Sean Byrnes wins Summary Judgment in Solar Development Approval Case

In a case involving the rights to certain solar development approvals pending before the Superior Court, Law Division, Bergen County, Byrnes, O’Hern filed a summary judgment motion, and the Court dismissed all claims against the client. The Plaintiff attempted to assert rights related to certain solar approvals, while Sean Byrnes argued on behalf of his client that the Plaintiff could not assert any right to solar approvals without control of the land upon which the solar development would be constructed.  When the Plaintiff’s lease was terminated, the defendant entered into a new lease.  Defendants argued that Plaintiffs lost their rights to the property when they defaulted on their lease payment. Defendants contended that they were therefore free to take over the solar farm project. In response, Plaintiffs argued that defendants breached an NDA between the parties, which allowed defendants to succeed to the project. The court granted defendants’ summary judgment motion. The court agreed with defendants that Plaintiffs had failed to prove any breach of contract by defendants that resulted in the losses alleged by Plaintiffs. Instead, the court held that Plaintiffs were responsible for the loss of their rights to the solar project. The court also found no proximate cause between defendants’ actions and Plaintiffs’ loss of the project to support their tort claims.