New Jersey

Ex-lawyer charged with money-laundering and stealing $1.5M from client estates

A New Jersey lawyer who was disbarred by consent last year following an earlier client-theft accusation was charged with money-laundering and multiple theft counts in a superseding indictment announced on Tuesday. Joseph Talafous Jr., 53, is accused of stealing $1.5 million between 2004 and 2015, primarily from five clients’ estates,…

May 17, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Lawyer who fraudulently inserted client names in asbestos cases gets two years in federal prison

A former New Jersey lawyer who, while still in practice, added to his Haddonfield firm’s bottom line by deleting the names of actual plaintiffs and inserting the names of its clients in already-filed New York asbestos lawsuits has been sentenced to two years in federal prison. Arobert C. Tonagbanua, now…

May 6, 2016 11:20 AM CDT

Lawyer sues over her police detention after refusing to speak during in traffic stop

A lawyer who was handcuffed in a holding cell for refusing to speak to a police officer during a traffic stop, though otherwise cooperating, is suing New Jersey state police, that trooper and others for violating her constitutional rights, NJ.com reports. Rebecca Musarra alleges in the complaint (PDF), filed in…

May 5, 2016 3:40 PM CDT

‘Dream team’ lawyer says evidence in ‘nanny cam’ case is reminiscent of OJ Simpson trial

The same “nanny cam” that captured footage of a black man beating a New Jersey woman in front of her child during a home invasion also shows a detective investigating the crime referring to the man as a “monkey,” along with other racial slurs. An article by NJ.com questions what…

May 2, 2016 4:30 PM CDT

Those who knowingly send texts that distract drivers could face liability in Pennsylvania

It isn’t just drivers who text behind the wheel who run the risk of accidents and expensive lawsuits. In an apparent case of first impression in the state, a ruling last month by a Pennsylvania judge says two men accused of texting a driver at the time of a fatal…

Apr 29, 2016 1:45 PM CDT

Autistic teen who accepted dare to jump into frigid water made his own choice, defense lawyer says

An autistic teen didn’t have to jump into the frigid Atlantic Ocean, a defense lawyer argued in a New Jersey courtroom on Tuesday. In opening arguments, lawyer Jason Volet argued that the teen, Parker Drake, was competent and able to make his own choices, NJ.com reports. Volet’s client, Nicholas Formica,…

Apr 27, 2016 9:19 AM CDT

Law firm to pay $1M to settle CFPB action over debt-collection practices

Without admitting liability, a long-established New Jersey debt collection law firm has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau action alleging abusive debt-collection practices. The CFPB contended that Pressler & Pressler and a client debt-collection agency pursued half a million cases, frequently…

Apr 25, 2016 5:40 PM CDT

Lawyers accused of using paralegal to friend litigant on Facebook are facing ethics probe

Ethics regulators may pursue a case against two lawyers accused of using a paralegal to friend a litigant and access nonpublic Facebook pages, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled in a decision on the power of the Office of Attorney Ethics. The supreme court ruled that the ethics office…

Apr 20, 2016 7:45 AM CDT

Judge’s comment about ‘always’ imposing 60-year murder sentences requires resentencing, court says

A murder defendant is entitled to a new sentencing hearing because of remarks by the judge who sentenced him, made in an unrelated case, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled. The April 7 decision overturned the 60-year sentence imposed on defendant Patrick McFarlane, who was convicted of first-degree murder…

Apr 11, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Feds set up fake university, charge 21 brokers, recruiters and employers in visa-fraud sting

In what is being billed as a first-of-a-kind sting operation, a fake university set up by the feds resulted in criminal charges against 21 brokers, recruiters and employers in an alleged student and foreign worker visa fraud conspiracy. The University of Northern New Jersey purportedly operated out of an office…

Apr 6, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

F-word settlement refusal doesn’t require tossing lawyer from case, federal judge rules

A federal judge in New Jersey has declined to toss a lawyer from a case for responding to a settlement demand with an F-word refusal. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of Newark upheld (PDF) a magistrate judge’s refusal to disqualify lawyer Wayne Paulter, the New Jersey Law Journal (sub. req.)…

Mar 31, 2016 9:11 AM CDT

Lawmaker seeks to make texting while crossing street a crime punishable by $50 fine and jail time

Walking while talking or texting on a cellphone can be dangerous, a New Jersey state assemblywoman says. So Pamela Lampitt wants her fellow lawmakers to make distracted walking a crime, with the same penalties as for jaywalking. Those who cross the street with an electronic device in hand while talking…

Mar 28, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Ex-lawyer gets 3 years in theft and UPL case; judge blasts ‘disingenuous’ child-support excuse

A disbarred New Jersey lawyer was sentenced Friday to three years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to theft, unauthorized practice of law while his license was suspended and writing bad checks. Neil Lawence Gross, 47, said at his sentencing in the Morristown Superior Court case that he had not…

Mar 11, 2016 4:25 PM CST

Lawyer faces federal fraud case in claimed $7M straw-purchaser auto loan scheme

A New Jersey lawyer is among four individuals facing federal charges in a claimed $7 million scheme to use 20 straw buyers to obtain personal auto loans for 200 vehicles that actually were leased by the defendants to livery drivers. Former Hoboken city councilman Christopher Campos, 39, faces bank and…

Mar 11, 2016 3:30 PM CST

Legal luminaries join family in seeking new probe of claimed murder-suicide by attorney

It isn’t just the brother and sons of a prominent New Jersey lawyer who doubt he murdered his wife and committed suicide in 2014. Three former state governors, a former state supreme court justice, two former state attorneys general and 40 members of Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, where…

Feb 18, 2016 10:10 AM CST