New Jersey
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January 16, 2019
SEC's Response To Breach Scare Clarifies Wider Approach
The 43-page complaint the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed Tuesday detailing an alleged scheme to illegally access its electronic filing system for profit underscores the agency's commitment to cybersecurity while lending some context to its relatively forgiving approach, attorneys say.
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January 16, 2019
NJ Atty Seeks Revival Of Homeopathic Flu Remedy Fraud Suit
Members of a New Jersey state appellate panel offered divergent views Wednesday on whether a lawyer had presented enough evidence to back up his class claims that homeopathic medicine from King Bio Inc. is falsely marketed as a treatment for the flu, a product he referred to as “a bottle of broken promises.”
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January 16, 2019
Religious Bias Suit OK'd Over Pfizer's Iffy Arbitration Policy
Pfizer Inc. can’t enforce an arbitration clause that it never made its employees explicitly agree to, a New Jersey appeals court said Wednesday, clearing a former corporate flight attendant to sue for religious discrimination.
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January 16, 2019
NJ Apprenticeship Rule May Be Heavy Lift For Contractors
New Jersey contractors may soon face tough choices if the governor signs a bill requiring apprenticeship programs for those working on government construction projects, yet some may be able to avoid its effects for a year or two, attorneys say.
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January 16, 2019
Curious Jury Gets Answers From Pathologist In J&J Talc Trial
A pathologist fielded questions in a California courtroom Wednesday from jurors considering whether Johnson & Johnson baby powder contained asbestos that caused a dying woman’s cancer, explaining that the asbestos amounts found in the woman’s lung tissue and lymph nodes were too high to have come from ambient air.
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January 16, 2019
Wyndham Gets Terms-Of-Use Claim Cut From Resort Fee Suit
Two Wyndham companies beat a proposed class claim that their websites violate New Jersey’s Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act, after a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Wednesday the lead plaintiff didn’t meet the law’s definition of an “aggrieved consumer.”
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January 16, 2019
Hernia Mesh Maker Can't Revive IP Suit Coverage Bid
The Third Circuit on Wednesday affirmed that a Chubb Ltd. insurer doesn’t have to cover Tela Bio Inc.’s costs to defend against a trade secrets and unfair competition lawsuit brought by rival LifeCell Corp. over a hernia treatment product, agreeing with a lower court that the underlying action doesn’t contain any potentially covered defamation claims.
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January 16, 2019
$367M Superfund Coverage Row Can't Be Arbitrated, Co. Says
Cornell-Dubilier Electronics Inc. has urged a New Jersey federal court not to send to arbitration its coverage dispute with a group of insurers over $367 million in liability incurred under a Superfund site cleanup consent decree, arguing that the dispute is outside the underlying arbitration agreement's scope.
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January 16, 2019
J&J Renews Bid To End Antitrust Suit From Walgreens, Kroger
Johnson & Johnson told a Pennsylvania federal judge Tuesday that Walgreens and Kroger can't bring antitrust claims against it for allegedly inflating prices and suppressing competition for its drug Remicade, reiterating its argument that the retailers didn't directly purchase the drug from J&J.
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January 16, 2019
Jury Told Chemical Co. Must Pay For Worker's Asbestos Death
Counsel for the widow of a manufacturing plant worker who died of mesothelioma told a New Jersey jury during closing arguments Wednesday that asbestos supplier Union Carbide Corp. caused the "worst pain and suffering" possible and should be forced to pay damages to match.
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January 16, 2019
High Court, With Kavanaugh, Rehears Pa. Takings Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday reheard oral arguments in a case concerning whether a Pennsylvania property owner can use the federal courts to pursue a claim that the local government unconstitutionally took value from her land, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh participating in the case for the first time.
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January 16, 2019
UPMC Can Recoup E-Discovery Costs In FLSA Case: 3rd Circ.
The Third Circuit has agreed that four former workers who brought a failed Fair Labor Standards Act case against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center should be forced to pay more than $300,000 in costs associated with electronic discovery in the litigation.
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January 15, 2019
NJ Judge Says Hostile Boss Prompted Secret Recordings
A New Jersey state court judge facing a possible suspension for surreptitiously recording meetings with her superior and then denying it urged the state Supreme Court to forgo disciplining her, arguing Wednesday that she'd been new to the job and the higher-up was bullying her.
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January 15, 2019
NJ Panel Says Property Can't Be Levied For Ark. TCPA Suit
A New Jersey state appeals court on Tuesday upended a ruling permitting the sale of property owned by the head of a piping company based on a $12.5 million class action judgment in Arkansas over alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations, saying a trial court did not properly consider jurisdictional issues underlying the matter.
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January 15, 2019
‘Jersey Shore’ Star’s Brother On Hook For $337K To IRS
A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday ordered Marc Sorrentino, the brother of television personality Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, to pay over $337,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service following Marc’s conviction for tax evasion.
