---
title: Professional Liability Advocate | Affidavit of Merit
description: Affidavit of Merit | Wilson Elser’s Professional Liability & Services attorneys provide clients and other interested parties with informed perspectives.
---

# Professional Liability Advocate

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## Affidavit of Merit

[Architects & Engineers,](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/tag/architects-engineers) [Affidavit of Merit,](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/tag/affidavit-of-merit) [Design Professionals](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/tag/design-professionals)

### [It Takes One to Confront One in a Professional Liability Claim](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/2015/01/it-takes-one-to-confront-one-in-a-professional-liability-claim)

Jan 20, 2015 11:23:30 AM

[![163170179](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/163170179-300x199.jpg?width=300&height=199&name=163170179-300x199.jpg)](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/163170179.jpg)Would an architect by any other name smell as sweet? The answer is no when it comes to authoring an affidavit of merit in New Jersey. A recent case made clear that an affidavit from a professional licensed in a different field cannot support a professional liability claim, even if they have sufficient expertise in a related or overlapping area of expertise germane to the issue presented.

The New Jersey Legislature enacted the Affidavit of Merit Statute in 1995 to quell spurious litigation against licensed professionals. While the statute may have since achieved some of the desired effect, lawyers have been fighting over the statute’s reach and application since its enactment. Though the legislature probably never intended for the statute to become a subject of protracted litigation, there is a tangled nest of appellate opinions interpreting the statute from nearly every angle. That new law continues to be made, despite the language of the statute remaining essentially unchanged, shows that the statute still – almost 20 years later – breeds litigation uncertainty in very practical and impactful ways.

[Brian S. Gatens](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/author/brian-s-gatens) 

[Read More](https://wilsonelser-20963532.hs-sites.com/professional-liability-advocate/2015/01/it-takes-one-to-confront-one-in-a-professional-liability-claim)