New Jersey

Guitar-Wielding Lawyer Rocks Fender

A New Jersey lawyer, who by day practices entertainment law and by night plays guitar and tours the country with one of his two rock bands, has helped win a key trademark case over Fender Musical Instruments. The case began when lawyer Ron Bienstock was doing due diligence for a…

Apr 9, 2009 4:13 PM CDT

Nonequity Parter Liable for $84K in Receivables After Firm Dissolves

An appeals court in New Jersey has affirmed an $84,850 verdict against a lawyer who claimed his status as a contract partner meant he didn’t have a fiduciary duty to his firm when it dissolved. John Pribish was at Friedman Siegelbaum for just seven months when the firm shut down…

Apr 9, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

Appeals Court Raps ‘Sophie’s Choice’ Given NJ Plaintiff and Caregiver

A New Jersey judge erred when he gave a plaintiff a “Sophie’s Choice” between pursuing her sex discrimination case against a former employer and caring for her mortally ill 89-year-old father in Florida, a state appellate court has held. It reinstated the case brought by plaintiff Linda Pangione, which Ocean…

Apr 2, 2009 11:55 PM CDT

In ‘Kafkaesque’ Case, Pro Se Client Foils Former Counsel’s $145K Fee Collection

Apparently unhappy about his lawyer’s handling of a federal national-origin discrimination case in which he won an $80,000 jury verdict on a retaliation count, a tenured assistant professor of economics at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business fought back. After dismissing his counsel, Antonia Kousoulas, and successfully defending the…

Apr 2, 2009 10:07 PM CDT

Counsel’s ‘Kill Them or Hope They Die’ Comment Blamed for $2.1M Verdict

After a hostile takeover of a direct marketing firm in 2003, corporate counsel William Wachtel reportedly said in a management meeting that the best way to avoid paying severance to previous managers was to “kill them or hope they die.” The words, arguably said in jest, have come back to…

Apr 1, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

NJ Sues Multiple Lawyers in Alleged $18M Mortgage Racketeering Scam

A disbarred lawyer who lives in Montvale, N.J., and his son, as well as four other licensed attorneys have been accused of participating in an $18 million mortgage racketeering scam in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general. The case concerns a claimed straw-buyer scam allegedly operated through Casey…

Mar 13, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Disbarred NJ Lawyer Beats the Rap in Misappropriation Case

A New Jersey lawyer who was disbarred for misappropriating mortgage settlement funds can’t be criminally convicted for the same conduct, a state appeals court ruled today. Because prosecutors didn’t charge Lawrence Coven in time, a three-judge appellate panel held, the criminal case against him concerning four mortgage refinancings was properly…

Feb 11, 2009 6:47 PM CST

Oldest Federal Prosecutor Celebrates 80th Birthday

The oldest federal prosecutor in the country celebrated her 80th birthday last week with an office party and birthday greetings from President Barack Obama. Lorraine Gerson has worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey since 1979, prosecuting mostly financial and fraud cases, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports. It…

Feb 11, 2009 12:50 PM CST

Bailiff’s Suicide Attempt Ignites Ethics Complaint Against N.J. Judge

A discipline case has been launched against a New Jersey judge who allegedly had an affair with his bailiff. The romantic relationship between the bailiff and Wilson Campbell, a Jersey City municipal judge, came to light when the woman overdosed in late June of last year, reports the New Jersey…

Feb 10, 2009 6:46 PM CST

Vaseline Threat by Ex-Judge Leads to Three-Month Suspension

A former New Jersey judge has been suspended from law practice for three months for an incident in which he allegedly told police officers who had arrested him on a drunken driving charge to “get the Vaseline out and bend over.” The municipal judge, George R. Korpita of Dover, resigned…

Feb 9, 2009 4:50 PM CST

NJ’s Top Court Sides with 10-Foot Inflatable Rodent, Strikes Sign Ordinance

Ruling yesterday on free-speech grounds, the New Jersey Supreme Court said a municipal ordinance banning a labor union from displaying a 10-foot-tall inflatable rat at protest sites was a violation of its First Amendment rights. A divided appeals court had previously sided with Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, after the…

Feb 6, 2009 9:19 PM CST

NJ Lawyer’s Penis Enlargement Product Lawsuit is Revived on Appeal

Unhappy with the mail-order penis enlargement product he bought in 2007, a New Jersey attorney was also unhappy with the initial result of the class-action consumer fraud litigation he brought over the purchase. But an appeal of the trial court’s dismissal of the case may have a more satisfying outcome…

Feb 4, 2009 7:09 PM CST

Did Lowenstein Role in 14-Lawyer Leap Unfairly Ruin Former Firm? Trial Nears

More than nine years after 14 lawyers leaped from a well-known New Jersey partnership to Lowenstein Sandler, a trial is nearing over claims that the 260-attorney firm went too far in soliciting the swift departure that soon destroyed the defectors’ former firm Although Lowenstein denies that it did anything wrong,…

Feb 3, 2009 9:59 PM CST

Disbarred N.J. Lawyer Admits Gambling Away $4M in Trust Money

A disbarred New Jersey lawyer has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4 million from trust funds for gambling trips to Atlantic City. The state is recommending a 15-year sentence for Michael Rumore when he is sentenced on April 17, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. Rumore pleaded guilty to…

Jan 7, 2009 5:47 PM CST