NJSBA HQ New Jersey State Bar Association Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

NJSBA Delegates Attend ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting

The New Jersey State Bar Association's (NJSBA) delegates to the American Bar Association (ABA) were among the thousands to attend the ABA's hybrid Annual Meeting in Chicago, which started last Wednesday and runs through Tuesday.

Leaders in the NJSBA used the event as an opportunity to meet with colleagues in state bar associations around the country to discuss issues of mutual concern, including judicial security, racial equity in the law, and how associations are helping their members work through the ongoing public health crisis.

The event featured seminars, panel discussions and speeches, as well as a voting session in the House of Delegates. One highlight of the meeting featured NJSBA member Paulette Brown, who served as the ABA's first Black president in 2015–2016, on a panel comprised of the 10 women who have led the ABA in its 143-year history, all in the past 26 years. ABA President Trish Refo joined the former presidents to discuss what has changed for women in the legal profession and what challenges remain.

Capitol Report

Supreme Court to consider mandatory attorney review, equitable defenses in palimony agreements

The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is once again participating as amicus curiae to argue the parameters of palimony agreements in light of a 2010 amendment to New Jersey's statute of frauds mandating that they be in writing. In the matter of Moynihan v. Lynch, the NJSBA urges the Supreme Court to overturn the Appellate Division's decision that failing to obtain attorney review of the agreement is a bar to enforcement of its terms despite evidence of promissory estoppel and partial performance. The brief was written by the NJSBA's Family Law Section chair, Robin C. Bogan, of Pallarino & Bogan LLP; Brian G. Paul, of Szaferman Lakind; and past chair of the Family Law Section, Brian M. Schwartz, of Schwartz Vinhal & Lomurro.