Owen v. Cna Insurance/Continental Casualty Co‪.‬

Argued February 26, 2001 This appeal involves a tort victim who brought an action against a liability insurer for a declaratory judgment that the non-assignment clause in a structured settlement agreement was unenforceable. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the tort victim, holding that under current law the non-assignment clause was unenforceable. The Appellate Division reversed, concluding that the enforceability of the non-assignment clause depended on its materiality to the primary purposes of the settlement agreement and remanding the matter for further fact finding on that question. One member of the appellate panel dissented, stating that ""a holding that the assignment in this case was ineffective has no current legitimate provenance in law."" The tort victim appealed as of right based on the dissent below. R. 2:2-1(a)(2). The specific issue is whether the non-assignment clause in the structured settlement agreement at issue is enforceable. I.