Premier Comp Solutions, LLC v. UPMC, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). Under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, amendments to pleadings are liberally granted. But when a Scheduling Order sets a deadline for amending pleadings, Rule 16(b)(4) requires “good cause” for an amendment. In this case, plaintiff sought to add a defendant after an amendment deadline had passed (and after that deadline had been extended once). Plaintiff’s motion relied only on Rule 15’s “liberally granted” standard. When the UPMC defendants opposed the motion and called...

McGory v. SLS Landscaping, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Vernoia pulled no punches in this opinion for the Appellate Division today. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Vernoia concluded that a Judge of Workers Compensation had denied due process to the injured claimant in multiple ways. The claimant alleged that he had fractured his foot when he jumped from a loft while working at respondent’s premises. Respondent claimed that the injury occurred when the claimant jumped off a ladder at his home, not while at work for respondent. The claimant refused medical treatment...

Last week, the Appellate Division issued four published opinions on a single day, as discussed here. Today, the court released three published decisions. Here are summaries of those opinions: New Jersey Div. of Child Protection & Permanency v. B.H., 460 N.J. Super. 212 (App. Div. 2019). This was an abuse and neglect appeal under Title 9. B.H. was the boyfriend of H.S. He was accused of abusing or neglecting H.S.’s daughter, M.S. Title 9 defines “abused or neglected child” as one who is impaired, or in danger of impairment, due to the failure of his or her “parent...