New Jersey

Closing Lawyer Gets 7 Years in $431K Mortgage Fraud; His Counsel Says He Earned Only His Legal Fee

A 46-year-old New Jersey real estate lawyer has been sentenced to a seven-year prison term and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine and $42,404 restitution for his role in a multidefendant mortgage fraud case. Paul DiGiacomo pleaded guilty in May in Morristown Superior Court to second-degree money-laundering of stolen funds…

Sep 17, 2012 10:04 PM CDT

Judge in Unshuffled Cards Case Tells Casino to Ante Up $1M to Cash Players’ Chips; Appeal Planned

In a Friday ruling that provoked an angry outburst from the general counsel for an Atlantic City casino and a complaint from another lawyer of a “rigged game,” the Golden Nugget was ordered by a New Jersey judge to ante up nearly $1 million to pay gamblers for the chips…

Sep 4, 2012 4:22 PM CDT

Law Firm Merger Bumps NJ Municipal Judge Off the Bench After 23 Years

A law firm merger has effectively bumped a 23-year municipal judge in New Jersey off the bench. Given a choice between giving up his job as a Ridgewood municipal judge and giving up his job as a partner at Archer & Greiner, one of the largest firms in New Jersey,…

Aug 29, 2012 3:41 PM CDT

Paul Bergrin, Accused Attorney in RICO Law Firm Case, Seeks Hearing Re Claimed Misconduct By Feds

A prominent New Jersey defense attorney who has spent the last several years jailed without bail, awaiting trial in a federal case that accuses him of running his Newark law firm as a criminal racketeering enterprise is now claiming it’s the feds whose conduct needs to be scrutinized. Before Paul…

Aug 24, 2012 1:16 PM CDT

Former BigLaw Partner Faces More Federal Charges in Child Porn Distribution Case

A former partner of Allen & Overy charged last year in a child pornography distribution case is now jailed, at least for the weekend, after being federally indicted on additional counts. Edward M. De Sear, 65, of Saddle River, N.J., had been free on $250,000 bail after being charged last…

Aug 23, 2012 9:45 PM CDT

Boy Hit By Line Drive From Metal Bat During Little League Game Gets $14.5M Settlement

A $14.5 million settlement has been reached in a tort case over a Little League game that left a young pitcher brain-injured after he was struck by a line drive hit from a metal bat. As a trial was looming in the Passaic County, N.J., case, the defendants, including the…

Aug 22, 2012 5:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Charged with Extorting Cash and Jewelry from Another Attorney After Claimed Affair Ended

A New Jersey lawyer has been charged with extortion and stalking for allegedly demanding cash and jewelry from another lawyer with whom she had been having an affair in exchange for not revealing the two-year relationship to his wife after it ended. Sasha C. Intriago, 30, who has been handling…

Aug 14, 2012 8:27 PM CDT

Defendant’s Attack on Own Counsel and Attempted Escape from Court Not Grounds for Mistrial

A criminal defendant’s attack on his own counsel and court officers in front of the jury deciding the case, followed by an unsuccessful attempt to escape from the courtroom, is not grounds for a mistrial, a New Jersey appeals court has for the first time held. Deciding a novel issue,…

Aug 10, 2012 6:23 PM CDT

Federal Judge OKs Mom’s Suit Against Maker of Breastfeeding How-To Film Used in 3rd Party’s Porn

A New Jersey mother who agreed to be featured, without compensation, in a televised breastfeeding instructional film says she was horrified to discover the video had been altered and posted online as part of a pornography film, using her full name. Now a federal judge in New Jersey has given…

Aug 10, 2012 5:56 PM CDT

New Jersey Supremes Bar Emotional Distress Claim for Seeing Pet Mauled to Death

Pet owners in New Jersey can’t sue for emotional distress caused by seeing their animals killed, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled. The court ruled in a suit by Joyce McDougall, whose was walking her maltipoo in June 2007 when a larger dog attacked and shook her pet to…

Aug 1, 2012 12:28 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Associate Sentenced to Record 12 Years Says ‘Excitement’ Drove $37M Insider-Trading Scheme

Sentenced to a record 12-year prison term for insider trading, a former BigLaw associate–who admittedly revealed to his partners in white-collar crime confidential information from four of the six law firms at which he worked–says he carried on with the long-running scheme largely for the thrills he got from it.…

Jul 31, 2012 5:28 PM CDT

Defendant Lawyer in Lender-Racketeering Case Seeks Severance From ‘La Cosa Nostra Allegations’

An attorney representing a Pennsylvania lawyer in a federal racketeering case concerning the claimed takeover and looting of a Texas-based mortgage company is seeking to sever his client’s trial from that of a co-defendant facing what the defense attorney calls “La Cosa Nostra allegations.” Otherwise, argues the severance motion, Gary…

Jul 24, 2012 1:25 PM CDT

New Jury Instructions in New Jersey Will Warn of Problems in Eyewitness IDs

New jury instructions in New Jersey will warn that human memory is not foolproof and eyewitness testimony must be carefully scrutinized. Set to take effect on Sept. 4, the new instructions follow a landmark ruling last year by the New Jersey Supreme Court that makes it easier for defendants to…

Jul 20, 2012 12:17 PM CDT

Elderly Man Accused of Pointing Fingers Like a Gun at Bank Employees Sues over His Arrest

An elderly man who was arrested based on allegations he pointed his fingers like a gun and threatened bank employees has filed a lawsuit against the institution. Wolfgang Eichert of West Milford, N.J., claims in the suit that employees of Valley National Bank in Butler made false and malicious statements…

Jul 18, 2012 12:42 PM CDT

Law School Clinic’s Case Records Not Subject to Open Records Law, NJ Supreme Court Rules

An environmental litigation clinic at Rutgers Law School in Newark does not have to turn over case records under New Jersey’s public records law, the state supreme court has ruled in a unanimous opinion. The decision (PDF) reverses an appeals court ruling that the records had to be disclosed, according…

Jul 6, 2012 2:13 PM CDT