NJ Appellate Law Blog

Alter Ego Theory Failed to Sustain Personal Jurisdiction Over Foreign Parent Corporation

FDASmart, Inc. v. Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Ltd., 448 N.J. Super. 195 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff filed an action for breach of contract against two defendants, Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals,...

Fee Awards Under Consumer Statutes Can Go Beyond the Extent of a Plaintiff's Success On His or Her Complaint

DeGarmeaux v. DNV Concepts, Inc., 448 N.J. Super. 148 (App. Div. 2016). As Judge Manahan stated in his opinion for the Appellate Division in this case, "[t]he issue of reasonbleness...

Rule 11 Sanctions Are Not to be Imposed for Minor Alleged Offenses

Moeck v. Pleasant Valley School District, 844 F.3d 387 (3d Cir. 2016). Motions for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 are not favored because, as Judge Shwartz pointed...

Tax Credits for a Disabled Child vs. Tax Deductions for Such a Child

Polsky v. United States, 844 F.3d 170 (3d Cir. 2016). Plaintiffs are the parents of a permanently disabled daughter. They claimed a child tax credit on two years' federal tax...

Volunteer Emergency Medical Technician is Not a "Public Servant" for Purposes of the Official Misconduct Statute

State v. Morrison, 227 N.J. 295 (2016). In today's unanimous opinion by Justice Albin, the issue was whether a volunteer emergency medical technician ("EMT") is a "public servant" who can...

Avoiding an Absurd Result in a Statute of Limitations Case Under the Survivor Act

Warren v. Muenzen, 448 N.J. Super. 52 (App. Div. 2016). A 2009 amendment to the Survivor Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:15-3, included language that "[e]very action brought under this chapter shall be commenced...

Equitable Distribution Statute Does Not Apply to Property Acquired During Cohabitation, But Equitable Principles Come to the Rescue

Thieme v. Aucoin-Thieme, 227 N.J. 269 (2016). Plaintiff and defendant cohabited for eight years, were married for a short time, and then divorced. Before and during the marriage, plaintiff had...

Comparative Negligence of John Doe Defendant is Generally to be Considered in Apportioning Damages

Krzykalski v. Tindall, 448 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2016). This was an auto accident case. At trial, the jury was allowed to consider in the comparative negligence mix not...

The Legislative Review Clause of the New Jersey Constitution

Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. New Jersey Civil Service Comm'n, 447 N.J. Super. 584 (App. Div. 2016). Article V, section 4, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution, approved...

The "Tender Years" Hearsay Exception

State of New Jersey in the Interest of A.R., 447 N.J. Super. 485 (App. Div. 2016). Judge Sabatino teaches at Rutgers-Camden Law School. Students there pay to be educated by...

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The Second and Third Published Appellate Division Decisions of the Current Term

As September turned to October, the Appellate Division issued its second and third published opinions of the Term. One was a decision by Judge Vinci in a civil appeal. The other ruling, in a criminal appeal, was authored by Judge Perez Friscia....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Did it Violate a Class Action Settlement That Barred Mass Opt-Outs to Allow Opt-Outs From a Marketing Campaign That Solicited Opt-outs?

On Tuesday, September 30, judges on Part G of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Esposito v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless. The case follows from a $100 million nationwide class action settlement that had required class members who decided to exclude themselves from the settlement and potentially pursue their own litigation against Verizon to opt out individually, and barred mass opt-outs. However, Murphy Advocates, LLC, a Colorado law firm conducted a marketing campaign to create a mass opt-out that attracted about 11,000 class members who responded to Murphy that they wished to opt out....

A Pair of New Criminal Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new cases. Both are criminal appeals. One is from a published opinion of the Appellate Division, while the other is from an unpublished per curiam decision by a three-judge panel....

Can a Plaintiff in a Civil Case Refuse to Testify at Trial After Being Served With a Defense Notice in Lieu of Subpoena and Having Been Ordered to Testify by the Trial Judge? An Anniversary

On this date in 2005, the Supreme Court decided Gonzalez v. Safe & Sound Sec. Corp., 185 N.J. 100 (2005). The case involved a plaintiff who was shot in an apartment building in Atlantic City, which left him paralyzed. He brought a negligence suit against a number of defendants, including Atlantic City Housing & Urban Renewal Associates ("ACHURA"), the owner of the apartment building....