The Plastic Surgery Center, PA v. Malouf Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019).  This opinion today by Judge Fisher was so legal issue-intensive that he found that the factual “details of these cases need not clutter [his] opinion.”  In short, these consolidated cases involved the effect on a statute of limitations of a 2012 amendment to N.J.S.A. 34:15-15. read more

Skuse v. Pfizer, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019).  Sometimes, the first sentence of a judicial opinion tells you all you need to know about the result, even if the full opinion is 35 pages long.  That was so of Judge Sabatino’s opinion today in this case.  The first sentence read “This case exemplifies an inadequate way for an employer to go about extracting its employees’ agreement to submit to binding arbitration for future claims and thereby waive their rights to sue the employer and seek a jury trial.” read more

The guest speaker at last night’s meeting of the NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee was Judge Vernoia.  He offered some of his thoughts and insights about appellate practice and answered questions from Committee members.  It was a very valuable presentation.  Here is some of what he had to say. read more

O’Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority, ___ N.J. ___ (2019).  Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 et seq. (“TCA”), a person who wishes to file a tort lawsuit against a public entity must file a notice of claim within 90 days “after the accrual of the cause of action.”  The TCA creates an exception to that requirement, however, for “extraordinary circumstances.”  N.J.S.A. 59:9-9.  Today, in a 6-0 opinion written by Justice Solomon, the Supreme Court found that the exception applied to the facts of this matter. read more

On this date in 1954, the Supreme Court decided In re Plainfield-Union Water Co., 14 N.J. 296 (1954).  Along with Handlon v. Town of Belleville, 4 N.J. 99 (1950), discussed here, Plainfield-Union is one of the foundation stones of administrative law principles in New Jersey.  That opinion, like Handlon, was written by Justice Heher. read more

Kernahan v. Home Warranty Administrator of Florida, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2019).  When the Supreme Court grants review based on a particular issue raised by the petitioner, but the petitioner subsequently abandons that issue, the Court has at least three options.  First, the Court can vacate its grant of certification, a path justified by the Court’s need to devote its time to more worthy cases.  Second, the Court can address the issue anyway, since the Court has already expended resources on the case and the issue.  Today’s opinion by Justice LaVecchia took a third course: the Court declined to address the issue on which it granted certification (and which amici continued to press even though the petitioners no longer did), but ruled on the remainder of the case. read more

Finkleman v. National Football League, ___ N.J. ___ (2019).  This opinion by Justice Patterson today answers certified questions posed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals arising out of a putative consumer class action.   The questions involve N.J.S.A. 56:8-35.1 of the Ticket Resale Law, which was in force in 2014 but was repealed in 2018, effective as of February 1, 2019.  That statute states that “[i]t shall be an unlawful practice for a person, who has access to tickets to an event prior to the tickets’ release for sale to the general public, to withhold those tickets from sale to the general public in an amount exceeding 5% of all available seating for the event.” read more

In re Expungement of Arrest-Charge Records of T.B., ___ N.J. ___ (2019).  Today, the Supreme Court issued its first opinion of 2019, a unanimous ruling by Chief Justice Rabner.  The matter involved three consolidated cases.  The defendants in those cases pled guilty to third-degree offenses, went into the Drug Court program, and successfully graduated from that program.  They each then applied to expunge their entire records under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14(m), the 2016 Drug Court expungement statute. read more