A case concerning discovery disputes has landed before the New Jersey Appellate Division for the second time for what the court cited as “persistent non-compliance with discovery requests” by the defendants/third-party plaintiffs to provide responsive answers and documents to support its counterclaims.

In November 2018, a Middlesex County judge entered an order striking with prejudice the answer, counterclaims, and third-party claims of the defendants/third-party plaintiffs, ARF Realty Management and ARF Realty Investors, for failure to comply with discovery obligations. On a first appeal, the Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s order and directed the trial court to make specific findings of fact concerning whether there were grounds to dismiss ARF’s claims.