Charles Toutant

May 16, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

Prudential Insurance Co. can't bar disclosure of internal documents submitted in discovery in a putative class action that alleges it misled policyholders, a U.S. judge in Newark rules.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

March 03, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

A retiring Bergen County, N.J., judge turned heads this month by issuing a ruling in a case in which the plaintiff's counsel is the firm he planned to join.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

October 17, 2005 | Law.com

New Jersey litigation boutique Kenney & Kearney is deconstructing, following other small to midsize firms that, unable to meet corporate clients' demands, are seeking merger partners, falling prey to raiders or falling apart. Having access to more technology and people "gives comfort" to GCs who "might be reluctant" to hire smaller firms, says one partner. Several Kenney partners are joining 250-lawyer Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, and the insurance group is going to another Philadelphia firm.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

January 28, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

An injured pedestrian may sue a utility over injuries resulting from a nonworking street light, but only if the company can be shown to have had notice of the outage, a New Jersey appeals court rules in a pair of cases with opposite outcomes.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

September 23, 2005 | Law.com

Sports-injury litigation took on a new dimension in New Jersey last week as the state Supreme Court ruled that a ballpark patron hit by a foul ball while buying a beer can sue the park owner for negligence. The ruling alters the long-standing "baseball rule" -- a limited-duty-of-care doctrine that for more than a century has shielded stadium owners from litigation.

By Charles Toutant

7 minute read

March 02, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

A Hudson County fire department sued for racial bias in hiring practices has won the right to a hearing on the impact of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on racial preferences in the workplace.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

August 29, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. will pay $8.3 million to settle two U.S. class actions over release of chemicals into the water supply in Salem County that allegedly affected 4,248 households.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

July 07, 2003 | New Jersey Law Journal

Open-space preservation is a laudable public purpose, but it can't be used as a pretext for condemnation of land in order to block development, a Burlington County judge rules in a case closely watched by land-use lawyers wary of a growing incidence of the practice.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

August 01, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

An insurance company seeking to disclaim coverage for its insured's alleged junk-faxing may have to prove its case before a jury, thanks to a state appeals court ruling that offers guidance on interpretation of advertising-exclusion clauses in general liability policies.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

September 26, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

Conscious of cost controlling by corporate legal departments, New Jersey's large firms are keeping their billing rate hikes modest, in line with a national trend.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read