New Jersey has a statute that says that, if you want to sue a licensed professional for negligence or malpractice, you need to find a like professional to vouch for your claim. CA3 today ruled that this requirement applies to an intentional tort claim seeking money damages, a result it admitted was “counterintuitive (one may argue illogical),” affirming the district court’s dismissal.

The case is Nuveen Municipal Trust v. Withumsmith Brown. Opinion by Ambro, joined by Vanaskie and Aldisert. Arguing counsel were Robert Heim (who was impressive on a class-actions panel at the CA3 conference last week) and Scotus regular Eric Brunstad for the appellant; Michael Canning, Donald Campbell, and Louis Modugno for appellees. Goes to show that the side with the superstar lawyers doesn’t always win.

For more: Bruce Greenberg’s New Jersey Appellate Law blog analysis here.