ESTATE OF RONALD DOERFLER, ET AL. VS. FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY STEPHANIE E. DOERFLER VS. CHUBB INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY (L-2960-14 AND L-0483-14, OCEAN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED) (A-3352-15T2/A-3353-15T2)
This court consolidates these two insurance coverage cases for purposes of this opinion. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The motion judge reserved decision at the conclusion of oral argument and entered orders that same day that granted the insurers' motions for summary judgment and denied the insureds' cross-motions. The judge did not issue a written opinion or oral decision, nor make factual findings or conclusions of law as required by Rule 1:7-4(a). In a Final Judgment entered a month later, the judge dismissed the insureds' complaints with prejudice "for the reasons set forth in [the insurers'] motion papers."
Although the standard of review from the grant or denial of summary judgment is de novo, the function of an appellate court is to review the decision of the trial court, not to decide the motion tabula rasa. The requirements of Rule 1:7-4(a) are unambiguous and cannot be carried out by the motion judge by a nebulous allusion to "the reasons set forth in defendant[s]' motion papers." Reversed and remanded.
