Pleading Standards in Putative Class Actions in New Jersey State Courts

Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this matter]. In this case, the Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal, for failure to state a claim, ...

“Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer”- Appellate Division Summer Parts

The Appellate Division’s schedule of summer Parts has been published. It is available here. This year, the “summer” period runs from June 21 through September 12, divided into six two-week sessions. Most sessions will see two two-judge Parts on duty, ...

Pre-Marital Agreements, Mid-Marital Agreements, Property Settlement Agreements, and (Today’s Case) Agreements in the Nature of a Mid-Marital Agreement

Steele v. McDonnell Steele, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Enright’s decision for the Appellate Division in this case today involved an appeal of the Family Part’s enforcement of a martial agreement (“MA”) between the plaintiff husband and ...

A Monumental Opinion by Judge Accurso in a “Title Raider” Case

Phoenix Pinelands Corp. v. Davidoff, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Today’s opinion by Judge Accurso in this case clocked in at 175 pages. It is the longest opinion of the current Term and may be the longest opinion ...

Virtual Grand Juries During the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Constitutional

State v. Vega-Larregui, 246 N.J. 94 (2021). The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that virtual grand juries, a step occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, are constitutional. The Court’s opinion, written by Justice Albin, rejected defense claims that the procedure violated ...

A Huge “Asbestos in Talc” Jury Verdict is Reversed on Appeal

Lanzo v. Cypress Amax Minerals Co., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This appeal arose out of plaintiffs’ claim that plaintiff Steven Lanzo III had contracted mesothelioma from his long-term use of Johnson Baby Powder and Johnson & Johnson’s ...

A Defamation Law Anniversary

On this date in 1982, the Supreme Court decided Kotlikoff v. Community News, 89 N.J. 62 (1982). Justice Clifford’s opinion for a unanimous Court stated that the case “addresses an aspect of the constitutional protection accorded expression of opinion about ...

A Summary Reversal in an Election Case

Board of Education of East Newark v. Harris, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Rule 2:8-3(b) allows the Appellate Division to decide appeals summarily without notice to the parties. Though that relief is often sought, it is not often ...

Provision of Car Dealer’s Insurance Policy That Did Not Cover Loaner Car Driver Because She Had Her Own Minimum Required Insurance Was an Illegal Escape Clause

Huggins v. Aquilar, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Rarely does a dissenting opinion in one case form the basis for a majority opinion (in fact, a unanimous opinion) in a subsequent decision by the same court. But that is essentially what ...

A “Miranda Warnings” Case and a “New Business Rule” Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new cases. One of them implicates the warnings required under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). The other addresses the continued validity of the so-called “new business rule” ...