Civil and Personal Injury Cases NJ

STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDRE COCLOUGH (17-02-0070, HUDSON COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-5142-16T4)

The court affirmed defendant's burglary and criminal mischief convictions, rejecting his contentions, raised as plain error, regarding the court's jury instructions and police witnesses' identification-related testimony. The court also rejected defendant's argument that he must be resentenced because of a breakdown in his relationship with his trial counsel. Although a defendant is entitled to conflict-free representation, the court holds that he may not profit from undermining his attorney-client relationship through his own abusive or threatening conduct. Despite defendant's insults and threats, defense counsel wished to proceed, as did defendant. The court discerned no basis for resentencing.

IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO N.J.A.C. 11:22-1.1 (DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND INSURANCE) (A-2828-17T2)

Regulations adopted by the Department of Banking and Insurance to implement the provisions of the Health Claims Authorization, Processing and Payment Act (HCAPPA), L. 2005, c. 352 (codified as amended in various sections of titles 17, 17B, and 26 of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated), are valid because: HCAPPA permits payers to obtain reimbursement of overpayments of claims paid, including claims under "stand-alone" or "dental-only" plans, and allows payers to offset overpayments to a provider against future claims the provider submits for other persons

MEDFORD TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT VS. SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC BUILDINGS AMERICAS, INC. (L-0787-18, BURLINGTON COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-5798-17T4)

At issue in this appeal is an arbitration clause of a contract for work performed by a general contractor to implement an energy services program for a school district. The arbitration clause provided disputes "may be settled by binding arbitration." In that respect, it conflicted with a request for proposals for the contract and another prior agreement between the parties for the same project, both of which mandated litigation of disputes in a judicial forum.

The court concludes the terms of the arbitration clause, when read in pari materia with the mandatory governing law provisions of the prior documents between the parties are permissive and not mandatory. Accordingly, the court affirms the Law Division order enjoining and dismissing the arbitration proceedings filed by defendant.

Garden State Check Cashing Service, Inc. v. State of New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance(081044)(Statewide)(A-1-18; 080861)

The only requirements for an asset sale are that a seller is conducting business by holding a valid license and is not subject to an action by the Commissioner. As such, the asset sale was valid, the Irvington location retained its grandfathered status, and DOBI’s decision to grant the license to New Loan was appropriate.

Beryl Zimmerman and Judy Comment v. Sussex County Educational Service Commission (080861)(Statewide) (A-75-17; 080861)

Protection of compensation is not restricted to protection of the hourly rate of pay, and a remand is needed. A record must be created to allow the Commissioner to assess the SCESC’s reasons for allocating work among its part-time teachers in a manner that severely reduced the number of hours afforded to the two tenured teachers and awarded work to non-tenured and less senior staff. The Court thus affirms the judgment of the Appellate Division but does not encourage a strict arithmetic calculation along the lines the panel has suggested

Patricia J. McClain v. Board of Review (080397)(Statewide) (A-52-17; 080397)

Based on its interpretation of N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(a), the Court concludes that McClain and Blake are entitled to UI benefits because (1) they qualified for UI benefits at their former employment at the time of their departure, (2) they were scheduled to commence their new jobs within seven days of leaving their former employment, and (3) their new job offers were rescinded through no fault of their own before the start date.