Category: Litigation

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

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

In early 2008, New Jersey adopted its own version of a federal law called the False Claims Act. The law allows private individuals to sue government contractors for fraud on behalf of the state. This is called a qui tam claim. Someone who sues under this law is allowed to keep between 15% and 30% Read More

The New Jersey Supreme Court has finally decided what is certainly a pressing issue in the minds of unhappy students: can you sue your school for giving you poor grades? The answer was a resounding, “Nope.” The Court determined that grades are not subject to judicial review, only the grading process is. This means that Read More

The family of a Passaic County man who hanged himself in jail, and then died after going into a coma, has been told that they can pursue a damages claim for loss of life enjoyment. The man had been jailed for threatening his mother with a knife, and for subsequently violating his probation. After being Read More

The Township of Warren was ordered to pay $1.26 million to a former prosecutor in Morris County (in addition to another $1.38 million that it had already paid). The prosecutor was fired after making some pretty serious accusations against a Morris County. Namely, the prosecutor accused the judge of being drunk during trials. Well, it Read More