Schenck Price litigators William Buckley and Thomas Cotton recently persuaded the New Jersey Supreme Court to grant a petition for certification filed on behalf of a commercial landowner. At issue is the commercial landowner’s liability for acts of a third-party who allegedly intruded on the privacy rights of others.  Reversing the trial court, the Appellate Division held that the mere possibility that privacy rights were intruded upon was sufficient for the case to proceed to trial.  In filing the petition, Mr. Buckley and Mr. Cotton argued that the potential impact on real-estate and insurance industries if plaintiffs could bring speculative claims against commercial landowners is a matter of immense public importance requiring immediate review. 

The Supreme Court agreed.  The next step is the oral argument at the Court, where Mr. Buckley and Mr. Cotton will aim to convince the justices to not only consider reversing the Appellate Division, but to actually do it.  Updates will follow.