In re Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2019). This appeal had an unusual subject: whether certain documents that defendant GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) had designated as confidential in the District Court, pursuant to a protective order, but which were filed in connection with summary judgment proceedings, could go into the joint appellate appendix on plaintiffs’ appeal of that summary judgment ruling. GSK sought to keep the documents confidential on appeal. Plaintiffs disagreed, but the District Court largely sided with...

In the last several weeks, this blog has largely focused on Supreme Court decisions and grants of review. That was not meant to slight the Appellate Division, whose judges have made some important rulings as well. Here are summaries of some of the most significant published rulings of the Appellate Division during that period: Sosa v. Massachusetts Bay Ins. Co., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). In an opinion by Judge Ostrer that focused on the language and effect of a water damage exclusion in the subject homeowner’s insurance policy, the Appellate Division reversed a summary...

Feuer v. Merck & Co., Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2019). As discussed here, the Appellate Division, in an opinion by Judge Ostrer that was reported at 455 N.J. Super. 69 (App. Div. 2019), affirmed (after de novo review of the legal issues involved) a ruling of the Chancery Division that had ruled against plaintiff, a Merck shareholder, in his demand to review various Merck documents. Plaintiff had invoked both N.J.S.A. 14A:5-28 and the common law. Today, in a 6-0 vote, the Supreme Court affirmed based on Judge Ostrer’s opinion. In essence, the Appellate Division concluded that...