Charles Toutant

April 30, 2008 | Law.com

Dismissal with prejudice is too harsh a sanction for a plaintiff who loses his first lawyer and doesn't find a new one by a court-imposed deadline, a New Jersey appeals panel rules.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

October 14, 2009 | New Jersey Law Journal

A federal appeals court has bounced an age-bias suit by a lawyer whose firm axed him after a tortuous year-and-a half stint, finding there were ample non-discriminatory reasons for firing him.

By Charles Toutant

5 minute read

July 26, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

A New Jersey appeals court finds there is no personal-use defense to a charge of illegal growing of marijuana, not even for medical use.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

July 09, 2008 | New Jersey Law Journal

An Ocean County judge orders Toms River to consent to the deannexation of 58 homes on a nub of the Barnegat Peninsula, continuing a slow process of attrition to Lavallette.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

October 05, 2005 | Law.com

KPMG and Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood have reached a $225 million settlement with plaintiffs in a class action suit that charges the firms with having sold bogus tax shelters. The settlement is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh in Newark, N.J., who will hear the matter on Friday. The parties reached the agreement after a year of mediation. Several similar class actions over the tax shelters are pending in other states.

By Charles Toutant

3 minute read

September 16, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

A state appeals court on Thursday had some critical words for a judge who said he routinely trims fee awards to discourage fee-shifting, calling that seat- of-the-pants policy "legally untenable."

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

May 10, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

New Jersey's drunken driving statute has been revised for a second time this year - and the second revision is to fix problems incurred in the first. The earlier amendment had the untoward effect of giving drivers stopped for drunken driving an incentive to skip the Breathalyzer test.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

September 27, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

A same-sex couple who own a home in Montclair are suing local tax officials, saying their marriage in Canada should render them eligible for a disabled veterans' property tax exemption.

By Charles Toutant

2 minute read

March 01, 2004 | Law.com

The Affidavit of Merit Statute -- anathema to plaintiffs' medical malpractice lawyers since its inception -- has taken on a new reason to be loathed, thanks to Supreme Court rulings that seem to be of two minds on whether and when to forgive technical noncompliance.

By Charles Toutant

4 minute read

November 18, 2003 | The Legal Intelligencer

A recent ruling against same-sex couples marrying in New Jersey may give impetus to legislation creating a new status of domestic partnership that does not disturb the traditional definition of marriage.

By Charles Toutant

7 minute read