Charles Toutant

June 21, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

It's rare indeed that a district ethics committee recommends a sanction and the Disciplinary Review Board disagrees, but it happened June 18 in the case of a Rockaway solo accused of dragging his feet in an estate case and then refusing to cooperate with substituted counsel.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

March 19, 2010 | Corporate Counsel

A New Jersey law firm stiffed on its fees by a corporate client can collect from the company's principals, a state appeals court held, overturning a ruling that absolved four stakeholders of liability for $116,000 owed to Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard. The four did not dispute that they benefited from the representation, but argued they shouldn't have to pay the bill because they never agreed to be responsible for it. But the court said they share in the company's liability under the doctrine of quantum meruit.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

August 26, 2002 | Connecticut Law Tribune

One Ivy League university accuses another of cyberfraud and identity theft, and among the confidential records intercepted are those of the U.S. president`s fashion-model niece.

By CHARLES TOUTANT Tech Tribune Contributing Writer

6 minute read

December 22, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

When a client hesitated over paying his bill, Richard Ledingham threatened her with criminal prosecution for theft of services and he didn't stop there: He also warned that she might lose her business, her home and her professional license.

By Charles Toutant ALM

5 minute read

December 02, 2002 | Law.com

The Federal Debt Collections Practices Act permits award of attorney fees even without a showing that a defendant is liable for actual or additional damages, a federal judge ruled Nov. 14. U.S. District Judge John Bissell in Newark, N.J., assessed counsel fees against a debt collector that had sent out a dunning notice on which mandatory debtor-rights language was printed in a typeface so small that it was "virtually unreadable."

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

June 21, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

The confidentiality that cloaks New Jersey judicial ethics investigations must yield to a state subpoena for testimony in the trial of an indicted judge, the state Supreme Court rules.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

August 25, 2003 | New Jersey Law Journal

A lawyer's attempt to save a time-barred malpractice suit by wrapping it up as a federal RICO and civil rights case has drawn an unorthodox sanction: Rather than dock the lawyer for fees, the judge ordered him to take courses in federal practice and procedure, professionalism and legal ethics.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

May 17, 2007 | Law.com

A 2003 federal law designed to combat identity theft has triggered a series of putative class action suits against nationally known retailers over the amount of information they put on credit card and debit card receipts. And even more lawsuits are on the way. A defense attorney says large retail chains could face billions of dollars in claims if a wide-scale error resulted in thousands of electronicaly produced receipts that do not comply with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

October 06, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

A civil rights law banning retaliation against those reporting illegal conditions at psychiatric hospitals creates no private cause of action by the whistleblower, a U.S. court rules in a Third Circuit case of first impression.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

March 15, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

The Supreme Court has suspended a Toms River lawyer for a year for lending his name to a collection agency's pursuit of debtors, a role that disciplinary authorities said clouded the attorney-client relationship.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read