In the case of a Jersey City teacher killed along with his 5-year-old daughter in a car accident at a New Jersey Turnpike toll plaza, the state Supreme Court has taken up the issue of whether a lawyer’s service of process error amounts to extraordinary circumstances sufficient to skirt dismissal because of a late tort claims notice.
In a May 21 order, the court granted a petition for certification in O’Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority, presenting the question: “Was the failure of plaintiffs’ first attorney to serve a timely tort claim notice against defendant an extraordinary circumstance justifying plaintiffs’ late tort claim notice under N.J.S.A. 59:8-9?”
