The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a New York health care lawyer and a California chiropractor violated the state's Insurance Fraud Prevention Act when they helped a local chiropractor set up a multidisciplinary practice.

In a unanimous ruling, the court said the arrangement violated the sacrosanct rule that a medical practice must be run by a medical doctor and not someone with a lesser degree of expertise.

“Health care services are highly regulated, and professionals … are on notice of the legal requirements applicable to the practice and operations,” wrote Justice Jaynee LaVecchia for the court in Allstate v. Northfield Medical Center.