Balducci v. Cige, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  This opinion by Judge Nugent today affirmed a trial level decision, after a plenary hearing, that voided a retainer agreement between the defendant attorney and the plaintiff client for defendant to bring suit under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq. (“LAD”).  Such cases are normally handled on a contingency, but the agreement at issue here went well beyond that.  Every attorney, even those who do not handle LAD or other contingent matters, can learn from this opinion, which tackles ethical...

On this date in 1990, the Supreme Court decided Nolan v. Lee Ho, 120 N.J. 465 (1990).  According to Westlaw, that case has been cited over 1,100 times.  Generally, those citations invoke legal rules relating to settlement of litigation, such as “A settlement agreement between parties to a lawsuit is a contract,” “Settlement of litigation ranks high in our public policy,” and “In general, settlement agreements will be honored absent a demonstration of fraud or other compelling circumstances.” Less well known than principles such as those is the fact that...

Little v. Kia Motors America, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  Class actions notoriously take a long time.  But the case in which Judge Koblitz issued a decision for her Appellate Division panel today is nearly old enough to vote.  As her opinion recited, plaintiffs, who are owners or lessees of Kia Sephia model year 1997-2000 vehicles with allegedly defective brakes, began in 2001. In August 2003, plaintiffs obtained class certification.  Contrary to the notion that defendants simply settle once a class is certified, the case continued, and a classwide jury trial occurred in...