New Jersey

July 02, 2024
Seton Hall Says Ex-Prez's Whistleblower Suit Must Be Axed

A New Jersey trial court was urged to toss retaliation, sexual harassment and discrimination claims against Seton Hall University and its board of regents by its former president, with the school arguing the whistleblower suit is rife with "gamesmanship," ignoring both case law and the underlying facts.
July 02, 2024
Interior Dept. OKs Atlantic Shores South Wind Project

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday said it's approving the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind project, the ninth such commercial-scale project given a green light by the Biden administration.
July 02, 2024
Justices Order Post-Rahimi Review For Felon Gun Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered lower courts to review a series of cases that challenged as unconstitutional federal gun restrictions, including those for felons and drug users, in light of its ruling this term that allowed bans for domestic abusers.
July 01, 2024
What To Know: The High Court's Ruling On Social Media Regs

Rather than settling a circuit split over state laws curbing content moderation on the largest social media platforms, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday remanded the cases — a decision many attorneys and First Amendment experts are viewing as a win for free speech online.
July 01, 2024
Menendez's Sister Testifies Storing Cash Was Family Practice

An older sister of Sen. Robert Menendez who fled Cuba with their parents testified at the lawmaker's bribery trial on Monday that storing cash at home was a practice instilled by their father because of his deep distrust of banks.
July 01, 2024
NJ Hospital Dodges $14.7M In Damages Over Audits

An accounting firm for the former operator of Hoboken University Medical Center has dodged more than $14.7 million in malpractice liability damages even though a New Jersey federal jury found it had violated professional accounting standards in audits of the financially struggling hospital.
July 01, 2024
Gas Co. Not Covered For Pollution MDL, NY Court Rules

A petroleum company is not owed coverage for an underlying multidistrict litigation over remediation for groundwater contamination that the suit alleges was caused by a gasoline additive, a New York state appeals court said, holding that pollution exclusions in multiple of its policies applied to the contamination.
July 01, 2024
Aldi Unit, Warehouse Settle Suit Over Rodent-Ravaged Sweets

A New Jersey federal court has permanently tossed a suit brought by an Aldi branch and its insurer seeking payback from a warehouse operator after rodents feasted on hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of chocolate stored there, signing off on a settlement.
July 01, 2024
NJ Judge Tosses J&J Unit's Libel Claim Over Talc Study

A New Jersey federal judge has tossed a bankrupt Johnson & Johnson unit's libel suit over a scientific article linking talcum powder to mesothelioma, ruling the challenged statements in the article are scientific conclusions protected by the First Amendment.
July 01, 2024
Chemical Co. Escapes Ex-Workers' 401(k) Fee Suit

A New Jersey federal judge threw out a class action brought by retirees accusing a chemical company of stocking its workers' 401(k) plan with underperforming funds, saying the company put forward sufficient details to beat the former employees' allegations that its investment selection process was imprudent.
July 01, 2024
Rutgers Law Student Says Subpoenas Denied In Bad Faith

An Orthodox Jewish law student suing Rutgers University for discrimination for allegedly allowing students to mount an antisemitic "witch hunt" against him in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack accused the nonparty Council on American-Islamic Relations, New Jersey chapter, of sanctionable behavior for stonewalling subpoena requests last week.
July 01, 2024
Talc Victims Can't Block J&J From Filing For Ch. 11 Outside NJ

A New Jersey federal judge has denied a bid for a restraining order from a group of patients suing Johnson & Johnson over claims they were injured by its talc products, saying their concern that the company would try to file for bankruptcy outside the Garden State is based on speculation and not ripe for litigation.
July 01, 2024
Judge Chips Away At BofA COVID Card Fraud Claims

Bank of America can't escape a proposed class action over its allegedly insufficient security measures affecting prepaid debit cards for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though a New Jersey federal judge has, for now, tossed some of the suit's allegations.
July 01, 2024
Social Media Laws Need More Analysis, Justices Say

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday returned to the lower courts challenges to Florida and Texas laws prohibiting social media platforms from removing content or users based on viewpoint, saying that the Fifth and Eleventh circuits did not conduct the proper analysis on the facial First Amendment challenges to the laws.
June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes

