Perez v. Professionally Green, LLC, 215 N.J. 388

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court held that a private plaintiff seeking attorneys’ fees under the Consumer Fraud Act must present a bona fide claim of ascertainable loss capable of surviving dispositive scrutiny. A technical violation of the Act, followed by involuntary dismissal at trial because the plaintiff failed to establish ascertainable loss, did not support an award of attorneys’ fees. The Court reversed the Appellate Division and upheld dismissal of the fee claim.

Holdings

1. A private Consumer Fraud Act plaintiff is not entitled to attorneys' fees under N.J.S.A. 56:8-19 when the trial court grants the defendant's Rule 4:37-2(b) motion for involuntary dismissal because the plaintiff failed to present evidence from which a rational factfinder could find ascertainable loss.
2. The denial of the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment on ascertainable loss did not itself determine whether plaintiffs had a viable claim for attorneys' fees, because the motion merely established that a rational factfinder could potentially resolve the issue in the defendants' favor and did not test the claim against a defense motion for summary judgment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a Consumer Fraud Act plaintiff may recover attorneys' fees when the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on ascertainable loss was denied and the defendant later obtained involuntary dismissal of the ascertainable-loss claim under Rule 4:37-2(b).
2. Whether a trial court's involuntary dismissal under Rule 4:37-2(b) establishes that the plaintiff lacks the bona fide ascertainable-loss claim required for attorneys' fees under N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded