Blank Rome Secures Significant Appellate Victory in Gore v. Nagel
A Blank Rome team secured a significant victory in Gore v. Nagel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court’s full opinion can be read here.
The case began as a putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, brought by plaintiffs who had settled their pelvic mesh claims in a Texas court and then claimed that protective actions filed in state court in New Jersey before the settlement was reached in Texas violated the New Jersey Contingency Fee Rule because Texas law allowed a larger contingency fee than did the New Jersey Court Rule.
The Blank Rome team filed a motion to dismiss in the district court before Judge Arleo in Newark, New Jersey. Judge Arleo dismissed the case, concluding that Texas law, not New Jersey law, applied. The plaintiffs then appealed to the Third Circuit, which attempted to certify a question of state law to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Blank Rome team opposed the Third Circuit’s request to certify before the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the New Jersey Supreme Court denied the Third Circuit’s request to certify—a significant win in and of itself. The case returned to the docket of the Third Circuit, and the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s opinion on May 27, 2021. The Third Circuit concluded, as did the district court, that Texas law, not New Jersey law, applied.
For more information, please read 3rd Circuit Clears Texas Lawyers Accused of Charging Excessive Fees in New Jersey Pelvic Mesh Suits (New Jersey Law Journal, May 27, 2021) and 3rd Circ. Says NJ Cap Doesn't Block Mesh Case Fees in Texas (Law360, May 27, 2021).
The Blank Rome team included Stephen M. Orlofsky, Adrienne C. Rogove and Michael R. Darbee.