Personal Injury
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....New Jersey Court Says Residential Homeowners Are Not Liable for Sidewalk Injuries
Residential homeowners are not liable for injuries caused by the conditions of sidewalks abutting their properties, according to the New Jersey Appellate Court, even if that property could be used to generate multifamily rental income. Rather, liability turns on whether the property was actually being used for commercial purposes at the time of the accident.
In a case recently decided by the New Jersey Appellate Court, the plaintiff, Nivia, fell on an uneven sidewalk in front of a property owned by the defendants, Mark and Anthony....
Read More....New Jersey Court Rules Injured Worker is No Longer Entitled to Opioid Medication
A New Jersey petitioner previously receiving opioid pain medication to treat pain from a work-related injury will no longer be compensated for the medication because he did not provide enough evidence that the opioids would heal or relieve his condition. This was true even though the petitioner provided medical expert testimony who stated that a long-term prescription of opioids would be reasonable in these circumstances. The New Jersey Appellate Court, however, deferred to the workers’ compensation judge’s decision to give ...
Read More....Widow’s Wrongful Death Claim Dismissed by New Jersey Courts Due to Statute of Limitations
A widow who filed a wrongful death claim based on medical malpractice after her husband died had her claim dismissed because she waited too long. The New Jersey Appellate Court ruled that, based on the language of New Jersey’s Wrongful Death Act and Survivor Act, any claim brought under those acts must be brought within two years of the death at issue. A statute of limitations requires that a certain claim be brought within a certain period of time after the incident giving rise to the claim. If the claim is brought after that time period runs,...
Read More....State of New Jersey May Be Liable To Motorcycle Accident Victim
The New Jersey Appellate Court recently overturned a trial court decision dismissing claims against the State of New Jersey in a personal injury case. Plaintiff Milagro Arita-Mejia (“Arita”) was involved in a motorcycle collision on an enclosed ramp that descended onto Interstate 495 in Union City, NJ. Arita was a passenger on the motorcycle, but when the driver tried to brake for a stop sign located on the left side of the road, Arita was thrown off the bike. She sustained traumatic brain damage and other serious injuries....
Read More....Do You Know What Your NJ Insurance Policy Actually Provides Should Tragedy Strike?
The New Jersey Appellate Court recently upheld a limited coverage provision in an insurance contract, despite the fact that the declaration page (generally a one page summary of the policy limits) differed from the language in the policy itself. An apartment building caught fire, which tragically led to the death of several occupants. Nayyar Ahmed (“Ahmed”) was the owner of the insured apartment building at the time of the fire, and he was sued by the decedent’s estates and some of the survivors. Ahmed’s insurance policy was issued ...
Read More....Gross Negligence Standard and its Implications on Personal Injury Cases and HOAs in NJ
The New Jersey Appellate Court recently held that a condominium association was not grossly negligent in a slip and fall incident that occurred in one of its common areas. Diane Kechejian (“Kechejian”) slipped on ice around 8:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning while she was walking from the condominium association’s (“Association”) parking garage to her condo. She sued the Association for the injuries that resulted from the fall.
Notably, a weather report indicated that there was freezing rain and sleet between 7:46 a.m. and 8:00 ...
Read More....NJ Minor’s Amputation Case Against Construction Site Survives Appeal
In Cortes v. Garrard Construction Group, Inc., et al., the New Jersey Appellate Court held that the property owner, tenant, general contractor, and workers on a construction site could potentially be liable for the injury of a minor that occurred onsite. Two sixteen-year-old boys were walking around a shopping center and saw lights on inside the building under construction. They approached the building and trespassed onto the construction site, which was managed by Garrard Construction Group, Inc. and Holz and Henry, Inc....
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