Charles Toutant

January 04, 2010 | Law.com

Bernard Eizen's Web site bills him as a "renaissance" lawyer, but the tax and estates attorney may have bitten off more than he could chew when he ventured into the realm of intellectual property. That's the nub of a malpractice suit by former clients, who allege that Eizen's inexperience in IP law dealt such a blow to their thriving pretzel company's worth that negotiations to sell it for as much as $100 million crumbled.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

August 23, 2006 | Corporate Counsel

The revised bankruptcy code's provision for mandatory credit-counseling classes prior to a Chapter 7 petition does not apply in the case of involuntary proceedings, a bankruptcy judge has ruled. Calling the issue one of first impression, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Novalyn Winfield in Newark, N.J., has denied a motion to dismiss a petition by three creditors of former Livingston, N.J., lawyer Edward Fagan -- one of them a former client -- who hold more than $5 million in judgments.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

April 05, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

A not-for-profit school cannot use the Charitable Immunity Act to shield itself from suits charging sexual abuse by its faculty, the Superior Court Appellate Division has ruled.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

July 19, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office has the state's largest caseload, but assistant prosecutors there have long been among the state's lowest-paid. Now, 10 months into her tenure as acting Essex County Prosecutor, Paula Dow has announced raises averaging 14 percent for assistant prosecutors.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

August 18, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

Warning clients of their own duty to read critical documents, a state appeals court holds that a malpractice suit over Sills, Cummis & Gross's drafting of a bank-merger agreement was time-barred and meritless.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

October 24, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey's biggest firms hired more novice lawyers this year than last, and entry-level compensation rose modestly. Starting compensation, including bonuses, for first-year associates went up an average of 2.75 percent at 17 firms, to $98,200 in 2005 from $95,570 last year, according to a Law Journal survey. Those same firms hired 135 new associates this year, up 17 percent from the 115 they hired last year. Nine firms hired more, six hired less and two kept flat.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

August 28, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

The software that runs New Jersey's new drunken-driving breath tester has some flaws, but dueling experts disagree on whether the imperfections are fatal to the machine's accuracy

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

March 26, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

An Atlantic City lawyer has just learned the hard way that a client's seeming nonchalance over dismissal of her case due to the lawyer's error doesn't make for a license to conceal it from the malpractice insurer.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

June 01, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey's bellwether firms are willing to pay more than last year for summer clerks that may ripen into permanent hires.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

January 18, 2001 | Law.com

The lure of the cameras has pulled law professor Andrew Napolitano away from teaching class so often that Seton Hall University School of Law has canceled him midseason. The former judge, who since last summer has been holding court on his own Fox TV show, "Power of Attorney," resigned or was fired -- depending on whose version you believe -- when he answered Hollywood's call one too many times.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read