BENEDICT FEJOKU VS. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. LINDA GUYDEN VS. LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP (L-3393-10 AND L-3571-10, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED)

CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJune 11, 2018
DocketA-1026-15T2/A-1027-15T4
StatusUnpublished

This text of BENEDICT FEJOKU VS. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. LINDA GUYDEN VS. LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP (L-3393-10 AND L-3571-10, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED) (BENEDICT FEJOKU VS. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. LINDA GUYDEN VS. LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP (L-3393-10 AND L-3571-10, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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BENEDICT FEJOKU VS. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. LINDA GUYDEN VS. LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP (L-3393-10 AND L-3571-10, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED), (N.J. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-1026-15T2 A-1027-15T4

BENEDICT FEJOKU,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC., n/k/a PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL, INC., LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP,1 LENARD LEEDS, STEVEN A. MORELLI, JEFFREY K. BROWN, and MARK FABER,

Defendants-Respondents. ________________________________

LINDA GUYDEN,

Plaintiff-Appellant/ Cross-Respondent,

LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN LLP, LENARD LEEDS, ESQ., STEVEN A. MORELLI, ESQ., and JEFFREY K. BROWN, ESQ.,

Defendants-Respondents/ Cross-Appellants.

1 According to the record, this defendant should be denominated "Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C." _______________________________________

Argued April 9, 2018 – Decided June 11, 2018

Before Judges Sabatino, Ostrer and Rose.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, Docket Nos. L- 3393-10 (A-1026-15) and L-3571-10 (A-1027- 15).

Kenneth S. Thyne argued the cause for appellant in A-1026-15 (Roper & Thyne, LLC, attorneys; Kenneth S. Thyne, on the briefs).

Angela M. Roper argued the cause for appellant/cross-respondent in A-1027-15 (Roper & Thyne, LLC, attorneys; Kenneth S. Thyne, on the briefs).

Evan H. Krinick (Rivkin Radler, LLP) of the New York bar, admitted pro hac vice, argued the cause for respondents Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC, Lenard Leeds, Steven A. Morelli, and Jeffrey K. Brown in A-1026-15 (Rivkin Radler LLP, attorneys; John J. Robertelli and Janice J. DiGennaro, on the brief).

Janice J. DiGennaro (Rivkin Radler, LLP) of the New York bar, admitted pro hac vice, argued the cause for respondents/cross- appellants Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC, Lenard Leeds, Steven A. Morelli, and Jeffrey K. Brown in A-1027-15 (Rivkin Radler LLP, attorneys; John J. Robertelli, Janice J. DiGennaro, and Michael C. Mulè, on the briefs).

David W. Field and Liza M. Velazquez (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP) of the New York bar, admitted pro hac vice, argued the cause for respondents Prudential Life Insurance Company of America and Mark E. Faber in A-1026-15 (Lowenstein Sandler LLP and Liza M. Velazquez and Amy L. Barton (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP) of the New

2 A-1026-15T2 York bar, admitted pro hac vice, attorneys; David W. Field, Liza M. Velazquez, and Amy L. Barton, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

These related appeals2 by two plaintiffs in this legal

malpractice matter arise out of the broader setting of employment

discrimination claims brought by them individually and by over 300

other employees against Prudential Life Insurance Company of

America. Both plaintiffs ceased being represented by the law firm

("the Leeds firm") that had initially represented them, after

learning the full details of a fee arrangement with Prudential

that rewarded the law firm for steering its clients into

alternative dispute resolution processes.

Ultimately, with the assistance of substitute counsel, and

after moving in federal court to set aside an unfavorable

arbitration ruling, plaintiff Linda Guyden obtained a monetary

settlement from Prudential. Guyden then sued the Leeds firm and

three of its partners in the Law Division, alleging various acts

of malpractice and malfeasance. Plaintiff Benedict Fejoku, who

procured no settlement or favorable outcome on his own

discrimination claims, sued the Leeds firm on similar grounds,

naming Prudential and others as co-defendants. The two lawsuits

2 We consolidate these appeals solely for purposes of this opinion.

3 A-1026-15T2 were administratively assigned to the same trial court vicinage,

along with comparable lawsuits by other former Leeds clients.

In successive rulings, the trial court granted summary

judgment to all defendants, dismissing the lawsuits of both Guyden

and Fejoku. Fundamentally, the court concluded that, by

discontinuing the services of their original law firm (Leeds) long

before their cases had ended, plaintiffs extracted themselves from

the sphere of any initial wrongdoing or malpractice, and thus

could not demonstrate proximate causation of compensable injury.

The court made other various rulings, some of which are challenged

in the present appeals.

For the reasons that follow, we uphold the trial court's

rulings, except we remand for further proceedings solely with

respect to Guyden. On remand, the court shall develop the record

definitively and resolve the critical factual question of whether

Prudential, before settling, offered Guyden the opportunity to set

aside the arbitration award and allow her to litigate her

discrimination claims in court. If such an offer was never made,

then the court's dispositive finding of a lack of sufficient proof

of proximate causation as to Guyden was mistaken, and summary

judgment shall be vacated in her case. If the court on remand

finds there is a genuine factual dispute as to whether such an

4 A-1026-15T2 offer was extended, that factual question shall be resolved by a

jury.

The summary judgment issued against Fejoku, however, is

affirmed. We also uphold the trial court's other challenged

rulings.

I.

In 1999, the Leeds firm entered into a written agreement with

Prudential to attempt to have clients agree to take part in

Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") processes of mediation and

arbitration, in lieu of litigating their claims in court. 3

Prudential agreed to pay the Leeds firm a non-refundable $5 million

in counsel fees, consisting of a $3.5 million advance, with an

additional $1.5 million to be paid to the firm by August 1999 or

when the first one hundred claims settled. According to

plaintiffs, the Leeds firm did not tell them contemporaneously the

terms of this fee arrangement; they only knew Prudential would be

paying the fees of their lawyers as part of the ADR process.

Guyden is an African-American certified public accountant who

was hired by Prudential in September 1997. She eventually resigned

in March 2001. She claims she was paid a lower salary, given a

3 This agreement has already been described in this court's related published opinion in Lederman v. Prudential Life Ins. Co., 385 N.J. Super. 324, 334 (App. Div. 2006), which we incorporate by reference here.

5 A-1026-15T2 lower bonus, and denied promotions three times because of her

race, in comparison with non-minority employees who allegedly

received better treatment.

Fejoku is a native of Nigeria who was hired as a staff

accountant by Prudential in 1992. He claims he was denied

promotions, harassed, and had to work in a hostile work environment

due to his race.

Both Fejoku and Guyden, and many other claimants, met at

Leeds' New York offices in May 1999 and signed an agreement which

specified their claims would be pursued exclusively through an ADR

process. Eventually the Leeds firm's representation of Guyden and

Fejoku discontinued.

Guyden retained new counsel, who filed suit against

Prudential in federal court. The matter was referred to

arbitration pursuant to the ADR agreement. After several days of

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BENEDICT FEJOKU VS. PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. LINDA GUYDEN VS. LEEDS, MORELLI & BROWN, LLP (L-3393-10 AND L-3571-10, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benedict-fejoku-vs-prudential-life-insurance-company-of-america-inc-njsuperctappdiv-2018.