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Erny v. Estate of Merola1/30/2002
Argued September 24, 2001
On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, whose opinion is reported at 333 N.J. Super. 88 (2000).
The choice-of-law question presented in this appeal requires the Court to decide whether New Jersey or New York law should apply to determine the joint and several liability of the defendants. The underlying occurrence was an automobile accident in New Jersey that involved a New Jersey plaintiff and two New York defendants. After a trial the New York defendant drivers were found sixty and forty percent at fault respectively. New Jersey's law shields all defendants less than sixty percent at fault from joint liability for damages in excess of their apportioned responsibility. New York's law specifically subjects defendants in auto negligence actions to joint and several liability irrespective of their allocated percentage of fault, consistent with that state's policy of providing recovery to plaintiffs in such cases. To resolve the choice-of-law question, we must evaluate the respective interests of the two involved states to determine the state that has the most significant interest in governing the joint and several liability issue. Having done so, we conclude that New York law has primacy in these circumstances.
I.
On May 17, 1992, plaintiff Christine Erny, a New Jersey resident, was injured in a multi-car accident on Route 287 in Franklin Township, New Jersey. Her husband, Matthew Erny, was driving the pick-up truck in which she was a passenger. The chain of events that caused the accident began when Roy Russo, a New York resident, while driving in a southerly direction on Route 287, crossed into the travel lane of Antoinette Merola, also a New York resident, causing Merola to lose control of her car and cross over the median into oncoming northbound traffic. Merola's car collided head-on with the Erny's pick-up truck and another vehicle. Merola was killed and several others were injured. As a result of the crash, Ms. Erny lost her spleen and left kidney and suffered other serious injuries.
Merola's car was registered and insured in New York; it was owned by her husband, Milton Merola. Russo was a student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania at the time of the accident. He traveled from his home in New York through New Jersey to go to and from school. Russo's car was owned by his mother, Terry Russo, and the car was registered and insured in New York. Merola's car was covered under an automobile insurance policy having liability limits of $100,000 per occurrence; Russo's car was covered under an automobile policy with a liability limit of $1.5 million per occurrence.
Plaintiff instituted this negligence action in December 1992 against the Estate of Antoinette Merola, Milton Merola (the Merola defendants), Russo, Matthew Erny and a fictitious named defendant. Additional claims were filed by three other New Jersey residents and a foreign resident injured in the accident. Those additional claims were settled before the damages trial. In May 1993, the Merola defendants instituted a negligence/wrongful death action in the Supreme Court of New York against Russo and his mother (the Russo defendants). The Russo defendants moved to dismiss the New York action because of the pending action in New Jersey. Notwithstanding opposition by the Merola defendants, the motion was granted on comity grounds and the New York action was dismissed without prejudice. The Merola defendants then amended their cross-claim in the New Jersey action to assert claims for damages against the Russo defendants. The trial court bifurcated the issues of liability and damages. The court also denied Milton Merola's motion for summary
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