{"id":893143,"date":"2017-11-08T15:33:29","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T22:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=893143"},"modified":"2017-11-08T15:33:29","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T22:33:29","slug":"objectors-beware-exposure-claims-brought-adversely-impacted-developers-alive-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/objectors-beware-exposure-claims-brought-adversely-impacted-developers-alive-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Objectors Beware \u2013 Exposure to Claims Brought by Adversely Impacted Developers is Alive and Well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Carl A. Rizzo | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csrealconblog.com\/2017\/10\/articles\/construction\/land-use-and-development\/objectors-beware-exposure-claims-brought-adversely-impacted-developers-alive-well\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cole Schotz PC<\/a> | October 31, 2017<\/p>\n<p>Parties objecting to development projects have traditionally been immunized from liability for common law torts, such as malicious prosecution, abuse of process and tortious interference.\u00a0 This immunity, grounded in the well-recognized Noerr-Pennington doctrine, affords immunity to those who petition the government for redress.\u00a0 (<u>See\u00a0\u00a0<\/u><u>Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc.<\/u>365\u00a0<u>U.S.\u00a0<\/u>\u00a0127 (1961);\u00a0<u>United Mine Workers of America v. Pennington,<\/u>\u00a0381\u00a0<u>U.S.<\/u>\u00a0657 (1965) (holding that parties seeking relief from the government are generally afforded immunity unless such actions are objectively baseless).<\/p>\n<p>While the immunity afforded objectors has been a difficult one to breach, recent decisions suggest that actions brought against these objectors require careful review of the facts and underlying circumstances before they can be summarily dismissed.\u00a0 In order to overcome Noerr-Pennington immunity, a litigant must satisfy a two-prong test:\u00a0 First, proof must be established that the actions of the objector were \u201cobjectively baseless,\u201d meaning no reasonable litigant could realistically expect success on the merits of its claims.\u00a0 Second, proofs must also establish that the conduct in question was brought with the specific intent to further wrongful conduct through the use of the governmental process \u2013 as opposed to the outcome of that process.\u00a0 Importantly, the second prong is only considered if the challenged litigation is first found to be objectively meritless.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, however, meeting the first prong has been made easier by our court\u2019s consideration of an objector\u2019s track record and the presence of other repeated failed filings.\u00a0 (<u>See<\/u>\u00a0<u>Main Street at Woolwich, LLC v. Ammons Supermarket, Inc.<\/u>\u00a0451\u00a0<u>N.J. Super.<\/u>\u00a0135 (App. Div. 2017).\u00a0 In\u00a0<u>Main Street<\/u>, the court relied upon a Third Circuit decision in holding that the trial court failed to properly consider the defendant\u2019s alleged pattern of sham litigation.\u00a0\u00a0Hanover 3201 Realty, LLC v. Village Supermarkets, Inc.\u00a0806\u00a0<u>F.3d<\/u>\u00a0162, 180 (3<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0Cir. 2015),\u00a0<u>cert. denied<\/u>\u00a0__\u00a0<u>U.S. __,<\/u>\u00a0136\u00a0<u>S.Ct.<\/u>\u00a02451 (2016).\u00a0 By demonstrating that an objector has engaged in a series of unsuccessful administrative and\/or court challenges, developers can establish that this activity represents a pattern of utilizing the process to serve the anticompetitive purpose of injuring market rivals.\u00a0 Under such circumstances, a court could very well conclude that the claims of such objectors were not brought to redress any actual grievances, but rather to promote delay and cause injury.\u00a0 Accordingly, this broad immunity can be lost where the conduct at issue is merely intended to interfere directly with the business relationships of a competitor.<\/p>\n<p>As a consequence, before filing any action seeking government redress, a putative objector, much like any other litigant, should carefully evaluate the bases for its objections with a legal professional to ensure that they are both grounded in fact as well as supported by sound legal underpinnings.\u00a0 To do otherwise is to invite abuse of process type claims that now have a much greater likelihood of success.\u00a0 Reviewing any possible strategy that involves objecting to a rival\u2019s application for development is now, more than ever, a critically important step to insulating the objector from exposure to counter-suits that were previously viewed as questionable nuisance type actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carl A. Rizzo | Cole Schotz PC | October 31, 2017 Parties objecting to development projects have traditionally been immunized from liability for common law torts, such as malicious prosecution, abuse of process and tortious interference.\u00a0 This immunity, grounded in the well-recognized Noerr-Pennington doctrine, affords immunity to those who petition the government for redress.\u00a0 (See\u00a0\u00a0Eastern&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/objectors-beware-exposure-claims-brought-adversely-impacted-developers-alive-well\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Objectors Beware \u2013 Exposure to Claims Brought by Adversely Impacted Developers is Alive and Well<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,3],"tags":[9895,10293,10292,3],"class_list":["post-893143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","category-insurance-claims","tag-advise-consult","tag-common-law-torts","tag-developers","tag-insurance-claims","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Objectors Beware \u2013 Exposure to Claims Brought by Adversely Impacted Developers is Alive and Well - Advise &amp; 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