Burd v. New Jersey Telephone Company

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Conford, P. J. A. D.

(temporarily assigned). This appeal calls for further particularization of the rationale of the discovery rule in personal injury litigation as laid down in Lopez v. Swyer, 62 N. J. 267 (1973). The essence of the rule was there stated: “ * * * in an appropriate case a cause of action will be held not to accrue until the injured party discovers, or by an exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence should have discovered that he may have a basis for an actionable claim.” Id. at 272.

In this case plaintiff sustained a heart attack…