04-2-4798 Lee v. Policastro , App. Div. (per curiam) (36 pp.) In this transactional legal-malpractice action relating to the discharge of a mortgage, plaintiffs held a third mortgage on commercial property. When a buyer required the discharge of the third mortgage as a condition of sale, plaintiffs entered into a side agreement with a nonparty to discharge their mortgage in return for $200,000 payable at closing. Attorney-defendants released the discharge to the buyer prior to closing and plaintiffs were never paid. Attorney-defendants filed a third-party complaint against the attorney who represented plaintiffs in the side agreement. The jury returned a verdict against the attorneys, apportioned 90 percent to attorney-defendants and 10 percent to the third-party defendant. Here, the panel affirms the trial judge’s grant of defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and the dismissal of the complaint with prejudice based on the judge’s holding that the failure to escrow the discharge was not a proximate cause of any harm incurred by plaintiffs. [Decided July 31, 2009.]
CIVIL PROCEDURE — SETTLEMENTS
07-2-4800 Marlton Meadows Condominium Association Inc. v. Diaz , App. Div. (per curiam) (6 pp.) The denial of defendant’s motion to vacate a settlement with plaintiff regarding the removal of noncompliant window grids is affirmed for the reasons expressed by the trial judge, who found no exceptional circumstances warranting the vacation or that enforcement would be inequitable. [Decided July 31, 2009.]
