Each week we attempt to highlight a crazy lawsuit that is making a mockery of our legal system and delaying justice for litigants with legitimate claims by clogging our courts. This week we had a problem - there were too many ridiculous lawsuits to choose from.
A white paper recapping important legal developments in the civil justice movement that occurred in 2014 has been published by the Federalist Society. Part I of the paper focuses on broad trends, Part II provides an overview of new legislation, and Part III highlights court cases from across the country that either strike down previously adopted reforms or adopt novel legal theories of interest to reformers. The paper was authored by NJCJI’s Emily Kelchen.
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One of our complaints about New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act is that it is overly broad - encompassing many disputes that could resolved more efficiently by other means. So, it was nice to see a recent Appellate Division reverse a trial court CFA summary judgment for the plaintiff in the case of the house that is sliding down a hill.
New Jersey is a hotbed of food-based litigation. Late last year, the popular supermarket chain Wegmans was sued because its bread is not made from scratch at each store. Rather than settling this rather frivolous claim, Wegmans is fighting back, and in doing so is revealing how much of a shake-down these sorts of lawsuits truly are.
New Jersey’s court rule governing the admissibility and review of expert testimony has remained unchanged since 1991. In this same period the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Uniform Rules of Evidence, numerous state evidence rules, and our own case law have all changed to reflect the increased importance and use of expert testimony. At NJCJI’s urging, the NJ Supreme Court asked its Committee on the Rules of Evidence to take a closer look at the state’s laws governing this issue.
Fiction, non-fiction, old, and new, there are many books that vividly illustrate the complexities of the civil justice system. In recognition of National Library Week, we took the opportunity to select a few books that we recommend checking out.
Compensating victims is one of the reasons the court system exists. Unfortunately, there are people in this world that view victim-hood as a road to riches, and therefore are eager to scam the system into paying their way. Two of those such people are making a name for themselves in the aftermath of the recent apartment explosion in New York City.
Back in February we drew your attention to a lawsuit that had been filed by a woman claiming that a restaurant had refused service to her because she was dining alone on Valentine’s Day. This week it was reported that that lawsuit has been settled. What is striking about the news article reporting the settlement is not details of the settlement (which are confidential) but the comments made by the restaurant owners’ lawyer about the impact of the case on their business.
Can parties to a contract be compelled to arbitrate New [...]
