New Jersey Law

N.J. Supreme Court Affirms Indictment of Woman Who Took Confidential Student Records in an Alleged Employment Discrimination Action

In a recent decision, New Jersey v. Saavedra, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed an indictment of Defendant for official misconduct and unlawful taking of public documents from the North Bergen Board of Education (“the Board’). By way of background, …

Court enjoins COAH and Executive Branch from seizing affordable housing trust funds collected by municipalities.

In the continuing fallout from the failure of COAH to adopt Third Round Regulations, including those defining when affordable housing trust funds are committed, the Appellate Division was faced with an application from the Fair Share Housing Center to order …

New Jersey Supreme Court Decides COAH Is Ineffective and Opens the Courtroom Doors for Enforcement of Municipal Fair Share Housing Obligations – Gives Municipalities 120 Days to Act

This article was initially posted on March 24. On April 14 the post was updated to provide a more in depth analysis of the decision.

On March 10, 2015 the New Jersey Supreme Court took another step in the continuing …

NJ Supreme Court Rules No Statute of Limitations for Private Cost Recovery Actions Under the NJ Spill Act.

In Morristown Associates v. Grant Oil Co., an eagerly anticipated ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court clarified a critically important and much debated issue as to whether private cost recovery claims under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control …

New Jersey Federal Court Rejects Admissibility of Expert Opinions in Claims for Bodily Injury and Diminution of Property Value Due to Environmental Contamination

In a recent set of decisions in the case of Leese, et al. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., Federal District Court Judge Simandle granted summary judgment to the defendant due to the inadequacy of plaintiff’s experts related to the claims …

NJ App. Div. Rejects Nuisance and Trespass Claims in Homeowner Leaking UST Case and Rejects Bad Faith Claim Against Insurers.

In a recent unpublished decision, Ross v. Lowitz the New Jersey Appellate Division addressed the question of whether a homeowner’s home heating oil that has migrated onto neighboring property constitutes a nuisance or continuing trespass; and further whether a neighboring …

It is Not Bad Faith For Insurer to Sue to Rescind Policy Due to Material Misrepresentation in Insurance Application After Defending Underlying Case for Two Years.

On January 19, in Nova Casualty Company v. Col-Mor Apartments the court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff insurer on the counter-claim which alleged bad faith. The court concluded that there was legitimate basis for the suit for rescission, and…

US Supreme Court to Decide Whether CERCLA Limitations Provisions Preempt State Law Statutes of Repose

On January 10, 2014, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in CTS Corporation v. Waldburger, a case involving an issue which has divided courts as to the effect on state statutes of repose of CERCLA’s preemptive federal provision…