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...

Bascom Corporation v. Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc., 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1846 (App. Div. Aug. 24, 2021). Periodically, our appellate courts offer lessons in “what not to do” or “how not to behave.” The Appellate Division did just that in this case. The decision itself, a per curiam ruling by a panel consisting of Judges Fuentes and Firko, resulted from a foreclosure action. A final judgment of foreclosure was entered against defendant Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc. (“PCH”). More than nine months after the entry of that judgment, and...