In Alan J. Cornblatt, P.A. v. Barow, 153 N.J. 218, 708 A.2d 401 (1998), the defendant, Barow, counterclaimed against her former attorney, alleging malpractice. Id. at 225, 708 A.2d 401. One issue was whether a certification instead of an affidavit satisfied the statute. Id. at 226, 708 A.2d 401. The Court concluded that, under certain circumstances, something less than an affidavit could satisfy the statute. It began its analysis by observing that R. 1:4-4(b) authorizes a certification in lieu of an affidavit in certain contexts. Id. at 237, 708 A.2d 401. The Court acknowledged, however, that R. 1:4-4(b) generally has no application "to documents required exclusively by a statute that does not incorporate court rules." Id. (quoting Pressler, Current N.J. Court Rules, Comment 2 on R. 1:4-4(b) (Gann)). While R. 1:4-4(b) does not authorize the filing of a certification in lieu of an affidavit of merit, the Court observed that "the provision for the filing of an affidavit of merit under the statute imposes a pleading requirement and, in that sense, it is similar to the kind of pleading requirements that are subject to R. 1:4-4(b)." Id. at 238, 708 A.2d 401. Thus, the Court was persuaded that so long as the element of truthfulness was satisfied, submission of a certification was not necessarily impermissible. Id.