NJ Appellate Law Blog

Judge Smith Explains the Third Circuit's Standard for Rule 23(f) Appeals of Grants or Denials of Class Certification

Laudato v. EQT Corporation, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2022). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) states that "[a] court of appeals may permit an appeal from an order granting...

Catching up With the Third Circuit

In the recent period, the Third Circuit has published a small number of opinions. Here are summaries of some of those decisions: Mallet and Company Inc. v. Lacayo, ___ F.4th...

The Supreme Court Follows Plain Statutory Language and Limits the "Good Faith Defense" Under the Wage and Hour Law

Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As summarized here, the Appellate Division in this overtime Wage and Hour Law ("WHL") class action case reversed a summary judgment ruling...

The Third Circuit Chips Away at Its Class Action Ascertainability Doctrine

Hargrove v. Sleepy's Inc., 974 F.3d 467 (3d Cir. 2020). Readers of this blog know of my distaste (to say the least) for the Third Circuit's unique interpretation of the...

Challenges to Class Representative's Adequacy and to Predominance of Common Issues Fail to Overturn Class Certification in Antitrust Class Case

In re Suboxone Antitrust Litig., 967 F.3d 264 (3d Cir. 2020). In this antitrust class action case, direct purchasers of Suboxone, a prescription pharmaceutical used to treat addiction to opioids,...

A Lesson About Class Counsel's Attorneys' Fees From Judge Gooden Brown

Seigelstein v. Shrewsbury Motors, Inc., 464 N.J. Super. 393 (App. Div. 2020). When class action cases settle with a benefit to the class, class counsel, who normally handle those cases...

New Jersey Arbitration Act Applies Automatically to Contracts Exempt From Federal Arbitration Act

Arafa v. Health Express Corp., 243 N.J. 147 (2020). Justice Fernandez-Vina's opinion today actually involved two consolidated cases, both of which were putative class actions. The issue was whether a...

As June Ends, Three Opinions From the Supreme Court

Unlike the Supreme Court of the United States, which customarily (though apparently not this year) issues all its opinions for the term by June 30, the Supreme Court of New...

An Assortment of New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five new cases. They include a consumer class action, a parole matter, a criminal appeal, and two insurance-related cases. The...

Retail Installment Sales Act Applies to Health Club Memberships

Sanchez v. Fitness Factory Edgewater, LLC, 242 N.J. 252 (2020). In Mellet v. Aquasid, LLC, 453 N.J. Super. 23 (App. Div. 2017), the Appellate Division ruled that the Retail Installment...

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Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Must Representative Actions Under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law or the Prevailing Wage Act Satisfy Rule 4:32, Which Governs Class Actions?

On Thursday, March 12, the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Martinez v. T. Slack Environmental Services, Inc. The issue on appeal is whether plaintiff's lawsuit, predicated on the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, and the Prevailing Wage Act, must satisfy the criteria of Rule 4:32, the class action rule. The Law Division found that unnecessary....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Must Representative Actions Under the Wage and Hour Law or the Prevailing Wage Act Satisfy Rule 4:32, Which Governs Class Actions?

On Thursday, March 12, the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Martinez v. T. Slack Environmental Services, Inc. The issue is whether plaintiff's lawsuit, predicated on the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, and the Prevailing Wage Act, must satisfy the criteria of Rule 4:32, the class action rule. The Law Division found that unnecessary....

Two Land Use Decisions by the Appellate Division

This week began with two published opinions by the Appellate Division in different areas of municipal land use. Here are summaries:...

A Blizzard of Criminal Law Decisions Last Week

[Couldn't resist the title given last week's major blizzard in New Jersey] Last week was a big week for decisions in criminal appeals. All three of the Supreme Court's opinions last week, and both of last week's published Appellate Division opinions, were in criminal cases. Here are summaries....