Charles Toutant

June 28, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

With four lawyers but more than 100 nonlawyer collections employees, JBC Legal Group operates on the premise that a letter from a lawyer hinting at legal action is a strong motivator to debtors. That assumption is no doubt correct, but it's leading to legal trouble for JBC and its owner.

By Charles Toutant

7 minute read

September 28, 2010 | Law.com

Lawyers in a New Jersey burglary case seem to have stumbled upon a new terrain for photographic evidence: Google Earth. A New Jersey appeals court on Monday found no error in allowing prosecutors to use satellite photos from the global mapping service to help show the perpetrator's proximity to the crime scenes -- specifically, by pinpointing the location of cellular towers near his home and the burgled residence.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

January 25, 2002 | New Jersey Law Journal

A Camden County judge on Friday denied the state attorney general's request for relief from an order allowing defense attorneys to examine the Alcotest 7110, the new drunken-driving breath-test device slated to replace Breathalyzers. Defense lawyers can't buy an Alcotest on the open market because the manufacturer, Drager Safety of Durango, Colo., only sells the machine to government agencies and not private citizens.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

August 24, 2006 | Law.com

The revised bankruptcy code's provision for mandatory credit-counseling classes prior to a Chapter 7 petition does not apply in the case of involuntary proceedings, a bankruptcy judge has ruled. Calling the issue one of first impression, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Novalyn Winfield in Newark, N.J., has denied a motion to dismiss a petition by three creditors of former Livingston, N.J., lawyer Edward Fagan -- one of them a former client -- who hold more than $5 million in judgments.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

November 17, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

There's no getting around the facts: Law is a business, law firms are companies and companies need corporate counsel.

By Charles Toutant

6 minute read

April 18, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

A trial judge has let the air out of a car dealer's offer of coupons instead of cash to settle a class action suit over alleged overcharges to customers.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

April 28, 2010 | Law.com

A federal jury in Newark, N.J., has found, after a 14-day trial, that three generic drugmakers infringed Pfizer Inc.'s patent on its acid-reflux drug Protonix. The jury found that Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Kudco Ireland and Sun Pharma Global infringed on the patent when they filed applications with the Food and Drug Administration to sell generic versions of Protonix. The patent is held by Nycomed of Switzerland. Pfizer said it will seek treble damages for its lost profits.

By Charles Toutant

2 minute read

October 22, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

Despite a state Supreme Court dictate that Alcotest machines be recalibrated every six months, failure to do it is not grounds to suppress a reading, an appeals court says.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

February 25, 2002 | New Jersey Law Journal

A law firm can represent a murder defendant even though it once represented the man he is accused of murdering, as a split appeals panel rules that any ethical concerns about conflicts of interest and appearance of impropriety do not mitigate against allowing a capital defendant the counsel of his choice.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

December 29, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

A law firm that abandoned a school superintendent so it could keep the school district as a client is disqualified from representing both, an appeals court rules.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read