Michael Booth

May 19, 2010 | New Jersey Law Journal

A long-term commercial tenant with a right to purchase a property does not have to be given written notice that the property has been targeted for condemnation in a redevelopment scheme, the state Supreme Court rules.

By Michael Booth

4 minute read

May 30, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

The state Supreme Court last Tuesday affirmed that New Jersey's big-city mayors, not city councils, have the sole power to negotiate and sign contracts with private consultants and vendors. The Court said that in cities organized under the strong-mayor plan permitted by the Faulkner Act, councils have only the authority to approve or reject contracts.

By Michael Booth

4 minute read

April 18, 2005 | New Jersey Law Journal

Tempers are riding high in the first test of the fine provisions of New Jersey's 3-year-old Open Public Records Act. At a hearing on Thursday, the state Government Records Council heard two hours of testimony, often peppered with personal invective, on whether the West Milford Township clerk should be fined for "knowingly and willingly" refusing to supply documents under the statute.

By Michael Booth

5 minute read

October 20, 2006 | Law.com

When a law firm buys malpractice insurance, how clairvoyant must it be in predicting possible claims? A Hackensack, N.J., firm maybe should have seen one coming, since it purchased its policy at the tail end of an eight-year appeal of a dismissal of a suit as time-barred. According to the carrier, failure to sue on time was malpractice per se, and the firm had a duty to disclose it on the insurance application. A New Jersey appellate court agreed and denied coverage.

By Michael Booth

3 minute read

September 27, 2007 | New Jersey Law Journal

Two decades after Integrity Insurance Co. was declared insolvent and put into liquidation, its insureds are still being hit with claims from former workers as they fall ill to asbestosis caused by products they made or used. That means that reinsurers, among whom Integrity spread the risk, could face billions of dollars in "incurred-but-not-reported" claims for decades to come, if the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has its way.

By Michael Booth

4 minute read

January 05, 2004 | New Jersey Law Journal

As the legislative session ends, heirs of a $350 million Johnson & Johnson trust fund are lobbying heavily for a bill that could bar a potential heir from sharing in the fortune. The legislation, which would allow for DNA testing of children and fathers if the father believes he is not the biological parent, has become snagged in an intraparty tussle: Some Democrats say it has been rewritten to solely benefit some Johnson heirs while others say it merely tries to resolve legal inequities.

By Michael Booth

8 minute read

February 18, 2011 | New Jersey Law Journal

Attorney General Paula Dow on Tuesday appointed her counsel, Carolyn Murray, as acting Essex County prosecutor, immediately set off speculation over whether she would be considered formally for the job.

By Michael Booth

5 minute read

July 18, 2008 | New Jersey Law Journal

The New Jersey Supreme Court has warned county planning boards that if they fail to meet legislatively mandated deadlines for acting on applications, projects will be deemed approved.

By Michael Booth

3 minute read

May 30, 2000 | Law.com

Internet sex offender registries are on the upswing with New Jersey poised to become the 30th state with such an initiative. The state legislature is expected to approve the measure and voters will have their say in the fall. As it is planned, New Jersey's registry would include convicted sex offenders' names, photos, home addresses, places of work and criminal histories.

By Michael Booth

5 minute read

February 07, 2008 | New Jersey Law Journal

The state Supreme Court is deliberating whether an allegedly beaten child's hospital-bed statement to a social worker is admissible in a criminal trial without the child's cross-examination

By Michael Booth

3 minute read