More than 2,000 years ago, Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, and philosopher, wrote in De Officiis (On Moral Duties), “as the guardianship of a minor, so the administration of the State is to be conducted for the benefit, not of those to whom it is entrusted, but of those who are entrusted to their care.” Recent action of the New Jersey Legislature has underscored the enduring truth of Cicero’s point.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, Senate No. 2475 was passed by a 32-0 roll call vote; on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, only four days later, that same bill the was passed by the Assembly by a 75-0-1 vote. According to its synopsis, the bill “[p]rohibits application of fiduciary standard to insurance producers; specifies qualifications of persons providing affidavit of merit in lawsuits against insurance producers.” The sole exception to the prohibition is recognized in the rare situation “when the conduct upon which the cause of action is based involves the wrongful retention or misappropriation of any money that was received by the insurance producer, as a premium deposit or as payment of a claim.” Also, those qualified to execute an affidavit of merit are strictly limited to persons “licensed in this State” and with “particular expertise in the general area or specialty involved in the action, as evidenced by a professional designation … and by devotion of the person’s practice substantially to the general area or specialty involved in the action during the five years immediately preceding the date of the occurrence that is the basis for the claim or action.”