Nathan L. Jacobs

In Taylor v. New Jersey Highway Authority, the plaintiff sought damages for injuries from slipping on an icy common stairway in a multi-family building on November 7, 1953. The New Jersey Highway Authority had filed a condemnation complaint and declaration of taking in August 1953 for the Garden State Parkway project, deposited estimated compensation, and obtained an order paying the former owner, though it had not yet taken physical possession or evicted the tenants. The Law Division dismissed the case at the close of plaintiff's evidence, finding the Authority lacked ownership or control. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the statutory filing of the declaration and payment transferred possession and control to the Authority, which then owed a private duty of care to maintain the premises comparable to that of a private landlord, and that the Authority's statutory waiver of immunity permitted suit for breach of that duty.

propertytorts & liability

This case involved a workers' compensation claim by the widow of Clyde L. Chatham, an assistant division superintendent for Public Service Electric & Gas Co., who died after falling from a twelfth-floor conference room window in the company's Newark building on his way to a scheduled labor-management meeting. The Workmen’s Compensation Bureau awarded benefits, finding that the death resulted from an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, and the Essex County Court of Common Pleas affirmed. On certiorari, the court upheld the award, determining that circumstantial evidence—including dust marks on the windowsill suggesting a slide, the absence of footprints or fingerprints on the ledge, the falling of his briefcase ahead of him, and his recent promotion and positive demeanor—supported an accidental fall rather than suicide, and that the lower tribunals' factual findings should not be disturbed.

labor & employment

This case concerned a husband's petition for divorce on the ground of desertion, alleging that his wife had refused sexual relations with him since 1938 while they continued living in the same house until 1945. The lower court granted the divorce after finding that the wife had deserted the husband without justification. On appeal, the court reversed the decree, holding that the husband had not met his burden of proving by preponderant and corroborated evidence that the desertion was continuous, willful, and obstinate. The evidence included the wife's denial of non-intercourse, neighbors' testimony about their apparently normal living arrangements, and the husband's own conduct in maintaining the household and sending affectionate cards, all of which raised substantial doubts about his claims.

family law

Veterans holding county-issued peddlers licenses attempted to sell ice cream on the Wildwood beach but were blocked by police using physical interference, property confiscation, and threats of arrest under a municipal ordinance that banned all peddling on the beach and boardwalk. The complainants sought an injunction in the Court of Chancery against such interference by the mayor and police chief. The court issued a limited injunction restraining only extra-legal or arbitrary actions by officials without due process while expressly preserving the city's right to pursue prosecutions or other lawful proceedings under the ordinance. On appeal, the court affirmed the order and decree as a proper exercise of equity jurisdiction to protect against irreparable injury from unlawful official conduct, without addressing the ordinance's validity or its applicability to the veterans.

business & regulatoryprocedurecivil rights

This case concerns an appeal from the Prerogative Court's denial of a petition by Hans Stanko to vacate the appointment of Gertrude A. Carpenter as administratrix ad prosequendum of her deceased husband's estate. The appointment was made to allow Carpenter to pursue a wrongful death action in federal court in Pennsylvania against Stanko and another party arising from a 1945 car accident that killed Paul Carpenter. Stanko, a non-resident potential defendant, argued that the New Jersey court lacked jurisdiction because the decedent was a Pennsylvania resident and the accident occurred outside the state. The court affirmed the denial, holding that Stanko lacked standing to challenge the appointment because he suffered no prejudice, as all issues could be addressed in the pending federal action and any procedural error did not affect his substantial rights under modern principles favoring merits-based resolutions.

proceduretorts & liability

This case involved a beneficiary seeking double indemnity benefits under two life insurance policies after the insured died from a fall down stairs on a ship. The insurer paid the base amount but denied the additional accidental death benefits, citing a death certificate listing cardiac disease and arguing that the beneficiary failed to provide "due proof" of death by accidental means as required by the policy. The trial court directed a verdict for the insurer on the due proof issue, but the appellate court reversed, holding that the beneficiary's attorney's letter describing the accident with witness affidavits was potentially sufficient proof and that the insurer may have waived stricter formal requirements by conducting its own investigation and denying liability on other grounds. The court reasoned that the policies did not specify a particular form for proof and that a jury should decide if due proof was given or waived, ordering a new trial.

business & regulatory