Zahl v. Eastland, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). [Disclosure: I have represented the defendants in this matter.] Judge Messano’s opinion for the Appellate Division in this case today is the second time that this case came before the Appellate Division. As discussed here, the prior opinion reversed a seven-figure default judgment against defendants, a Mississippi attorney and his law firm, and remanded the case for further proceedings, including as to whether New Jersey state courts had personal jurisdiction over any of the defendants. Today’s opinion addresses an important...

Premier Comp Solutions, LLC v. UPMC, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). Under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, amendments to pleadings are liberally granted. But when a Scheduling Order sets a deadline for amending pleadings, Rule 16(b)(4) requires “good cause” for an amendment. In this case, plaintiff sought to add a defendant after an amendment deadline had passed (and after that deadline had been extended once). Plaintiff’s motion relied only on Rule 15’s “liberally granted” standard. When the UPMC defendants opposed the motion and called...

Repko v. Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Accurso’s brief opinion in this case today addressed a “question [that] appears to be one of first impression in New Jersey”: whether a decedent’s estate can apply Rule 4:9-3, the “relation back” rule, to a complaint that was not filed until after the plaintiff in the case had already died. The answer was “no.” Judge Accurso rightly observed that “the timeline is everything in this case,” so here it is. In September 2016, Carolyn Repko...