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 first published Appellate Division of the new Term. It arose from unusual circumstances. Plaintiff owned a commercial building in which the United States General Services Administration (“GSA”) was a tenant. “For no apparent reason,” a sprinkler head in the building discharged water, in such amounts that that floor and the one below were damaged. Due to that occurrence, the GSA terminated its...

Grillo v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). In 2011, legislation (“Chapter 78”) changed the way that State Health Benefits Plan (“SHBP”) benefits were provided to public employees participating in that program. Chapter 78 required that employees contribute to the cost of that plan based on their “base salary.” Plaintiffs, who are Trenton police officers who were injured at work and were receiving temporary disability benefits through workers’ compensation, brought this case seeking a declaratory judgment that their...

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 was a case involving murder and other charges. Defendant was found guilty. After a lengthy procedural history, the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to grant post-conviction relief and vacate the conviction. The grounds were that defendant’s counsel rendered constitutionally deficient representation, and that, but for the deficient representation, there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome at...