Cherry Hill Manor Assocs. v. Faugno

Cherry Hill Manor Assocs. v. Faugno

Opinion

 [*67]  [**124]   Justice RIVERA-SOTO delivered the opinion of the Court.

These consolidated petitions for certification present the question whether a defendant [**125]  can seek statutory contribution against third-party defendants when the original plaintiff is legally barred from proceeding directly against any of the third-party defendants. The trial court held that the third-party defendants could not be considered joint tortfeasors with the defendant because the third-party defendants were not jointly or severally liable in tort for the same injury to plaintiff as was defendant. The Appellate Division disagreed, reversed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the third-party defendants, and remanded the cause for trial. Cherry Hill Manor Assocs. v. Faugno, 365 N.J. Super. 313, 839 A.2d 95 (App.Div.2004).

We hold that, under the circumstances present here, the third-party defendants were not jointly liable for the same injury to plaintiff as was defendant. We, therefore, reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division and reinstate the [***9]  judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the third-party defendants and against defendant.

As with many a convoluted tale, this one started simply enough. However, in order to fairly present the relevant facts, we must  [*68]  wind our way back some eighteen years through one failed business transaction, three prior lawsuits, one bankruptcy proceeding, two prior appeals to the Appellate Division, and one earlier denial of certification from this Court before we even reach this case.

During October 1986, plaintiff Cherry Hill Manor Associates attempted to purchase a then-mostly unbuilt 16-unit condominium project from Cherry Hill Manor, Inc. (Seller). In this purchase and sale, plaintiff was represented by Timothy Tuttle, Esq. (Tuttle). As part of its contractual obligations, plaintiff paid both a $ 300,000 deposit and advanced an additional $ 345,000 to Seller. As counsel for plaintiff, Tuttle was charged with the obligation to insure that plaintiff's deposit monies and advances were secured by a purchase money mortgage on the condominium project. Matters quickly deteriorated. For reasons undisclosed in this record, the purchase money mortgage that was to secure [***10]  plaintiff's investment in this project was neither delivered nor filed of record and, eventually, Seller defaulted on the transaction.

Three years later, plaintiff retained Robert J. Mancinelli, Esq. and his law firm, Carver & Mancinelli (collectively, Mancinelli), to recover from Seller the aggregate of $ 645,000 in deposit monies and advances paid by plaintiff. On November 8, 1989, plaintiff, through its lawyer Mancinelli, sued Seller; for reasons also unexplained in this record, plaintiff did not name its original lawyer, Tuttle, as a party defendant in that suit. Seller filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy and, on April 24, 1992, Seller's debts were discharged. Faced with no prospect of recovery, plaintiff dismissed its complaint against Seller.

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