Tanenbaum Keale LLP associate Timothy R. Freeman recently authored an article published by the New Jersey Defense Association’s newsletter, New Jersey Defense, that explores why the expansion of wrongful death damages in New Jersey isn’t likely to occur in the near future.

In April 2018, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill S-1766, which was designed to expand recoverable wrongful death damages to include “mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering, loss of society, and loss of companionship.”

S-1766 would expand the current version of the state’s Wrongful Death Act, which permits the recovery of “pecuniary injuries resulting from the death,” as well as “hospital, medical, and funeral expenses incurred for the deceased.”

However, Freeman writes, “the fact that Senate Bill S-1766 has languished for over a year suggests that the economic realities associated with expansion of wrongful death damages are prevailing in the battle with advocates who favor full compensation for the emotional pain and suffering caused by the death of a close family member. “