A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for October 7-13. Continue reading
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Tag Archives: TCCWNA
Top News Clips for August 19-25
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for August 19-25. Continue reading
High Court Bursts TCCWNA Bubble
The New Jersey Supreme Court has finally brought some clarity and sanity to the Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty, and Notice Act (TCCWNA). Continue reading
Court Declines to Clarify TCCWNA
This week, the Appellate Division released a long-awaited opinion which we had hoped would help clarify the standard for claims brought under New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty, and Notice Act (TCCWNA). Continue reading
Top News Clips for the Week of April 22-28
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of April 22-28.
3rd Circ. Asks NJ Justices To Define ‘Aggrieved’ Consumer
Jeannie O’Sullivan | Law360
The New Jersey Supreme Court [has agreed] to determine if a consumer is considered aggrieved if they’ve entered into an unlawful contract, but haven’t actually incurred damages, in order to better prepare the Third Circuit to consider putative class actions involving consumer protection claims.
Lawyer Accused of Billing Over 24 Hours in a Day Suspended; but Official Said Others Were Worse
Debra Cassens Weiss | ABA Journal
West Virginia’s top court imposed a two-year suspension on a lawyer who submitted bills for court-appointed work for more than 24 hours a day on two different occasions.
VW Judge Dares Plaintiffs’ Lawyers To Go After Clients For Fees
Alison Frankel | Reuters
It’s obvious from a ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco that the judge does not think owners of Volkswagen “clean diesel” cars needed individual counsel. The judge denied motions by 244 plaintiffs’ lawyers who wanted VW to pay them for the time they spent drafting filings for individual car owners, suggesting edits to classwide filings and advising their clients about developments in the case, including advice about whether to participate in the $10 billion class action settlement.
Courts Continue Crackdown on New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act
Michael P. Daly, Matthew J. Fedor, Andrew L. Van Houter, and Jenna M. Poligo | Drinker Biddle
A year ago we predicted an explosion of “gotcha” class actions targeting website terms of use under the New Jersey Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”). That prediction has been borne out, as the past year has seen dozens of complaints and an untold number of demand letters threatening potentially annihilating aggregate statutory damages arising from arguable violations that caused no harm to the plaintiffs or anyone else.
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Waiting On The Courts To Bring Clarity
Over the past few years, we’ve been highlighting the unique danger New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA) poses to our state’s businesses. Four of the five matters we are currently involved with as an organization are TCCWNA cases. Continue reading
Experts Provide An Update on TCCWNA Action
We have seen an explosion in the number of Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA) lawsuits and demand letters over the past couple of years. While many businesses settle such suits so they can focus on the business of doing business rather than spending a bunch of money on litigation, a few intrepid companies have fought the claims brought against them. Continue reading
BREAKING: NJ Supreme Court Has Accepted Certified Questions on TCCWNA from the Third Circuit
The New Jersey Supreme Court has just announced that it will answer the following certified questions about New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA):
Is a consumer who receives a contract that does not comply with the Delivery of Household Furniture and Furnishings Regulations (Furniture Delivery Regulations), N.J.A.C. 13:45A-5, but has not suffered any adverse consequences from the noncompliance, an “aggrieved consumer” under the Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), N.J.S.A. 56:12-17; and, does a violation of the Furniture Delivery Regulations alone constitute a violation of a clearly established right or responsibility of the seller under the TCCWNA and thus provide a basis for relief under the TCCWNA?
The court’s answer will provide clarity not only to the Third Circuit, which is looking for guidance as it decides the cases David Spade v. Select Comfort Corp. and Christopher Wenger v. Bob’s Discount Furniture, LLC, but to everyone.
Clarifying what the terms “aggrieved consumer” and “clearly established legal right” mean will go a long way toward ensuring that this statute does what it was designed to do, protect consumers, without being a tool that attorneys can use to troll for lawsuits against well-meaning businesses.
Recent TCCWNA Action
NJCJI has filed amicus briefs in several Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA) lawsuits, and has been following other cases quite closely. Below is an update on the cases we’re involved with and info on some other notable cases. Continue reading
Bringing Common Sense To Our Legal System
Our court system shouldn’t have to deal with suits over the length of sandwiches, amusement park rides that make kids too dizzy, and gassy co-workers. But it does.
Why? Because numerous state laws explicitly encourage litigation when other means of dispute resolution would be quicker and more cost effective; poorly drafted statutes invite endless lawsuits over their interpretation; and antiquated policies limit the ability of our state to improve its legal climate.
Things have gotten so far off track, New Jersey has been named one of the nation’s worst “judicial hellholes.” At this point, there is nowhere to go but up, and the time is right to make changes, both legislatively and via judicial action.