No intermediate review of PIP arbitration proceedings.

The Appellate Division concluded that judicial review of an intermediate ruling is not one of the APDRA procedures the Commissioner has made "applicable" to PIP arbitration proceedings. In further support of this position, the Appellate Division also focused on public policy considerations of premature entanglement of the judiciary in PIP arbitrations would run at cross purposes with the legislative goal of achieving the four objectives of the "No Fault Act." In view of this strong public policy against judicial intervention in ongoing PIP arbitration proceedings, the Appellate Division was unwilling to read the general language of N.J.A.C. 11:3-5.1(a) as an expression of the Commissioner's intent to adopt the procedures set forth in N.J.S.A. 2A:23A-7(a) for judicial review of intermediate rulings as part of the system for arbitration of PIP disputes.

Case Law Alert - 2nd Qtr 2011