News

March 12, 2019 In New Jersey, a plaintiff injured in a motor vehicle accident must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he/she suffered a permanent injury within the meaning of the limitation on lawsuit option of the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act (AICRA), N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8(a). The failure to […]

March 7, 2019 On March 1, 2019, in Stearns v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that the six year statute of repose, set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2B, bars tort claims arising from negligence in the use or handling of […]

March 1, 2019 New Jersey’s Supreme Court recently decided the case of Pamela O’Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority , permitting the plaintiff’s case against the public entity Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”) to proceed, even though the plaintiff had not formally served the NJTA with a Notice of Tort Claim. Under […]

January 31, 2019 Rockman v. Union Carbide Corp. , Case No: 1:16-cv-02459-JKB (Jan.3, 2017), is a notable decision in that the Court (Bredar, J.) granted the defendants’ motions for judgment on the pleadings and allowed the plaintiffs to amend the complaint. The Plaintiffs, Jeffrey and Sonja Rockman, brought this action […]

January 31, 2019 On January 22, 2019, the Appellate Division issued an opinion in the matter of Katchen v. GEICO, et al., 2019 N.J. Super. LEXIS 10. The decision considered whether an insurer may exclude UIM coverage for an accident involving a vehicle owned by the insured, but not expressly […]

January 31, 2019 In All The Way Towing, LLC v. Bucks County International, Inc., (A066/67-17) (Decided January 24, 2019), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that a customized tow truck fit within the NJ Consumer Fraud Act’s (CFA) expansive definition of “merchandise”. The Court agreed with the Appellate Division that […]

January 31, 2019 The New Jersey Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, Katramados v. First Transit Inc., (Appeal No. A-1947-17T1) (Decided January 24, 2019), invoked the ultimate sanction by dismissing a plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice after plaintiff’s repeated failures to comply with discovery. Plaintiff Lisa A. Katramados’s complaint alleged that […]

January 17, 2019 New Jersey’s Appellate Division provided clarification as to what defenses may be asserted in an action brought under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act (“Spill Act”) in the recent decision of Matthew Terranova, et al. v. General Electric Pension Trust, et al. , when it […]

January 17, 2019 The New Jersey Appellate Division, in an unpublished decision, Christine Spigai v. Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. (Appeal No. A-4242-16T4) (Decided January 11, 2019), affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment by agreeing that no reasonable juror could find as to the tort claim defendant (New Jersey […]