Overlawyered » New Jersey http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 “The court that broke Jersey” http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/the-court-that-broke-jersey/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/the-court-that-broke-jersey/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:58:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27515 Steve Malanga on New Jersey’s perennially activist Supreme Court [City Journal]. We’ve periodically discussed the court’s lamentable jurisprudence in its Abbott (school finance redistribution) and Mount Laurel (towns given quotas to build low-income housing) decisions. The court has also nullified constitutional limitations on borrowing by the state.

Tags: , ,

Related posts

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/the-court-that-broke-jersey/feed/ 1 Tyler Clementi suicide case http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/tyler-clementi-suicide-case/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/tyler-clementi-suicide-case/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:12:09 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27493 It launched a hundred “anti-bullying” initiatives at all levels of government, but much of what you think you know about it is probably wrong [Andrew Sullivan on Ian Parker, New Yorker](& Hans Bader, CEI “Open Market”]

Tags: ,

Related posts

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/tyler-clementi-suicide-case/feed/ 0 January 5 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-5-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-5-roundup-3/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:57:22 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26560
  • Big business vs. free markets again: light bulb makers “fuming” over GOP effort to restore consumer choice [Sullum] Large grocery chains like DC’s bag tax [Tim Carney]
  • Eeeuw! Bystander can sue train fatality victim whose body part flew through air and hit her [Chicago Tribune]
  • “Recommended Cell-Phone Ban Comes as ‘Shocking,’ ‘Heavy-Handed’ To Some” [Josh Long, V2M]
  • “Exploding churros are newspaper’s fault, Chilean court rules” [AP]
  • In New Jersey and North Carolina, GOP friends of trial bar block legal reform bills [Armstrong Williams, Washington Times]
  • Kozinski vs. ill-prepared lawyer in case of Sheriff Arpaio vs. newspaper that covered him [The Recorder; Phoenix New Times case]
  • Federal judges block cuts to in-home personal care services in California, Washington [Disability Law, San Francisco Chronicle, KQED]
    • Tags: , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-5-roundup-3/feed/ 4     N.J.: overdoses on Xanax, collects $4.1 million http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/n-j-overdoses-on-xanax-collects-4-1-million/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/n-j-overdoses-on-xanax-collects-4-1-million/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:06:56 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26550 “A man who overdosed on stolen drugs he ingested at a party in 2007 has settled his lawsuit with a pharmacy, several guests, the party’s host and the host’s mother for $4.1 million. … [Scott] Simon sued the pharmacy for not taking proper precautions to avoid the theft of drugs. He also sued several guests, the party’s host and the host’s parents, who were away for the weekend.” [AP via NJLRA, Schepisi & McLaughlin]

    Tags: , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/n-j-overdoses-on-xanax-collects-4-1-million/feed/ 2     Labor law roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/labor-law-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/labor-law-roundup/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:24:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25844
  • Union withdraws, and NLRB drops, complaint against Boeing over plant location decision [Adler, earlier] “Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) Introduces Bill to Reverse NLRB’s ‘Micro-Union’ Decision” [LRT via @jonhyman] Video of “Organized Labor & Obama administration” panel [Federalist Society convention]
  • Suing Atlantic City is an established sport for current, former employees [Press of AC] After lawsuit win, former Gotham sanitation worker litters neighborhood with cars [NY Post via Christopher Fountain] Why have House, Senate reversed usual ideological lines on federal employee workers’-comp reform? [WaPo]
  • Murder of reformist professors reinforces difficulty of changing Italian labor law [Tyler Cowen] UK considers relaxing “unfair dismissal” controls on employers [BBC, earlier]
  • Taylor Law and NYC transit strike: “ILO Urges that U.S. Stop Violating International Obligations It Hasn’t Agreed To” [Ku, OJ; Mitch Rubinstein, Adjunct Law Prof]
  • Maryland’s misnamed 2009 “Workplace Fraud Act” bedevils carpet installers and other firms that employ contract workers, and perhaps that was its point [Ed Waters Jr./Frederick News-Post, Weyrich Cronin & Sorra, Floor Daily]
  • “Government pay is higher” [Stoll] Notwithstanding “Occupy” themes, interests of unions and underemployed young folks might not actually be aligned very well [Althouse]
  • More on outcry over proposed federal restrictions on kids’ farm chores [WSJ, NPR, Gannett Wisconsin, CEI, earlier]
    • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/labor-law-roundup/feed/ 0     NJ lifeguards’ age-bias suits http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:51:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25123 Ocean City, N.J., a municipality of 12,000 residents, has recently been coping with nine lawsuits filed by municipal workers. Among them: lifeguards aged 66 and 68 who alleged employment discrimination against them based on their age. [Douglas Bergen, Ocean City Patch via AnnMarie McDonald, New Jersey Lawsuit Abuse Watch; Press of Atlantic City].

