Diana v. LVNV Funding, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2026). [Disclosure: I represented amici curiae Consumers League of New Jersey and National Association of Consumer Attorneys in this appeal]. In a unanimous opinion by Justice Hoffman, the Supreme Court held that plaintiff, suing on behalf of a putative class, could not assert an implied private right of action to void a loan contract, pursuant to the New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act, CFLA, N.J.S.A. 17:11C-1 to -49 ("CFLA"), against institutional debt-buyer defendants that allegedly purchased his credit card debt without a requisite license....
In the time since the most recent post on this blog about published Appellate Division opinions, that court issued published rulings in four cases. Here are summaries:...
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....
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....
Paciorkowski v. Jetson Electric Bikes LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2026). Plaintiff, an attorney, filed a putative class action for consumer fraud and on other theories against defendant He alleged that he had purchased three electric bikes from defendant, that the bikes had several problems that made them essentially unusable by adults, and that New Jersey law effectively made the bikes illegal to use in New Jersey....
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....
The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in five more appeals. On of those matters is before the Court on leave to appeal. In the others, the Court granted certification....
Since last Friday, one week ago, the Appellate Division issued three published opinions (not counting its opinion in the Verizon case that the Supreme Court decided yesterday, in which the...
Pace v. Hamilton Cove, 258 N.J. 82 (2024). Class action waivers and mandatory arbitration provisions often appear together in consumer contracts. They are among the tools sellers use to restrict...
Due in part to my attendance at the NJSBA Annual Meeting last week, this blog is somewhat behind on last week's published opinions by the Supreme Court and the Appellate...
