Charles Toutant

March 02, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

C.R. Bard has been hit with class action suits claiming it sold thousands of defective hernia repair patches and conspired to limit competition in the market for urinary catheters.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

September 25, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

Resisting an ethics counsel's call for an enhanced penalty, the Supreme Court on Friday followed the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct's recommendation and censured Judge Rosemarie Williams for a drunken-driving conviction, finding it the normal penalty imposed on other judges for first-time DWI offenses.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

July 31, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

A contest of constitutional dimensions could result in more conflicts of interest for law firms that hire lawyers from the public sector. At issue is whether the Rules of Professional Conduct or the more stringent state Conflicts of Interest Law should govern the case of a firm's potential disqualification from state work if it has a former state lawyer on staff.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

January 09, 2006 | Law.com

Corporate America wouldn't think of launching a product without market research, and now that same mind-set is slowly catching on among law firms faced with ever-increasing competition. Market research can show firms what best serves existing clients and how that translates into a campaign to find new business. But a firm that commissions a branding study runs the risk of learning that its reputation is not as strong as it thought -- or worse, that it has no reputation at all among would-be clients.

By Charles Toutant

7 minute read

May 20, 2002 | New Jersey Law Journal

Answering its first certified question from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the New Jersey Supreme Court put some gloss on New Jersey`s Attorney`s Lien Act in a way that should make attorneys smile. The justices said that a lawyer need not take any court action, prior to settlement or judgment in a case, to perfect the common-law lien that gives the lawyer the right to retain possession of the client`s property until all legal fees, costs and disbursements are paid.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

November 20, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

A town's attempted taking of a local airport's property - allegedly to preserve open space - has been stayed for four months while court-appointed special masters investigate whether the action is based on ulterior motives

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

October 22, 2010 | Law.com

For 17 years, Raymond Nadel considered himself a partner at New Jersey's Starkman & Nadel. His name was on the marquee and he worked under an agreement that gave him 25 percent of the firm's net profits. But in 2004, firm founder Morris Starkman canned him, citing performance concerns. Nadel sued for what he claimed he was due and was awarded $2.9 million. Now an appeals court says Nadel was a partner in name only and not vested with sufficient indicia of partnership to warrant a payout, regardless of the parties' intent.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

April 10, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

The state Department of Human Services is in a quandary. It's under a court order to declare that child-support obligors are liable for interest due on delinquent payments. But if it does, it will increase New Jersey's pool of overdue support and lower its collection rate. It's not just paper loss, either, because the federal government very likely would slash New Jersey's Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

August 27, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

A Somerset County judge fines a Plainfield solo $1,000 for failing to appear at six scheduled court hearings in the same criminal case, bringing to $2,250 the total sanctions imposed.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

November 12, 2010 | Daily Business Review

Judge Renee Lamarre Sumners resigned in the wake of public disclosure that she had bounced checks to judicial authorities, was sued by creditors and was the subject of an arrest warrant. Sumners said in a letter that she was resigning "to spare my family any further embarrassment."

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read