Charles Toutant

December 21, 2007 | Law.com

Blank Rome is opening a Princeton office with five litigation partners from Saul Ewing's office there, hoping that a central New Jersey presence will make it a more formidable competitor in the state. The defectors -- John Pribish, Seth Lapidow, Michael Conlan, Adrienne Rogove and Virginia White -- say they are drawn by the promise of greater opportunities with a larger firm. Blank Rome has 440 lawyers in nine offices, while Saul Ewing has 282 lawyers in nine offices.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

April 21, 2011 | Law.com

A 2010 law requiring palimony agreements to be in writing to be enforceable applies only prospectively, a state appeals court rules, resolving conflicting trial court decisions.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

July 04, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

A lawyer's presentation of meager mitigating evidence in a brain-damaged man's capital murder trial has led the judge to find ineffective assistance of counsel and to overturn the sentence. Superior Court Judge Cornelius Sullivan's ruling last Tuesday in Burlington County marks the first time a Law Division judge has granted post-conviction relief on that basis in a death penalty case, say lawyers on both sides.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

March 08, 2006 | Law.com

Fresh from its victory in a Rhode Island suit against lead paint makers, powerhouse plaintiffs firm Motley Rice is prepping for a similar battle in New Jersey's Supreme Court. The law firm last month handed the paint industry its first defeat in scores of lead contamination suits by showing that peeling paint is a public nuisance. The New Jersey case has the rapt attention of defense attorneys, who fear that local adoption of the doctrine would ease the way for untold numbers of suits.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

September 03, 2002 | New Jersey Law Journal

Retired Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein begins a new job this week as counsel to the Hackensack firm his son helped establish. After 17 years on the court, Stein will concentrate on commercial litigation, mediation and arbitration at the eight-lawyer firm of Pashman Stein.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

July 22, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

Women and minority attorneys are far more likely than their male and white colleagues to perceive race and gender bias in the court system, says a judiciary study just made public.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

November 06, 2003 | Law.com

New Jersey's bellwether law firms are keeping pace with the national norm in hiring and retaining women and minority lawyers, a Law Journal survey shows. Women constitute 40.3 percent of associates in 20 large New Jersey firms. That figure is in sync with a study by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, which found that women comprised 40 percent of associates in the private sector nationwide in 2002. Partnership, however, remains a difficult goal to attain.

By Charles Toutant

7 minute read

February 17, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

A property owner's half-century use of a neighbor's lagoon demonstrates that a grant of riparian rights was not extinguished during a brief period when the two tracts came under common ownership, a New Jersey appeals court rules.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

August 05, 2009 | Law.com

First-year associate compensation at large firms nationwide, which climbed to a pinnacle last year, are about to take slide, according to NALP's annual salary survey. The national law-placement organization reported on July 30 that the overall median salary for first-years this fall will be $122,500, down $7,500 from the $130,000 now being paid. "This year's report reflects what is likely to be the apogee of large firm salaries for the foreseeable future," NALP said in announcing the survey results.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

April 04, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

The New Jersey judiciary is about to launch a pilot program to assist separated couples with resolving disputes over day-to-day parenting issues, ranging from who picks up the kids from school to where they spend their summer vacations.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read