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Cherry Hill Manor Associates v. Faugno12/6/2004
t tortfeasor relate to the harm the tort victim suffered and not to the cumulative damages the tort victim sustained as a result of multiple disparate injuries caused by multiple tortfeasors. Viewed in this manner, Faugno cannot satisfy the "same injury" requirement for the imposition of contribution liability on a joint tortfeasor.
The harm visited on plaintiff by Tuttle, Mancinelli and Faugno, although sharing a common core, was different in each instance. Tuttle caused harm to plaintiff by reason of Tuttle's failure to deliver and file a purchase money mortgage securing plaintiff's deposit monies and advances; Mancinelli caused harm to plaintiff by failing to name Tuttle in the suit against the Seller; and Faugno caused harm to plaintiff by failing to include Mancinelli in the suit against Tuttle. In those fundamental respects, the facts here differ from those present in LaBracio Family P'ship v. 1239 Roosevelt Ave., Inc., 340 N.J. Super. 155 (App. Div. 2001), relied on by both Faugno and the Appellate Division in seeking to extend joint tortfeasor contribution liability to Tuttle and Mancinelli. Unlike Faugno, who seeks contribution here from those whose allegedly tortious acts occurred before Faugno's now admitted negligence, the two attorney/claimants in LaBracio sought contribution from a successor attorney arising from the failure of all three lawyers in the same transaction to insure that a deed and mortgage were filed timely. Id. at 158-59. Under those circumstances, joint tortfeasor contribution liability was rightly apportioned among all three attorneys who shared joint liability (each for failing to file the deed and mortgage in a timely manner as part of the same real estate transaction) and who all caused the same injury (the untimely filing of the deed and mortgage that resulted in liens with priority filing listed against the realty). LaBracio, supra, is factually distinguishable and therefore not relevant to the inquiry here.
IV.
Like the Appellate Division, we are dismayed by the cottage industry of litigation that was spawned by a rather commonplace real estate transaction that occurred eighteen years ago. By this opinion, we bring this matter to an end today. We, therefore, hold that, under the circumstances of this case, the prior tortfeasors are not liable for statutory contribution to the subsequent tortfeasor because the prior and subsequent tortfeasors were not jointly or severally liable to plaintiff for the same cause of action. We further hold that the subsequent tortfeasor cannot claim statutory contribution from the prior tortfeasor inasmuch as the "injury" inflicted by the prior tortfeasors is not the "same injury" as the one inflicted by the subsequent tortfeasor.
The judgment of the Appellate Division is reversed and the judgment of the trial court is reinstated.
CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES LONG, LaVECCHIA, ZAZZALI, ALBIN, and WALLACE join in JUSTICE RIVERA-SOTO's opinion.
Chief Justice Poritz PRESIDING
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