The New Jersey Appellate Division declined to reinstate plaintiff Leslie J. Deans’ personal injury claim and found that she failed to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances as to why she and her attorney failed to appear for court-ordered arbitration in the matter.

On Sept. 20, 2020, Deans filed a complaint in which she alleged that she slipped and fell, and was injured while walking in a parking lot owned by the defendant, Vista 2016. Both Deans and her counsel failed to appear at court-ordered arbitration that was scheduled for Nov. 30, 2021. The arbitration was conducted without their presence and the arbitrator made an award in favor of the defendant and effectively entered a no cause of action award, according to the appellate court’s per curiam opinion filed June 14.