Charles Toutant

September 01, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

The Alcotest drunken-driver detector has passed another trial, as a judge finds it can be calibrated using a cheaper thermometer than the brand specified by the state Supreme Court without sacrificing accuracy.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

November 24, 2003 | New Jersey Law Journal

Ethnicity among New Jersey judges resembles the state population less closely than do the judiciaries of nearby states with similar demographics, a comparison of court and census statistics shows.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

December 06, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

In a wave of federal court suits, Verizon Wireless is attacking the increasing practice of "pretexting," by which imposters pose as customers to obtain their billing records, calling details and other information

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

April 28, 2003 | New Jersey Law Journal

Opposition by the state attorney general has led to cancellation of a county bar seminar devoted to the Alcotest 7110, a new technology for testing drunken-driving suspects that is now in the throes of a challenge to its scientific reliability.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

March 29, 2002 | New Jersey Law Journal

The more urban counties of New Jersey tend to produce the highest jury verdicts, not to mention more of them, a sampling of five years of verdicts shows.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

July 18, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey towns that want to out-think the state on "smart growth" should think again, now that an appeals court has ruled the state has a monopoly on schemes for transferring development rights.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

March 07, 2011 | Corporate Counsel

A consumer fraud suit alleging that a deliberately placed 'time bomb' caused a law firm's management software to shut down can't proceed as a class action, at least for now, a federal judge rules.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

November 19, 2001 | Law.com

Compensation for auto injuries reached a new high in New Jersey with a $20 million award to the family of a woman whose three sons witnessed her death when a runaway tire crushed the roof of her minivan. The jury's $5 million damage award to each of the woman's three sons exceeds all previous awards under the Portee doctrine, which affords compensation to those who observe a loved one's death.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

July 18, 2006 | National Law Journal

Paralegals in New Jersey earn less than those in other parts of the country, according to a new survey. On average, Newark paralegals earn $53,909, and those in the Philadelphia-southern New Jersey region earn $58,552. But both are below the national scale of $61,134. The smaller paychecks are due, in part, to the fewer hours they put in. But Cindy Lopez, who runs a job-bank Web site for paralegals, says salaries are lower because, with only a handful of large law firms, there are fewer opportunities.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

January 27, 2005 | Law.com

Although lawyers may owe a duty of care to nonclients in transactional matters, the line is drawn at the courthouse door, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled in dismissing a legal malpractice suit. Plaintiffs filed suit against the opposing law firm in a construction bond dispute, claiming the attorneys lied and misrepresented. Since the plaintiffs dealt with the law firm in the course of litigation and had their own lawyer, the litigation privilege controls, the court ruled.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read