In re Opinion No. 745 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, __ N.J. ___ (2025). Rule 1:39-6(d) creates an exception to the general principle, embodied in Rules of Professional Conduct ("RPC") 7.2(c) and 7.3(d), that New Jersey attorneys may not pay referral fees, with only limited exceptions. The exception in Rule 1:39-6(d) permits only attorneys who have satisfied the requirements of becoming certified by the Supreme Court in a particular area of practice to pay referral fees....
On February 12, 1951, the Supreme Court decided Lang v. Morgan's Home Equipment Corp., 6 N.J. 333 (1951). The Court's unanimous opinion, written by Chief Justice Vanderbilt, appears to be the first decision from the Court relating to principles of sanctions for discovery violations....
The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in seven new appeals. Two of those matters (one civil and one criminal) involve leave to appeal, while the others are before the Court on grants of certification....
In re Estate of Michael D. Jones, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). As summarized here, this case involved whether an ex-spouse's rights as the pay-on-death beneficiary on her deceased ex-husband's U.S. savings bonds were superseded by the parties' divorce. The couple's divorce settlement agreement ("DSA") required, as relevant here, that the ex-husband ("Michael") pay the ex-wife ("Jeanine") $200,000 in installments over time. The DSA did not specifically provide for the disposition of savings bonds....
The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three new appeals. All are from unpublished opinions of the Appellate Division....
Wiggins v. Hackensack Meridian Health, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). This medical malpractice wrongful death appeal arose under the Affidavit of Merit ("AOM") statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-26 et seq., and the Patients First Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-41. Those statutes, whose history Justice Fasciale laid out in detail, require, in short, that a malpractice plaintiff provide an affidavit of merit from an expert who specializes in the same "specialty or subspecialty" as the defendant doctor if that doctor has a specialty....
On this date in 2004, the Supreme Court decided Smith v. SBC Communications, Inc., 178 N.J. 265 (2004). The case was a putative Consumer Fraud Act ("CFA") and breach of contract class action against Southern New England Telephone Company ("SNET") and BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. Plaintiff alleged that defendants falsely advertised that prepaid calling cards purchased at BJ's would yield substantially more calling time than plaintiff actually received....
With the coming of the new year, this blog went onto a new platform. That fact, along with a Supreme Court oral argument and a Committee on Character hearing last week, has left this blog behind as 2025 begins. Our appellate courts, however, have been active. Here are summaries of their January 2025 published opinions to date:...
Justice James H. Coleman, Jr., the first Black Justice to sit on the Supreme Court of New Jersey, died on August 5 at age 91. This post is very late,...
Justice Alan B. Handler died on May 23. He was 92 years old. Justice Handler served on the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 22 years, from 1977 through 1999...
