Virginia Long

This case arose from a real estate transaction in which plaintiff Debra Lombardi purchased a renovated property that turned out to be defective, allegedly involving fraud, misrepresentations, and a worthless escrow check by defendants including property flippers, real estate agents, and related entities. The trial court initially granted summary judgment to several defendants but later vacated it after a proof hearing revealed material factual disputes, leading to appeals on procedural grounds. The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that the trial judge had discretion to reconsider the interlocutory summary judgment order in the interests of justice, that the law of the case doctrine did not bar reconsideration, and that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment on the claims for breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation, and conspiracy. The Court also upheld the procedural validity of the appeal despite filing irregularities. The core reasoning focused on the flexibility of interlocutory rulings and the need for a full trial on disputed facts from the original record.

procedurepropertytorts & liabilitybusiness & regulatory

The case concerned whether a mother neglected her four-year-old son under N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21 by leaving him home alone for roughly two hours after mistakenly assuming his grandmother was present based on the family's usual Sunday routine. DYFS substantiated a finding of neglect for inadequate supervision, which the Appellate Division affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the mother's conduct, though negligent, did not rise to the statutory threshold of failing to exercise a minimum degree of care because it was not grossly negligent or reckless under the known circumstances.

family law

The case concerned whether an insurer had a duty to defend emotional distress claims by two mothers who witnessed their children suffer burns in an apartment fire allegedly caused by the landlord's negligent use of paint thinner. The New Jersey Supreme Court held that a Portee claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, which does not allege physical injury, still triggers the duty to defend under a commercial general liability policy's "bodily injury" coverage because such claims are potentially covered. The court reasoned that precedent requires defense of potentially covered claims until physical manifestations are disproved or the claim is otherwise resolved without them, and it therefore placed the defense burden on the insurer.

torts & liabilityprocedurebusiness & regulatory

The case involved developers seeking site plan approval to build a hotel on one lot and construct a driveway across an adjacent undersized lot containing a preexisting nonconforming auto-body shop to provide highway access. The New Jersey Supreme Court addressed whether variances were required under the Municipal Land Use Law for the proposed driveway, which was not listed as a permitted or conditionally permitted use in the zoning ordinance. The Court held that because the driveway was not an accessory use, it constituted a second principal use, requiring a variance under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)(1). The Court further held that a variance under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)(2) would be necessary unless the planning board determined that any intensification of the nonconformity was insubstantial, and remanded the matter to the board for consideration of the variances and full review of the site plan.

propertybusiness & regulatory

The case involved a police officer, Gregory Russo, who sought accidental disability pension benefits after developing PTSD from a 2001 house fire rescue in which he suffered smoke inhalation, witnessed a victim's death, and faced blame from the victim's family. The Board of Trustees denied the claim, finding the event inconsequential despite meeting other criteria, a decision affirmed by the Appellate Division. The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed, holding that the incident satisfied the standards from Richardson v. Board of Trustees (requiring a permanent disability from a qualifying traumatic event during duties, without willful negligence) and Patterson v. Board of Trustees (requiring a direct experience of a terrifying event involving death or serious injury). The Court reasoned that the fire rescue was objectively capable of causing mental injury, as confirmed by expert testimony linking Russo's disability directly to the event rather than training or other factors, and remanded for processing the award.

labor & employment

In State v. Handy, police stopped the defendant for a bicycle ordinance violation and arrested him after a dispatcher incorrectly confirmed an outstanding warrant despite mismatches in name spelling, birth date, age of the warrant, and location; a search incident to arrest uncovered drugs. The New Jersey Supreme Court held that the evidence must be suppressed. The Court reasoned that the dispatcher, as an integral part of the law enforcement chain, acted in an objectively unreasonable manner by relaying the warrant information without accounting for the clear discrepancies, violating the Fourth Amendment and the parallel state constitutional provision. Because the error originated with police personnel, the exclusionary rule applied to deter such misconduct even though the arresting officer himself acted reasonably.

criminal lawprocedure