Petitioners appealed the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) decision to approve a plan to construct a natural gas compressor station. The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing dismissed the appeal, concluding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Petitioners appealed that dismissal. The question before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court was whether Section 19(d)(1) of…
Petitioners appealed the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) decision to approve a plan to construct a natural gas compressor station. The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing dismissed the appeal, concluding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Petitioners appealed that dismissal. The question before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court was whether Section 19(d)(1) of the federal Natural Gas Act… Continue reading Cole v. Pa. Dep’t Envtl. Prot.
In Klotz v. Celentano Stadtmauer & Walentowicz LLP, the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s order granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. A hospital retained the defendant law firm to collect a debt incurred by the plaintiff’s husband. The husband died before paying the debt and did… Continue reading Klotz v. Celentano Stadtmauer & Walentowicz LLP
After receiving an answer to its certified question from the New Jersey Supreme Court, the 3rd Circuit ruled in Sun Chem. Corp. v. Fike Corp. The Court had to determine whether the nature of the actions Sun Chemical brought regarding an industrial accident was based on “something was wrong” with a piece of equipment, or… Continue reading Sun Chem. Corp. v. Fike Corp.
In Fraternal Order of Police, Newark Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark, the NJ Supreme Court weighed in on a hot-button topic that was on its docket prior to George Floyd’s murder: civilian oversight boards and local police departments. The Court found that the city had the authority to create the oversight board, but… Continue reading Fraternal Order of Police, Newark Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark
In Sun Chem. Corp. v. Fike Corp. & Suppression Sys. Inc., the NJ Supreme Court responded to a certified question from the 3rd Circuit, and in so doing, dealt a blow to tort-reform advocates. The Court held that the state’s Products Liabilities Act — which allows for only basic tort damages — does not preempt… Continue reading Sun Chem. Corp. v. Fike Corp. & Suppression Sys. Inc.
The 3rd Circuit handed Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro a nice win in Commonwealth v. Navient Corp., when it held that the AG’s Office could maintain a concurrent enforcement action against a student loan provider at the same time as a similar action by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Consumer Financial Protection… Continue reading Commonwealth v. Navient Corp.
The Appellate Division held in Bandler v. Landry’s, Inc. that the Casino Control Act does not preempt a private cause of action for false advertising under the Consumer Fraud Act.
In Plastic Surgery Ctr. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., the 3rd Circuit held that ERISA’s broad preemption clause found in section 514(a) does not preempt service providers from bringing common-law claims — such as breach of contract and promissory estoppel — against benefits providers when those benefits providers renege on their contractual obligations to pay… Continue reading Plastic Surgery Ctr. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.
In Arafa v. Health Express Corp., the New Jersey Supreme Court held that when the Federal Arbitration Act exempts a contract from arbitration, the state analog — the New Jersey Arbitration Act — may still apply and the FAA does not preempt the NJAA.