New Jersey-based Nursing Home Facility – Leasing Dispute

Represented the defendants in a dispute where the parties had contracted for a long-term lease of a nursing home facility, representing several million dollars of rent. After our clients ultimately decided not to move forward with the lease, they negotiated a settlement that included a general release with the owner of the facility. Notwithstanding that, the facility owner subsequently filed suit in the Superior Court of New Jersey for eight separate causes of action, including breach of contract, tortious interference, and fraud in the inducement. In its complaint, the plaintiff also argued that the release was unenforceable because it was procured by economic duress. Herrick filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the plaintiff did not plead the existence of economic duress at the level necessary to set aside the release. The court agreed with Herrick, dismissed the complaint without prejudice, and ordered that any refiled complaint contain specific facts with respect to the exact nature and extent of the economic duress at the time the release was given. This was a major victory in that there are very few New Jersey cases where a release has been enforced on a motion dismiss in the face of a claim of economic duress.