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January 15, 2019
NJ Sees $1.25B Wagered In Legal Sports Betting In 2018
Sports betting in New Jersey totaled $1.25 billion in wagers in 2018, a year that saw it become legal in the Garden State, with tax revenues totaling just over $10 million and revenues for operators coming in at $94 million since June, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement announced.
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January 15, 2019
States Urge 5th Circ. To Reverse ICWA Invalidation Order
California, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey have joined over a dozen states that are throwing support behind four tribes and the federal government as they seek to overturn a decision deeming the Indian Child Welfare Act unconstitutional, arguing that the statute provides critical protections for Native American children and their families.
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January 15, 2019
Ukrainians Charged With 2016 Hack Of SEC Filings
A Ukrainian hacker was charged Tuesday with infiltrating the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Edgar electronic filing system during 2016 as part of a scheme to access material, nonpublic documents that he then shared with traders for profit, U.S. authorities said.
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January 15, 2019
NJ High Court Probes 'Step-Down' Clause In Fatal Crash Row
The insurance carrier for a BMW dealership must cover a crash in which an off-duty police officer was killed by a drunken driver operating a loaner vehicle from the dealership, counsel for the officer’s estate told the New Jersey Supreme Court at arguments on Tuesday in challenging a state appellate ruling that coverage was not required.
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January 15, 2019
UberBlack Drivers Ask 3rd Circ. To Revive Wage Suit
A proposed class of Philadelphia-area UberBlack limo drivers asked the Third Circuit to revive their suit accusing Uber Technologies Inc. of violating state and federal labor laws, saying a district court prematurely determined they were independent contractors and not employees entitled to minimum and overtime wages.
Expert Analysis
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A Guide To Reducing Limitations Periods On Employee Claims
Excerpt from Lexis Practice Advisor
Employers generally benefit from drafting agreements that shorten statutes of limitations on employee claims. However, there are several considerations when assessing whether and how to trim the relevant period, say Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager and Courtney Hunter of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
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Arbitrators And Mediators Should Reflect Society's Diversity
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Alternative dispute resolution providers have made great strides toward diversity, but recent statistics show there is still work to be done. There are certain steps ADR providers can take to actively recruit more women and minority candidates to serve as arbitrators and mediators, says James Jenkins of the American Arbitration Association.
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Why AFAs Are Key To The Future Of Legal Practice
Alternative fee agreements can help align law firm and client interests, increase efficiency and eliminate corporate extortion, among other benefits. They are the best thing to happen to the practice of law in decades, says Kelly Eisenlohr-Moul at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.
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What To Expect In Environmental Law In 2019
From a business perspective, the environmental law developments that are likely to have the most immediate domestic consequences in the coming year are air- and water-related litigation and regulations, say attorneys with Reed Smith LLP.
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21st Amendment Vs. Commerce Clause At The High Court
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hears argument in Byrd v. Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association, highlighting the conflict between states’ rights to regulate alcohol under the 21st Amendment and the restrictions in the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause on states’ power to regulate interstate commerce, says Alva Mather of DLA Piper LLP.
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Series
Judging A Book: Barron Reviews 'The Clamor Of Lawyers'
Can lawyers lead a revolution? According to "The Clamor of Lawyers: The American Revolution and Crisis in the Legal Profession" — a slim but elegant volume by Peter Charles Hoffer and Williamjames Hull Hoffer — they can and they did, says First Circuit Judge David Barron.
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State Net
State Lawmakers Grapple With Proliferation Of E-Scooters
As state legislators return to session this year, many face a new issue: the explosion of e-scooters on city streets. Municipal officials scrambling to evaluate the legality of the rental scooters are seeking policy guidance at the state level, says David Royse of State Net Capitol Journal.
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Opinion
The Case For Lawyer-Directed Litigation Funding In NY: Part 2
Lawyer-directed nonrecourse litigation funding is more likely to protect a lawyer's exercise of independent professional judgment than traditional means of litigation finance, and furthermore enables worthwhile cases that otherwise could not be funded, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson of Holland & Knight LLP.
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Opinion
The Case For Lawyer-Directed Litigation Funding In NY: Part 1
Contrary to what the New York City Bar Association concluded in an ethics opinion last year, lawyer-directed nonrecourse commercial litigation funding does not violate New York rules on sharing fees with nonlawyers, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson of Holland & Knight LLP.
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In Pennsylvania, Drone Misuse Will Soon Be A Crime
This Saturday, Pennsylvania will enact one of the most comprehensive collections of criminal penalties for drone infractions in the country. Businesses manufacturing, distributing or using drones in the state face new legal jeopardy, says John Rafferty of Gawthrop Greenwood PC.