    Tags: , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/feed/ 2     Legal trap doors for New Jersey builders http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:12:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25007 According to attorney Jeffrey Newman in the Times of Trenton, New Jersey law allows class actions and consumer fraud suits to be based on paperwork infractions with no showing of actual harm, creating openings for opportunistic litigation:

    As an attorney, I have defended numerous business owners against frivolous claims in which the plaintiff could prove absolutely no injury and he or she had received whatever service or product that was promised. Yet there was language in the purchase agreement that was found to be considered “non-compliant” with the Contractors Registration Act and the Consumer Fraud Act’s Home Improvement Contract regulations.

    …Contractors who choose to use boilerplate contracts often sold in office supply stores are playing with fire, as such agreements would never withstand the scrutiny of the state’s consumer protection laws. When contractors use these forms and are sued, the courts can rule that they have to hand back to the consumer every penny — even the money they laid out for materials to do the job. … In another case, we represented a contractor whose advertisements were not in compliance. Even though the plaintiff never bought anything, our client was still sued!

    Tags: , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/feed/ 0     New Jersey: will $650 recovery support $99,000 fee-shift? http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/new-jersey-will-650-recovery-support-99000-fee-shift/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/new-jersey-will-650-recovery-support-99000-fee-shift/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:54:38 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25386 The New Jersey Supreme Court is being asked to review a case against a car dealer in which the plaintiff’s lawyer obtained a $99,000 fee award; the client’s actual recovery was $650, and the underlying disputed charge was $51.50. In a companion case, a complaint over inadequate handicapped parking won a $2,500 payout for the complainant and $74,000 for her lawyer. The cases could determine whether New Jersey retreats from a relatively liberal formula in which courts enhance many fee awards to prevailing plaintiffs above market rates. [New Jersey Law Journal]

    Tags: ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/new-jersey-will-650-recovery-support-99000-fee-shift/feed/ 0     September 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-6-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-6-roundup/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:09:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24430
  • “For any value of x, ‘X’s Law’ is a bad idea.” [David Wagner on this Radley Balko post]
  • “Politicized hiring at DOJ” shoe is on the other foot now [Caroline May, Daily Caller; Hans Bader/CEI]
  • “THE FACTS: Nothing is unconstitutional until courts declare it to be so,” quoth AP. Whaaaa? [Taranto]
  • Pull back your town’s Section 8 program, get sued or investigated [James Bovard, WSJ]
  • New Jersey Turnpike Authority legal payouts include $150K in legal fees to ADA claimant [Press of Atlantic City]
  • NYT’s faux-criticism of Title IX enforcers: colleges aren’t cowed enough by them [Joshua Thompson, PLF Liberty Blog]
  • After silicosis-payout scandal, lawsuits aim at defrauded insurer among other parties [Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer, earlier]
    • Tags: , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-6-roundup/feed/ 0     July 18 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/#comments Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:13:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23889
  • Per New Jersey court, overly sedentary home office job can result in valid worker’s comp claim [Courier-Post, NJLRA]
  • Trial bar’s AAJ denies it played “direct” role in backing “Hot Coffee” [WaPo, some background]
  • “Cop repeatedly harasses waitresses, never disciplined. Feds defend their civil rights by . . . suing the restaurant.” [Palm Beach Post via Radley Balko]
  • On “unauthorized practice of law” as protective moat around profession’s interests, Britain does things differently [Gillian Hadfield via Andrew Sullivan; related, Larry Ribstein] Forthcoming book by Robert Crandall et al urges lawyer deregulation [Brookings]
  • “The Treaty Clause Doesn’t Give Congress Unlimited Power” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato on Golan v. Holder case headed to Supreme Court]
  • The small bank regulatory shakedown blues [Kevin Funnell] Why is the Department of Justice including gag orders as part of its enforcement decrees against banks on race and lending? [Investors Business Daily via PoL] “Emigrant fights back against mortgage-discrimination suits” [Fisher, Forbes] Dodd-Frank squeezing out community banks [Funnell]
  • “North Carolina to Seize Speeding Cars That Fail to Pull Over” [The Newspaper] “With what, a tractor beam?” [James Taranto]
    • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    Related posts

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-18-roundup/feed/ 3