NJ Appellate Law Blog

For Want of a Comma…. Qualified Immunity Protects Law Enforcement Officers Sued Under the Civil Rights Act

Morillo v. Monmouth County Sheriff's Officers, 222 N.J. 104 (2015). It has long been the case, especially under the federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1983, that law enforcement officers...

Consequential Damages Caused by Construction Subcontractor's Defective Work Were "Property Damage" and an "Occurrence" Under CGL Insurance Policy

Cypress Point Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. Adria Towers, LLC, 441 N.J. Super. 369 (App. Div. 2015). A condominium association sued multiple parties, including insurers under commercial general liability ("CGL") insurance...

Land Use Litigant Cannot "Make a Mockery of the Exhaustion Doctrine"

Casser v. Knowlton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 353 (App. Div. 2015). Two consolidated cases, three Law Division judges who had pieces of these matters, and a lengthy and convoluted procedural...

False Statement Under Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Must be Material to be Actionable

Jensen v. Pressler & Pressler, 791 F.3d 413 (3d Cir. 2015). Plaintiff defaulted on a credit card debt. The debt was sold, and the buyer attempted to collect on it....

Under ERISA, "Some Success," Even Via Settlement, Permits an Attorneys' Fee Award

Templin v. Independence Blue Cross, 785 F.3d 861 (3d Cir. 2015). "A party seeking attorney's fees under ERISA [the Employees Retirement Income Security Act] must show ‘some success' on the...

"Trustworthiness" of Testimony Under a Hearsay Exception, and the Need for a Rule 104 Hearing

Estate of Grieco v. Schmidt, 440 N.J. Super. 557 (App. Div. 2015). Today's decision by Judge Fisher is another example of an appellate ruling involving hearsay rules. In this wrongful...

"Extraordinary Circumstances" Justifying Late Notice of Tort Claim

Beyer v. Sea Bright Borough, 440 N.J. Super. 424 (App. Div. 2015). The New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, requires anyone who wants to bring a tort claim against...

Towns Can't Impose Additional Requirements, Even Redundant Ones, on Gun Applications

In re Denial of Application of Z.K. for a New Jersey Firearms Purchaser Identification Card and Permit to Purchase, 440 N.J. Super. 394 (App. Div. 2015). Yesterday, while many of...

The Appellate Division Rejects Ascertainability as a Class Action Criterion, and Changes the Rules for Interlocutory Appeals of Class Certification Decisions

Daniels v. Hollister Co., 440 N.J. Super. 359 (App. Div. 2015). Readers of this blog have gotten their fill (including, most recently, here and here) of discussion and analysis of...

Motions for Reconsideration, and "Little Used" Statutes Protecting the Priority of Employees' Wages Against Creditors of the Employer

The Pitney Bowes Bank, Inc. v. ABC Caging Fulfillment, 440 N.J. Super. 378 (App. Div. 2015). There are not many published appellate opinions that discuss the rules for levying or...

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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....