Charles Toutant

November 27, 2002 | Law.com

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that municipalities do not need specific statutory authority to pay counsel fees for employees beset by litigation. The town leaders may invoke a higher, "moral authority," said the court. The justices overturned a ruling that the town of Kearny acted ultra vires by paying counsel fees for a resigned clerical worker's defense of a taxpayers' suit over his severance pay.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

November 03, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey is suing to block the federal government's proposed dredging of the Delaware River, charging that plans to dump the potentially toxic sediment in New Jersey would violate a host of federal laws.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

September 05, 2008 | New Jersey Law Journal

Leading bond counsel firms in New Jersey have been putting in overtime, thanks to the state treasurer's re-issuing of $3.4 billion in auction-rate bonds as fixed-rate debt instruments.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

January 05, 2006 | Law.com

Businesses are scrutinizing their record-keeping procedures now that a New Jersey state law, effective Jan. 1, creates a risk of civil liability for failing to safeguard consumers' personal data. "I think it has some very wide-ranging implications," says Wendy Lario, an employment lawyer whose firm, Pitney Hardin, is sending out advisories and has put together an information security audit program for clients. "For smaller or mid-sized companies, it may be burdensome to meet these requirements."

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

April 28, 2003 | New Jersey Law Journal

Dual representation of a municipal joint insurance fund and a member municipality poses no conflict of interest, a district ethics panel has ruled in an opinion eagerly awaited by lawyers who handle both ends of the business.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

December 06, 2006 | Law.com

When attorney Patrick Geary fell behind in his insurance regulatory work, he allegedly started falsifying filings and correspondence with state insurance departments, and gave some clients paperwork bearing phony "approved" stamps. Eventually, most of his time was spent manufacturing information on the status of client matters. After Geary's firm confronted him about discrepancies in his work, he confessed and resigned. Now, New Jersey's Disciplinary Review Board is recommending a two-year suspension.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

July 13, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

Despite a decade of litigation and a federal consent decree prohibiting racial profiling by New Jersey state police, it still goes on, according to a federal civil rights suit filed last Tuesday under the auspices of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

August 13, 2010 | Law.com

A one-time threat to post an ex-paramour's nude photos online does not constitute harassment under New Jersey's domestic violence law, a state appeals court has ruled in reversing a restraining order. A trial judge had found that the threat, in an e-mail to the plaintiff and her mother, met the definition of harassment. But the appeals court said the defendant's purpose was to get the plaintiff to return his calls, not to harass her. He also wanted to convince her mother to recant a statement she made to his wife.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

October 03, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

KPMG and Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood have reached a $225 million settlement with plaintiffs in a class-action suit that charges the firms with having sold bogus tax shelters.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

June 29, 2011 | Law.com

Defendants in a legal malpractice case are seeking to make Wolff & Samson partner Laurence Smith and his firm responsible for informal advice he gave his sister during her divorce. At issue is his review of documents, his meeting with opposing counsel and his receipt of copies of emails in connection with his sister's case.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read