 2014). The issue of whether mandatory retirement of judges at age 70 is constitutional was discussed here. (As an aside, the Supreme Court ....

Attorneys' Fees in Patent Cases

Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., ___ U.S. ___ (2014), and Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Mgmt. System, Inc., ___ U.S. ___ (2014). New Jersey is a...

A Two-fer: Contribution, and the Statute of Repose

Cherilus v. Federal Express, 435 N.J. Super. 172 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiff Joseph Cherilus was injured while working on a Federal Express loading dock. A "cargo lift" was the cause...

Commissioner of Education Validly Approved Charter Schools That Include Online Instruction

In re Grant of Charters to Merit Preparatory Charter School and Newark Preparatory Charter School, 435 N.J. Super. 273 (App. Div. 2014). Charter schools are the subject of much controversy....

"Poor Planning" by Impoverished Parent Does Not Constitute Abuse or Neglect of Children

New Jersey Div. of Child Protection & Permanency v. L.W., 435 N.J. Super. 189 (App. Div. 2014). Impoverishment does not equal child neglect. That is the conclusion of this opinion...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 636465 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83…Last

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)....