August 6, 2021 – Newman, Simpson & Cohen, LLP’s Litigation Practice Group Wins Appeal Pursuant to Which The Appellate Division Ruled in Favor of the Firm’s Commercial Lender Client and Reversed the Trial Court’s Judgment Based on an Insufficient Equitable Lien Claim.

Newman, Simpson & Cohen, LLP successfully appealed a trial court ruling that improperly recognized an equitable lien in favor of a commercial real estate broker for commissions and that the unrecorded equitable lien had priority over a commercial lender’s recorded first mortgage.  The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division wholly agreed with our arguments that the real estate broker failed to satisfy any of the requisite factors to establish an equitable lien and that the lender had no contractual obligation to pay the commissions from the proceeds of the sale of the real estate, which was subject to the lender’s mortgage.  Accordingly, the Appellate Division summarily reversed the trial court’s ruling and dismissed the complaint against our client.  Recon Realty v. Marjac, No. A-2361-19, 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1658, 2021 WL 3440523 (App. Div. Aug. 6, 2021)