New Jersey

Insurer not liable for $1M law firm judgment for turning over child’s passport, federal judge rules

A New Jersey law firm’s malpractice insurance carrier doesn’t have to pay a state-court judgment of nearly $1 million that is linked to a parental-kidnapping case, a federal judge has ruled. Granting a summary judgment motion in the declaratory judgment action, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas found that the law…

Sep 15, 2015 6:25 AM CDT

News anchor sues Hasbro over hamster toy, calls look-alike rodent with same name ‘demeaning’

A Fox News anchorwoman has sued Hasbro over a hamster toy that shares her name, alleging that the toymaker has misappropriated her name and likeness. Plaintiff Harris Faulkner says the Harris Faulkner hamster toy, which is part of the Pet Pawsabilities line, violates her right of publicity and is a…

Sep 1, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Lawyer’s husband pleads guilty in scheme to bilk the BigLaw firms where she worked

The husband of a former BigLaw antitrust partner has pleaded guilty in a scheme to defraud two law firms where she worked. Melvin Feliz of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion on Tuesday, report the Bergen County Record and the Bergen…

Aug 26, 2015 10:20 AM CDT

Man will be resentenced over trial judge’s comments in unrelated case

A New Jersey man convicted of murdering his girlfriend must be resentenced because of comments the trial court judge made in another case, a state appeals court has held. The appeals court said Thursday that the judge’s comments “deprived” them of confidence that the judge sentenced the man in accordance…

Aug 24, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Leaving toddler in car isn’t necessarily child neglect, state supreme court says

A mother who left her child in a running car for about 10 minutes in 55 degree weather is entitled to a hearing on whether the actions constituted neglect warranting her placement on a child-abuse registry, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled. The supreme court ruled on Thursday, report…

Aug 21, 2015 8:45 AM CDT

After NLRB loss, attorney for would-be Northwestern football union points to lawsuit against NCAA

Although the National Labor Relations Board refused this week to oversee a union-organizing effort by Northwestern University football players, those on the losing side of the case haven’t lost hope of a bigger payday. Among other possible options, they are looking to an ongoing federal antitrust case against the National…

Aug 19, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Rutgers law grad wins gold at Pan American Games, qualifying for 2016 Olympics

A legendary New Jersey high school and college athlete didn’t take the bar exam right away after earning her law degree in May. That’s because Ashley Higginson was focusing on the Pan American Games this month in Toronto. She not only won a gold medal there last week in the…

Jul 30, 2015 1:55 PM CDT

Merchants say lawyer should lose $32M fee award over alleged email contact with opposing counsel

So far, the fallout from an alleged $5 million scheme by an attorney and her husband to defraud two law firms and a client includes a lost BigLaw partnership and wire fraud conspiracy charges against both spouses. Now it appears that email between Keila Ravelo and another lawyer who is…

Jul 28, 2015 4:02 PM CDT

New Jersey judge bans woman from entering any Wal-Mart store in the country

A judge in Mount Olive Township, New Jersey, has banned a shoplifter from ever shopping at a Wal-Mart store anywhere in the country. The defendant, 64-year-old Johanna Cassimore of Hopatcong, New Jersey, tells the New York Daily News she plans to appeal the sentence. “It was stupid. I disagree and…

Jul 28, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Former lawyer who served time in hit-and-run case now runs resource center for ex-prisoners

A successful New Jersey criminal defense attorney with a drinking problem, John Koufos saw his career and life spiral downward in 2011 when he was involved in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a teenager. He wound up serving less than two years of his six-year sentence in the case,…

Jul 27, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

Judge grants subpoena request for Gibson Dunn interview notes for report exonerating Chris Christie

A federal judge in New Jersey has granted a subpoena request for interview notes taken by lawyers for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in an investigation that found no wrongdoing by Chris Christie in a lane closing scandal. U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton of Newark on Friday granted the subpoena request…

Jul 13, 2015 10:22 AM CDT

Top state court to hear case of lawyers accused of asking paralegal to ‘friend’ litigant on Facebook

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether legal discipline officials have jurisdiction in an ethics case accusing two lawyers of directing their paralegal to friend a litigant on Facebook. The lawyers, John Robertelli and Gabriel Adamo, claim the Office of Attorney Ethics had no jurisdiction to charge…

Jun 25, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

New Jersey considers harms of admission by motion; is ban protectionist?

A proposal to allow out-of-state lawyers to practice in New Jersey without taking the bar exam is raising concern that the change would harm in-state lawyers and the public. The proposal would allow out-of-state lawyers to be admitted to the New Jersey bar if they have practiced law a minimum…

Jun 18, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Courtroom mic, left on during recess, picks up lawyer’s assertion that prosecutor is ‘in my pocket’

A New Jersey lawyer says he was joking when a courtroom mic, left on during a family court recess, picked up his assertion that the Morris County prosecutor is “in my pocket.” The remark by family law attorney William Laufer of Morristown was recorded on the court’s system, NJ Advance…

Jun 17, 2015 7:55 AM CDT

Stolen bronze baseball statues had made law firm a local landmark

Arriving at work Tuesday morning at their Pennsville, New Jersey, law office, partners Don Masten and Walter Ray noticed the problem at almost the same time. Two bronze statues of baseball players that have decorated the lawn in front of the building for about a decade were gone. In addition…

Jun 16, 2015 3:50 PM CDT