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

A Diverse Diet of New Cases for the Supreme Court

In making up for lost time, a separate post was warranted to take note of three new grants of review by the Supreme Court. The cases address very different areas...

Undoing "Subtle Misinterpretations of … Longstanding Jurisprudence" Regarding Preliminary Injunctions in the Third Circuit

Reilly v. City of Harrisburg, 858 F.3d 173 (3d Cir. 2017). This case involved claims by plaintiffs that an ordinance of the City of Harrisburg unconstitutionally deprived them of the...

Three More Grants of Certification by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced late yesterday that it has granted certification in three more cases. In the first matter, Serico v. Rothberg, the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme...

"The Record on Appeal" at the NJSBA Annual Meeting

Today's seminar, which was sponsored by the NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee, took up the important topic of the record on appeal. Judge Messano, who headed up the panel, began by...

A Guardian of a Child Who Did Not Intervene to Stop Severe Corporal Punishment by the Child's Mother is Guilty of Abuse and Neglect

New Jersey Division of Child Permanency & Protection v. J.L.G., 450 N.J. Super. 113 (App. Div. 2015), aff'd o.b., 229 N.J. 113 (2017). This abuse and neglect case resulted in...

An Anniversary in Supreme Court Certified Questions

In recent years, acceptance by the Supreme Court of questions certified to it by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals under Rule 2:12A has become somewhat more frequent, though still...

Four New Supreme Court Grants of Review: Criminal Law, OPRA, and Self-Critical Analysis Privilege

The Supreme Court announced this morning that it has granted review in four more cases. Two of them address discovery issues, and two involve criminal matters. In Brugaletta v. Garcia,...

A Violation of a Regulation Can be "Knowing" Even if There is No Judicial Decision Saying So at the Time of the Conduct at Issue

Allstate Ins. Co. v. Northfield Medical Center, P.C., 228 N.J. 596 (2017). After a bench trial, defendants were found to have violated the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 to...

A Criminal Justice Reform Act Case for the Supreme Court in September

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in State v. Newman. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's Office, is "Did the trial court...

Judge Fisher and a "Leviathan of a Case"

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited v. SAC Capital Management, LLC, 450 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2017). Judge Fisher often is able to write remarkably concise opinions, as shown (for example) here...

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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....