FRANK J. TAYLOR v. RICHARD WEINER

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-3080-04T53080-04T5

FRANK J. TAYLOR,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

RICHARD WEINER,

Defendant-Respondent.

______________________________________

 

Submitted: December 5, 2005 - Decided February 24, 2006

Before Judges A. A. Rodr guez and Yannotti.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, L-10983-02.

Frank J. Taylor, appellant pro se.

Richard Weiner, respondent pro se.

PER CURIAM

On June 10, 1973, when Jeffrey Taylor was two years old, he was accidentally burned in a flash fire in the cellar of his home. Jeffrey was hospitalized at Livingston Hospital Burn Center for almost six months.

Six years after the accident, Jeffrey's parents, Frank Taylor (appellant) and Hazel Taylor, met attorney Richard Weiner. Weiner was retained to represent Jeffrey. According to appellant, Weiner assured them that "there would be nothing put in writing against [him or his wife] in Jeffrey's case because it was an accident."

The allegations of the complaint were that an intermittent electric spark ignition system, which was exposed by air venting in Jeffrey's parents' General Electric clothes dryer, ignited gasoline vapors. The gasoline had been stored in a used and empty Clorox bottle on an outside flight of stairs leading to the cellar. Sometime before the accident, Jeffrey's mother had taken the Clorox bottle to defendant Abate Amoco Station to fill it with gasoline for use in the family's power lawn mower. While Jeffrey was playing in the area of the cellar and outside stairwell, the Clorox bottle upset. Its cap loosened and fell off. Gasoline spilled down the cellar stairs to the area of the dryer. This caused the fire.

Jeffrey, by his guardian ad litem, Jack Wurgaft, Esq., sued General Electric Company, the Clorox Company, Elizabethtown Gas Company, Abate Amoco Station, Amoco Oil Corporation; and his parents. Some of the claims were resolved by way of summary judgment. See Taylor by Wurgaft v. General Elec. Co., 208 N.J. Super. 207 (App. Div.) certif. denied, 104 N.J. 379 (1986). The remaining claims were settled in 1986.

Many years after the accident and the settlement of Jeffrey's suit, appellant learned that he was a named defendant in Jeffrey's suit. As a result, he sued Weiner, "to clear his name of any wrongdoing and for giving false statements to [Appellant] in order to be retained as Jeffrey Taylor's attorney."

Weiner moved to dismiss this lawsuit because it was filed after the period of limitations. Judge Donald Goldman granted the motion noting the following on the order:

This lawsuit is extremely untimely. It alleges false statements in a case with an alleged docket number of 029827-81. It alleges a settlement of that case in 1986, 18 years ago. While there may be other defenses available other than the statute of limitations defenses set for in the Motion for Summary Judgment, those defenses are valid and warrant dismissal.

On appeal, appellant contends that Weiner named him as a defendant in the case "without Mr. Taylor's knowledge or presence in court to defend himself." We affirm substantially for the reasons expressed by Judge Goldman in the August 27, 2004 order of dismissal.

 
Affirmed.

Appellant's brief asserts that the accident occurred on June 9, 1973.

There was a similar lawsuit in the federal district court for New Jersey, which was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

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A-3080-04T5

February 24, 2006