Category: Business Law

NAACP of Camden County East v. Foulke Management Corp.

ARBITRATION; CLASS ACTIONS — Even though the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws that nullify class-action waivers on public policy grounds, that does not mean that a state court can’t reject such a provision when there was actually no meeting of the minds as to the whether a particular class action, arbitration waiver was part of a consumer’s agreement.

• Opinion Date: August 2, 2011

Faraldi v. Lawrence

LOANS — When a borrower is receiving loan money from one party, but knows that party is only an intermediary for the actual lender, it cannot disclaim liability to the actual lender on the theory that paying the actual lender directly would unjustly enrich that lender.

• Opinion Date: July 20, 2011

Princeton Healthcare System v. Netsmart New York, Inc.

CONSUMER FRAUD ACT — Although a corporation may be a “person” for purposes of the Consumer Fraud Act, not every contract entered into by a corporation is a subject to a claim under the Act because it is the character of the transaction, not the identity of the purchaser, which determines whether the Act is applicable.

• Opinion Date: October 21, 2011

66 VMD Associates, LLC v. Melick-Tully and Associates, P.C.

CONTRACTS; EXCULPATION — Although exculpation clauses are usually disfavored in professional service contracts, they do not violate public policy and therefore they will be reviewed with an eye to establishing whether the damage limit provides sufficient incentive for the professional to perform its obligations under the contract.

• Opinion Date: August 11, 2011

Derricotte v. Pressler & Pressler, LLP

FDCPA; ATTORNEYS — Filing a state court collection action does not constitute harassment under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act even if the attorneys filing the suit do not have the immediate means of proving the debt.

• Opinion Date: July 19, 2011

AV Solutions, LLC v. Keystone Enterprise Services, LLC

NON-COMPETITION —A contractual provision in a non-competition agreement that expressly states the breach of the agreement would be deemed to have caused irreparable harm is not substitute for a finding by a court to determine if a preliminary injunction is proper.

• Opinion Date: July 19, 2011

Guevara v. Client Services, Inc.

FDCPA — The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act only requires that five specific items be included in an initial letter sent by a debt collector, and none of those items calls for the debt collector to identify the debtor’s account number.

• Opinion Date: October 26, 2011

DeMaio v. Karmin

CONTRACTS; FDCPA — The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not limit a provider of services or goods to only seeking collection from a customer if it actually signed the contract, even when another party may have agreed to be responsible for the claimed charges.

• Opinion Date: September 30, 2011

Taylor v. Taylor

PARTNERSHIPS — Because New Jersey’s partnership law requires a judicial determination as a pre-requisite to a judicial dissolution and therefore where this is the dominant issue, a jury trial is not warranted although the claimant may have asked for money damages as well.

• Opinion Date: July 8, 2011

T & C Leasing, Inc. v. Wachovia Bank, N.A.

JUDGMENTS — When a bank account is levied upon for the payment of a judgment, the levy only affects the funds that were in that account on the day it was served and not any funds subsequently deposited into the account, but the judgment creditor may request the same writ of execution be used again.

• Opinion Date: July 8, 2011