A case argued Tuesday at the state Supreme Court is testing whether a plaintiff should be held responsible if her lawyer blows the 90-day notice period mandated in the New Jersey Tort Claims Act for suits against public entities.

Late filings can be excused in cases of “extraordinary circumstances,” and the question in D.D. v. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, A-29/30-11, is whether a lawyer’s defalcation meets that standard.