By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
June 28, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Camping Ban, Mobile Money, Post-Surfside

Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on an Oregon town's anti-camping ordinance, government incentives for manufactured housing communities, and the progress states have made toward building safety in the three years since the tragic condo collapse in Surfside, Florida.
June 28, 2024
Prosecution Rests In Menendez Bribery Trial

New York federal prosecutors on Friday closed out their case-in-chief that Sen. Robert Menendez accepted bribes from constituent businessmen, resting after a final witness said some $550,000 in cash seized from the senator's wife's house could not have been from his cash withdrawals in recent years, which were only $55,000.
June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
June 28, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives Part Of Sprout Baby Food Label Suit

A California couple suing Sprout Foods over nutrient statements on its baby food pouches can pursue a Golden State law claim but not fraud-based claims, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Friday, saying federal law doesn't preempt the state's labeling standards, but the parents haven't shown the products were misleading.
June 28, 2024
Rite Aid Ch. 11 Plan OK'd With Insurers' Objections Resolved

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge Friday approved pharmacy chain Rite Aid's Chapter 11 restructuring plan after the company said it had resolved objections from its insurance carriers to how the plan treats their policies.
June 28, 2024
NJ Contractor Admits To Defrauding Defense Dept.

A New Jersey businessman has admitted in federal court to engaging in two multiyear schemes to defraud the U.S. Defense Department on contracts for military equipment parts and agreeing to rig bids for government contracts.
June 28, 2024
Pashman Stein Can't Escape Negligence Claims, NJ Atty Says

A New Jersey attorney who countersued Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC after the firm accused him of ducking a nearly $100,000 legal bill is urging a state court to reject what he says are the firm's "frivolous" calls to toss his negligence counterclaims.
June 28, 2024
Indicted Brown & Connery Atty Removed From Rutgers Board

Brown & Connery LLP partner William Tambussi, who was indicted last week for his alleged role in a wide-ranging extortion scheme led by powerful Garden State businessman George Norcross III, has been removed from his seat on the Rutgers University Board of Governors, officials confirmed Friday.
June 28, 2024
High Court Enters July With 3 Rulings To Go

In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue opinions into the beginning of July as the court tries to clear its merits docket of three remaining cases dealing with presidential immunity, whether governments can control social media platforms' content moderation policies and the appropriate deadline to challenge agency action.
June 27, 2024
Menendez Met Alleged Briber Pre-Gold Price Search, Jury Told

An FBI cell tower expert told Sen. Robert Menendez's bribery jury Thursday that the phones of the senator, his wife and co-defendant developer Fred Daibes all pinged in the same location minutes before the senator did a web search for "how much is one kilo of gold worth."

Expert Analysis

7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.
Justice O'Connor Was Architect of ERISA's Lasting Success

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor laid the foundations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act jurisprudence, defining a default standard of review, preemption rules and the act's interplay with employment law, through opinions that are still instructive as ERISA approaches its 50th anniversary, says José Jara at Fox Rothschild.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy

In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.
4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
2 Cases Highlight NJ Cannabis Employment Law Uncertainties

More than two years after its enactment, the employee protections and employer obligations in New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act remain unsettled, and two recent lawsuits draw attention to the law's enforceability and its intersection with federal law, say Ruth Rauls at Saul Ewing and David White at Seton Hall.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum

Despite skyrocketing raw material costs, conflicting state and federal policies, and other setbacks for the offshore wind sector in 2023, the industry appears poised for growth in the coming year, with improving economics, more flexible procurement procedures and increasing legislative support, say Emily Huggins Jones and Ben Cowan at Locke Lord.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
The Key Laws Retailers Should Pay Attention To In 2024

2024 promises to be another transformative year for retailers as they navigate the evolving regulatory landscape, particularly surrounding data privacy and sustainability laws, meaning companies should make it a practice to keep track of new legislation and invest in compliance efforts early on, say attorneys at Benesch.
What WeWork's Ch. 11 Filing Means For Landlords

WeWork’s recent Chapter 11 filing in New Jersey has the potential to be one of the most consequential cases in the real estate industry in many years, and presents a number of issues for landlords, including unexpired leases, assumption, assignment and more, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.