January 2017 Archives

In every state, including New Jersey, there are deadlines by which a lawsuit must be filed. These are called Statutes of Limitations. If the defendant is a municipal entity, there are additional notices required to be served with much shorter deadlines. These are called Tort Claims Notices.

Samuel Kirkpatrick, Jr. et al. v. Hidden View Farm and Dorothy Nesti involved an unfortunate situation where a young boy sustained serious injuries after being bitten by a horse. Samuel, who was 9 years old at the time of the incident, had accompanied his mother to a horse farm at which she was volunteering her time. While on the premises, Samuel was bitten badly on his arm by a horse at the farm, and as a result of the bite had to undergo several plastic surgeries and sustained residual scarring. Samuel's mother sued the horse's owner and the horse farm, alleging that the horse had a proclivity for aggressive behavior and that they should have taken precautions that would have prevented the horse from biting Samuel. The trial court granted summary judgment for all defendants, finding that the horse farm was protected from liability by the immunity afforded them under the Equestrian Activities Liability Act ("Equine Act"). Plaintiffs appealed the trial court's decision as to the horse farm, and the critical issue addressed by the Appellate Division was whether Samuel was a participant as defined by the Equine Act.