Metro Marketing, LLC v. Nationwide Vehicle Assurance, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). As discussed here, the “sham affidavit doctrine” holds that a party opposing summary judgment cannot claim that an affidavit that contradicts the affiant’s prior sworn evidence, such as deposition testimony, creates a genuine dispute of material fact unless there is a legitimate explanation for the affiant’s changed position. Shelcusky v. Garjulio, 172 N.J. 185 (2002), is the leading New Jersey case regarding the doctrine. This opinion by Judge Sabatino addressed the...

DiFiore v. Pezic, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). This opinion by Judge Sabatino exhaustively explored, in three consolidated cases, the issue of “when, if ever, a plaintiff with alleged cognitive limitations, psychological impairments, or language barriers can be accompanied by a third party to a defense medical examination (“DME”), or require that the examination be video or audio recorded in order to preserve objective evidence of what occurred during the examination.” The court was asked to revisit its opinion in B.D. v. Carley, 307 N.J. Super. 259 (App....

Until yesterday, when the Supreme Court issued this opinion, the Court did issue any decisions in the time following the last post on this blog on April 13. The Appellate Division, on the other hand, pumped out nine published opinions. Here are summaries of some of two of those rulings, with apologies that time did not permit me to address all seven of the other decisions, all of which are significant: Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Co., Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). The question in this opinion by Judge Sabatino was whether the Commissioner of the Department of...