Legal News That You Can Use

A woman in a long-term marriage who has been supported by her husband is usually entitled to receive alimony after a divorce. (The same goes for the less typical situation of a man supported by his wife.) Ideally, the amount of alimony should be enough to maintain the wife in the same lifestyle that she Read More

A father was recently charged with child neglect. As is often the case in this type of litigation, the names of the parties involved were not released to the public. All we know are the father’s initials, R.S. Let’s call him Rob. Rob has a twelve-year-old daughter and an eleven-year-old son. Each child has a Read More

In 1977, New Jersey passed a law that prohibited municipalities from making public drunkenness a punishable offense. Even so, many towns kept local ordinances that made public intoxication illegal. Maple Shade is one such place. Actually, the township didn’t even pass its current public intoxication ordinance until 1997, a full 20 years after the state Read More

One of the main reasons that business owners form corporations is to protect their personal assets. If the business is then sued, and loses, the business owner can, at worst, only lose the assets of the business. He or she will not lose his or her personal assets. However, if the business owner personally engages Read More

Marriage is a unique institution. It is regulated by state law. But it also can be a religious sacrament. Secular courts normally don’t get involved in religious matters. However, when a marriage goes bad, this dual aspect of marriage can compel courts to intervene. For example, technically, under Jewish law, only a husband can initiate Read More

A South Jersey physician’s assistant recently sued his former employer over a bad job reference. The man accused the employer, a hospital, of defaming him. In 1999, the physician’s assistant received a poor performance review.  He was fired in early 2000.  Years later, the man applied to receive his physician’s assistant credentials from another hospital. Read More

The Borough of Duryea (in Pennsylvania) fired its police chief. He then filed a complaint with the police union that got him his job back. Later, he filed another complaint that led to changes in some of the demands the borough made of him. Feeling like he was on a roll, the chief next filed Read More

A New Jersey man was convicted at trial of murdering his pregnant girlfriend after God told him to do it. Not surprisingly, the defendant pled insanity. An appeals court recently reversed the conviction. The appellate court ruled that the trial judge should have told the jury that even if they thought that the man knew Read More

The New Jersey court system rotates judicial assignments. Every summer the New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice issues an order that transfers some trial judges to new assignments, where they preside over different types of cases than previously. This year, a record 60 judges were told to participate in the judicial game of musical chairs. Read More

Hi everyone, Since so many people will be busy and traveling to be with their families, I won’t be posting any new content today or Friday.  But fear not, normal posting will resume Monday.  I wish all a happy Thanksgiving.