Charles Toutant

July 18, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

As the dust settles from the U.S. Supreme Court's ground-shaking decision allowing private property to be taken for economic development, a case in Passaic is laying bare the economic aftermath. The dispute raises the issue that many lawyers feel the Court gave short shrift on June 23 in Kelo v. New London: what is the "fair compensation" due to an owner when his property is taken for a developer's use that will measurably increase its value?

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

November 04, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

Global Positioning System readings are inadmissible without expert testimony establishing the accuracy of the specific device used, a state appeals court rules.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

July 27, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

Andrew Berry, the chairman of McCarter & English who spearheaded its transformation from a local firm to a regional power, died on July 24 at his vacation home in Southport, Maine. He was 69.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

March 11, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

Attorney General Anne Milgram has asked the state Supreme Court to postpone application of its holding on police searches of vehicles until a statewide telephonic warrant system is implemented, saying that the state will otherwise be left with a "Hobson's choice."

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

March 20, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

The N.J. Spill Compensation and Control Act does not provide a legal basis for the Department of Environmental Protection to seek a court-ordered cleanup of polluted property, a state judge rules.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

May 29, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

YouTube and two other video-sharing Web sites agreed Thursday to stop showing a surveillance video of a car exploding on impact with a tollbooth on the Garden State Parkway.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

August 31, 2007 | National Law Journal

Schering-Plough Corp. faces a spate of federal court litigation over promotion of its drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Eight putative class action suits are pending with U.S. District Judge Stanley Chesler in Newark, N.J., consolidated by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Schering's lawyer, Joan McPhee of Ropes & Gray, said the company will defend what it considers a free-speech right to discuss off-label uses with doctors.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

April 13, 2007 | Law.com

The New Jersey State Bar Association is hollering mad at a policy, enforced by state court regulators, requiring third-time drunken-driving offenders to be hauled off to jail the minute they're convicted. In a resolution made public last week, the Bar said the Administrative Office of the Courts lacks legal authority to impose such a policy. And what's more, the Bar said, the directive exemplifies a pattern of "overarching and unauthorized exercise of control by the AOC."

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

November 06, 2003 | Law.com

When criminal lawyer Morris Pinsky gets a new case, the client may not know the charges, hearing dates, or the name of the judge or prosecutor. Although getting such basic information can be hard for private attorneys, prosecutors and public defenders can tap into New Jersey's Promis/Gavel criminal database of state court cases for details like bail status, court dates and co-defendant names. Pinsky is urging authorities to level the informational playing field.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

June 06, 2000 | Law.com

The New Jersey Appellate Division reopened a sex offense conviction because the trial judge failed to tell the defendant when he pleaded guilty that he faced lifetime supervision under Megan's Law. The appeals panel ordered the case remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine the validity of the defendant's claim that he was misinformed and whether the conviction should be vacated.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read