Charles Toutant

January 18, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

A Somerset County Superior Court judge is quitting, 18 months before the end of his seven-year term, for what he considers greener pastures.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

November 01, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

A federal judge has ordered the state Department of Corrections to halt its practice of opening prisoners' legal mail before delivering it - allegedly due to the increased threat of anthrax contamination after Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. District Judge William Walls in Newark issued an injunction against the mail policy, concluding it was unrelated to its stated objective.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

February 09, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

A municipal court judge who tried a burglary case without a prosecutor, declined to appoint a public defender and allegedly committed other procedural flubs is being taken to task in an appeal in Union County's Superior Court.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

May 17, 2000 | Law.com

A New Jersey appellate court considers whether a congregant's confession to a fatal shooting to a church deacon, who also happens to be a State Police trooper, is subject to the cleric-penitent privilege.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

November 20, 2002 | Law.com

Driving drunk to evade deadly assailants is now a defense to prosecution in New Jersey, but how often does a drunk flee from demons not of his own creation? That's why defense lawyers say a New Jersey appellate court's Nov. 11 reversal of a DWI conviction under the common-law doctrine of necessity will have narrow application. The ruling requires that the defendant must have no role in creating the emergent situation.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

January 09, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

Hoffman carries on a high-volume practice of making himself the plaintiff in consumer fraud class actions.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

October 04, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

The state Supreme Court has formed a committee to weigh the benefits and burdens of mandatory malpractice insurance and a requirement that lawyers disclose whether they have such coverage.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

September 15, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

For years, U.S. News & World Report has sent shudders through administrators at the law schools it ranks. Now, the magazine has released its first ranking of U.S. law firms, and it has left some managing partners scratching their heads.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

April 04, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

A plaintiffs' firm that took a "blood bath" in a medical malpractice case had no business asking its expert witness to prove the reasonableness of his fees, a New Jersey appeals court rules.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

June 05, 2009 | The Legal Intelligencer

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday disciplined two municipal judges convicted of drunken driving, issuing a reprimand to Robert Jones, of Livingston, and a censure to Peter Tourison, who presides in Cape May, Stone Harbor and Middle Township.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read