Certain Underwriters at Lloyds Subscribing to Policy PLH-0013397 v. Public Service Electric and Gas, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). Judge Fisher’s opinion in this appeal today was barely longer than the title and the caption of this case. The issue was whether, “when a defendant’s negligence has caused a homeowner to be displaced … whether [the] homeowner’s damages are limited to the cost of alternate shelter or whether the homeowner may also seek additional damages based on a broader concept of inconvenience.” The case arose out of a winter storm...

T.L. v. Goldberg, ___ N.J. ___ (2019). The issue in this medical malpractice case was whether plaintiff was entitled to a new trial because defendant, without objection by plaintiff, offered trial testimony that was inconsistent with his discovery responses. That issue produced a 2-1 split in the Appellate Division, whose ruling was reported at 453 N.J. Super. 539 (App. Div. 2018). As discussed here, the majority ordered a new trial, finding that the situation here paralleled that of McKenney v. Jersey City Med. Center, 167 N.J. 359 (2001). Judge Currier dissented. In a unanimous decision by...

Paladino v. Auletta Enterprises, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). The work product privilege, or “work product doctrine,” as it is also sometimes labeled, was first recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1947, and by New Jersey in 1948. Judge Gilson’s opinion in this appeal contains a detailed history of the work product privilege, which is now embodied in Rule 4:10-2(c). The specific issue on this slip and fall appeal, however, was whether work performed by an investigator for the company that insured the catering venue at which plaintiff fell...