Court Opinion

ID: 9482855
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:02:46.988263+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:14.922897
License: Public Domain

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Circuit Judge
(Concurring).
I find Judge Poliak’s careful analysis unanswerable on the only question that really matters — what is the current law of New Jersey? Since we must follow New Jersey law, I agree with the court’s opinion. Northbrook’s argument that the Supreme Court of New Jersey would not follow the decisions of that state’s intermediate appellate court is seriously undercut by Northbrook’s actions in this very ease. Because it was Northbrook which removed the case from the New Jersey Superior Court to the District Court for the District of New Jersey, Northbrook is hard-pressed to argue that the case would have been decided in its favor in the state court system. See, e.g., Kassel v. Gannett Co., Inc., 875 F.2d 935, 950 (1st Cir.1989) (party who “reject[s] state-court forum in favor of a federal forum ... is in a perilously poor position to grumble when we follow existing state precedent”); Porter v. Nutter, 913 F.2d 37, 41 (1st Cir.1990).
This case clearly demonstrates how unfortunate it is that New Jersey lacks a certification law or rule. It should be, but alas is not, possible for us to certify this important question to the state’s highest court. If we could do so, all guesswork would be eliminated. As the United States Supreme Court has noted, certification “save[s] time, energy, and resources and helps build a cooperative judicial federalism.” Lehman Brothers v. Schein, 416 U.S. 386, 391, 94 S.Ct. 1741, 1744, 40 L.Ed.2d 215 (1974).
I am particularly distressed about the lack of a certification procedure in New Jersey because I agree with Judge La-gueux that the most appropriate construction of the policy language is the one the district court adopted. But too many courts have gone the other way for us to apply our own reading, no matter how enlightened we may think it is, given the strong indication by New Jersey’s lower courts that New Jersey law is different.
MEMORANDUM ON DENIAL OF REHEARING
On April 15, 1992, an Order was entered on behalf of this panel denying North-brook’s petition for rehearing. In the *99present memorandum, filed subsequent to said Order, the panel sets forth the reasons behind its denial.
Northbrook’s April 7, 1992 petition for rehearing presents five contentions:
1. Northbrook’s first contention is that the panel opinion ignored “the unrebutted factual record which supports the decision of the district court;” more particularly, it is argued that “Northbrook provided a record which showed in exquisite detail that CPC clearly understood the North-brook policy to exclude coverage for gradual discharges of pollutants occurring as a regular part of CPC’s business.” The contention was not addressed by the district court in its opinion granting summary judgment. It is presumably open to North-brook to present the contention to the district court on remand. Compare Diamond Shamrock Chemicals v. The Aetna Casualty & Surety, A-694-89T1, slip op. at 45-48, 1992 WL 150686 (N.J.Super.Ct.App.Div. April 6, 1992).
2. and 4. The second and fourth contentions — that the panel erred in “rejecting persuasive data on how the New Jersey Supreme Court would apply the pollution exclusion,” and that the panel should have been guided by the Fourth Circuit’s reading of New Jersey law in Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Triangle Indus., 957 F.2d 1153 (4th Cir.1992) — undertake to reargue matters addressed in the panel opinion. See also Gilbert Spruance Co. v. Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance Company, 254 N.J.Super. 43, 46, 603 A.2d 61, 62 (N.J.Super.Ct.App.Div. Feb. 14, 1992); Diamond Shamrock, slip op. at 35-45.
3. The third contention — that “[e]ven under Broadwell, [Broadwell Realty Services, Inc. v. Fidelity & Casualty Co., 218 N.J.Super.Ct. 516, 528 A.2d 76 (1987) ], the record establishes that Northbrook was entitled to summary judgment in its favor,” was not addressed in the district court’s opinion and was not argued in North-brook’s brief in this court.
5. The fifth contention is that “a decision after oral argument in this ease indicates that New Jersey itself might defer to the law of another state in deciding how the pollution exclusion is to be applied;” specifically, it is argued that, pursuant to the choice-of-law discussion in the Appellate Division’s opinion in Gilbert Spruance, supra, 254 N.J.Super. at 51, 603 A.2d at 65, “a New Jersey court would look to Rhode Island law to interpret the pollution exclusion and cases such as Broadwell or, by extension, New Castle County [New Castle County v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company, 933 F.2d 1162 (3d Cir.1991) ] would not be controlling in any event.” An April 9, 1992 letter from counsel to Northbrook supplements the petition for rehearing, citing the choice-of-law discussion in the Appellate Division’s opinion in Diamond Shamrock, supra, slip op. pp. 31-33, to the same effect.
It is certainly arguable that Gilbert Spruance and Diamond Shamrock carry as far as Northbrook contends they do. But cf., Armotek Industries v. Employers Insurance of Wausau, 952 F.2d 756, 759 n. 4 (3d Cir.1991). However, the argument is one that Northbrook cannot press on petition for reargument since Northbrook did not properly preserve the issue in its brief on appeal. It will be recalled that the district court, prior to the ruling on summary judgment, had made a choice-of-law ruling that a New Jersey court would apply the substantive law of New Jersey. North-brook sought, unsuccessfully, to have the choice-of-law question certified to this court. The subsequent district court proceedings culminated in the district court’s grant of summary judgment in North-brook’s favor, based on the district court’s reading of New Jersey substantive law. CPC appealed. Appellee Northbrook in its brief on appeal alluded to the choice-of-law question in responding to an argument made in the brief of appellant CPC. But Northbrook did not affirmatively contend that this court, if not prepared to affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment, should determine that the district court’s choice-of-law ruling had been erroneous and should not govern further proceedings in the district court. With mat*100ters in that posture, the panel opinion characterized the district court’s choice-of-law ruling as “law of the case.” Whether, on remand, it would be (a) within the district court’s authority, and/or (b) an appropriate exercise of the district court’s discretion, to reexamine the choice-of-law question are matters about which we think it would not be appropriate for us to engage in advisory opining.
Accordingly, the petition for panel rehearing has been denied.