Wayne Land & Mineral Group, LLC v. Delaware River Basin Comm’n, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). This opinion by Judge Fisher today involved a case in which plaintiff challenged the ability of defendant Delaware River Basin Commission “the Commission”) to regulate fracking. After one intervenor and its leader were permitted to intervene in the case in support of the Commission, three Pennsylvania state Senators sought to intervene in support of plaintiff. After a number of procedural twists and turns, the District Court ultimately denied the Senators the ability to...

New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc. v. Mazda Motors of America, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). In Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm’n, 432 U.S. 333 (1977), the Supreme Court of the United States held that an association can have standing to sue on behalf of its members if (a) its members would have had standing to sue in their own right, (b) the interests it seeks to protect are germane to the organization’s purpose, and (c) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the participation of individual members in the lawsuit. In this case,...

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., 458 N.J. Super. 639 (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...