You Can Be Forced to Sue Outside of New Jersey
Due to the growing prevalence of Internet shopping, it is worthwhile for suppliers, retailers, and all other individuals or corporations who conduct interstate business through such platforms to familiarize themselves with basic jurisdictional laws in order to avoid future liability in inconvenient or undesirable forums. While determining the state in which you can file your lawsuit can be challenging, it is critical to the fate of your claim. Recently, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, analyzed the liability...
Read More....Subrogation Claims by New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Carriers Permitted Against PIP Carriers
Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court expressly determined that Workers’ Compensation benefits are to work synergistically with Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits that are required of all New Jersey automobile insurance policies by New Jersey’s Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act (AICRA). Workers’ Compensation is often considered an “exclusive remedy” for injuries sustained while acting in the course and scope of employment. However, in the case of New Jersey Transit Corporation v. Sanchez, the Court carved ...
Read More....Can Your Neighbor Cut Down The Trees in Your Yard and Get Away With It?
In a recent case, the plaintiffs who sued their neighbors for removing bamboo from their property without permission were unable to recover damages. The New Jersey Supreme Court found the plaintiffs failed to show evidence that the removal led to a diminution in their property value or constituted a loss of peculiar value that was personal to the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs, Joseph and Donna Kornbleuth (the Kornbleuths), owned a property adjoining that of the defendants, Thomas and Betsy Westover (the Westovers). The properties...
Read More....Plaintiff Can Not Be Forced To Accept Settlement She Refused Absent Guardianship Action
Parties involved in lawsuits have a fundamental right to control the direction of that lawsuit, subject only to the strictest procedural safeguards in cases of alleged mental incapacity. The New Jersey Supreme Court recently reaffirmed its commitment to upholding this form of autonomy in a recent case, reversing both the trial and appellate courts and noting that such a right is protected by state laws and even the State Constitution.
In that case, the plaintiff, S.T., was a former chemical engineer who refused to accept a settlement...
Read More....How Is Employment Status Determined For Purposes of NJ Workers’ Compensation Coverage?
A Plaintiff who recently received a workers’ compensation award saw his judgment vacated on appeal because the trial judge did not make any witness credibility findings or apply his factual findings to the appropriate law. In that case, the Appellate Division stressed the importance of analyzing 12 factors when determining whether an employment relationship exists and also of assessing the credibility of witnesses whose testimony conflicts. Finding the record devoid of this analysis, the Appellate Division vacated and remanded...
Read More....New Jersey Homeowners Must Pay Contractor’s Bill Despite Lack of Building Permits
A plaintiff construction company will be paid the outstanding balance of a home renovation project, despite allegations by the defendants that the company did not substantially complete the work and created, and failed to correct, a dangerous condition in the home. In a recent case by the New Jersey Appellate Division, the court held that the plaintiff substantially completed the work required by the contract and was therefore entitled to payment due under the contract, while also finding that the defendants did not have a valid consumer...
Read More....Do Not Build in Violation of Set Back Requirements BEFORE Receiving Approval
Sometimes, unlike the old adage, it is not better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission first. A New Jersey plaintiff who was denied a variance for his deck, which did not comply with local ordinances, failed to obtain approval from the Superior Court. In the case recently affirmed by the New Jersey Appellate Division, the court held that the plaintiff failed to meet his heavy burden of proving that he was wrongly denied the variance and instead deferred to the local planning board’s decision.
The plaintiff owned a single-family...
Read More....Landlords Beware: Double Damages Awarded to Tenant for Wrongful Withholding of a Security Deposit
The plaintiff moved into a newly constructed apartment complex and paid a $2,565 security deposit. Some three years later, when he notified his landlord that he intended to vacate the premise effective June 30, 2018, the landlord arranged for a walk-through to examine the apartment. The walk-through resulted in a list of damages, including burn marks, excessive holes, damage to the walls, excessive stains on the carpet, excessive burns penetrating the seal on the balcony’s rubber decking, a dent in the stove and a dent in the door. ...
Read More....New Jersey Supreme Court Holds that Landlord Did Not Have Duty to Remove Snow and Ice From Rental Property
Owners of rental properties do not owe a general duty to remove snow and ice from the property and thus may not be liable for injuries sustained by plaintiffs who slip and fall as a result. Rather, according to a recent case by the New Jersey Supreme Court, the landlord-tenant contract must be examined to see if that duty was delegated to the tenant.
In that case, the defendant (landlord) owned a property which it leased to Ramslee Motors (Ramslee), a used car dealership. The contract between the two stated that the tenant “shall maintain ...
Read More....Plaintiffs Must Follow Strict Time Requirements When Filing Tort Claims Against Public Entities
Plaintiffs must file a tort claims notice against public entities in New Jersey no later than 90 days after the accrual of a cause of action, unless “extraordinary circumstances” exist to justify filing a complaint out of time. In a recent case out of the New Jersey Appellate Court, the estate of a prisoner who committed suicide while in prison was barred from filing a tort claim against the prison because the estate waited too long after receiving the autopsy report.
In this case, the decedent was serving a six-month sentence at Hudson ...
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