North Bergen Rex Transport, Inc. a New Jersey Corporation; and Murray Barnett, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. Trailer…

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court held that New Jersey law governs the award of attorneys’ fees and interest, affirmed that Trailer Leasing Company (TLC) was the prevailing party but found the fee award excessive, barred prejudgment interest on the attorneys’ fees, and remanded for a recalculation of reasonable fees and limited prejudgment interest. The decision rests on the procedural nature of fee awards, the Singer test for prevailing parties, and New Jersey public policy disfavoring fee shifting.