Menz Bonner & Komar LLP Persuades the New Jersey Appellate Division Court to Affirm Trial Court Order That New Jersey Uninsured Motorist Law Was Not Retroactive

On July 31, 2009, a panel of New Jersey's Appellate Division affirmed an order of the Superior Court that granted Menz Bonner & Komar LLP's motion on behalf of Hartford Insurance Group. The trial court had held that an amendment to New Jersey's Uninsured Motorist Law was not retroactive. The plaintiff, who was injured in an automobile accident, had sued to recover under a policy issued by Hartford that provided coverage where a driver is uninsured or underinsured. Hartford's $1 million policy included what is known as a "step down" clause that limited the amount recoverable to the highest amount available under any policy that the injured person maintained individually. After the suit was filed, New Jersey amended its insurance laws to preclude the use of a "step down" clause such as the one that appeared in the Hartford policy. Menz Bonner & Komar LLP moved to dismiss the case in the Superior Court on the basis that the law's amendment was not retroactive as to the Hartford policy. After the trial court ruled that the law was not retroactive, the plaintiff appealed, but the Appellate Division agreed with the trial court that the law should not apply retroactively and dismissed the case.