Court Refuses to Apply Mode of Operation Rule to Injury Claim Caused by Leaking Shampoo Bottle
Plaintiff Yolanda White was shopping with her daughter in defendant’s Fine Fare Supermarket when she fell. While about 3 feet from the checkout counter, she slipped and fell on liquid dish detergent that had spilled on the floor. In White v. 525 Meat Corp., 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 372 (App. Div. Feb. 22, 2016), […]
Disclaimer of Coverage Upheld Due to Insured’s Failure to Comply with Notice Provision in Policy
Notice provisions are common clauses in insurance policies, whereby the insured is required to provide timely notice of the claim as a condition to obtaining coverage under the policy. The courts in New Jersey, however, interpret this notice clause differently, depending upon whether the policy is an occurrence or a claims made policy. In Templo […]
Limitation Provision in Homeowner’s Insurance Policy Upheld by Court
While the New Jersey statute of limitations for a contract claim, which would include a claim against an insurance policy, is 6 years, some insurance policies contain shorter limitation periods to file a lawsuit against the carrier. In the federal court case of Majagah v. AIG Property Casualty Insurance Agency, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS […]
Owner of Vehicle Found Not Liable for Intoxicated Driver’s Actions in Causing Auto Accident
Plaintiff Ranjani Vaidyanathan was injured in an automobile accident on April 29, 2012 when the driver Joaquin Martinez (“Joaquin”) rear ended her vehicle. At the time, he was driving a vehicle owned by Venessa Martinez. He was very intoxicated, with his blood alcohol level tested at .31%, well past the legal limit. In the Law […]
Gas Station Owner Found Not Liable for Plaintiff’s Injury Resulting from Shooting on His Premises
Plaintiff Jerome White was shot during third party defendant Walter Gleaton’s attempt to kill a passenger in plaintiff’s vehicle while on the premises of defendant Shan’s gas station in Trenton. As a result of the shooting, Plaintiff suffered a fracture to his thoracic vertebrae and became a paraplegic. In White v. Getty Petroleum Marketing, Inc., […]
Appellate Division Reverse $2 Million Verdict Due to Multiple Evidential Trial Rulings
In the recent published decision of Berkowitz v. Soper, 2016 N.J. Super. LEXIS 13 (App. Div. 2016), the Appellate Division reversed a $2 million jury verdict due to multiple errors made by the trial judge. This case involved a rear end collision between the plaintiff Joseph Berkowitz and Susan Soper. The plaintiff alleged back pain […]
Insured Can Be Convicted of Insurance Fraud Even if the Carrier Is not Induced by a False Statement to Pay a Damage Claim
In State of New Jersey v. Goodwin, 2016 N.J. LEXIS 7 (Jan. 19, 2016), the New Jersey Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a defendant can be convicted of insurance fraud even when the insurance carrier has not relied on the false statements to pay the claim. In Goodwin, the defendant falsely reported the […]
Appellate Division Upholds Jury Verdict of $1 million for Auto Accident Causing Plaintiff to have Sustained 2 Herniated Discs
In the recent case of Gibbs v. Camillo, 2015 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2810 (App. Div. Dec. 7, 2015), the Appellate Division was asked to overturn the jury verdict in the amount of $1 million, awarded as compensatory damages to the plaintiff for the two herniated discs she suffered from her automobile accident. The defendant […]
Trial Court Improperly Admitted Evidence of Defendant’s Other Accidents to Prove He Was Negligent in Causing Auto Accident
Plaintiff Angela Gonzalez-Caceres was a rear passenger in a 2008 Toyota, seated directly behind the driver defendant Corrales. Plaintiff, who was asleep, was awakened by the impact from a collision involving the Toyota and a tractor-trailer driven by defendant Murray. She was injured and sued both Murray and Corrales for negligently operating their motor vehicles […]
No Spoliation Found Due to Failure to Preserve Surveillance Video
A failure to preserve relevant evidence could lead to a claim for spoliation of evidence with potentially dire sanctions against a party such as an adverse inference against that party, barring the use of an expert, or the dismissal of a claim. In the federal court case, Van De Wiele v. Acme Supermarkets, 2015 U.S. […]
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