Posts Tagged ‘New Jersey’

Law school caveat emptor

A judge has dismissed another of the wave of lawsuits charging that law schools concealed evidence that placement rates, employment prospects and other relevant statistics were bleak for many graduates. The most recently dismissed case was against Chicago’s DePaul; earlier, judges threw out cases against Thomas Cooley, in Michigan, and New York Law School. [Caron, TaxProf; ABA Journal on Cooley] On the other hand, a California court will allow fraud suits to proceed against the University of San Francisco and Golden Gate law schools [Caron]

Meanwhile, critics have been sniping over some funny numbers at Rutgers-Camden [Paul Campos, Law School Scam; and more on an unrelated controversy in which an assistant law dean is hinting at legal action following unfavorable press coverage of her combined role as compliance officer and spouse for a New Jersey member of Congress]

Filed under: law schools, libel slander and defamation, New Jersey

September 10 roundup

Employee “moons” corporate brass, court upholds his loss of $2 million in commissions [NYDN]
Just what you always wanted to win in a class action: a 15%-off Bed Bath & Beyond coupon [PoL, compare]
Seven Camden, N.J. students made to eat lunch on cafeteria floor will get $500,000 [Courier Post Online]
“Lawyer Submits A Five-Page Brief — In Comic Book Form” [Tucson Weekly]
“Sunlight Before Signing: Measuring a Campaign Promise” [Jim Harper, Cato]
Judge Alex Kozinski cast as an extra in “Atlas Shrugged II” [Above the Law]
“Recusal Motion Cites Girl-Scout-Cookie Purchase” [Lowering the Bar]

Filed under: Barack Obama, class action settlements, New Jersey, recusals, schools

Sued if you do dept.: unhappy town hall in New Jersey

Parsippany, N.J. hired a new town clerk last year, but her tenure does not seem to have proved a long or happy one: four office employees soon filed complaints against her, “charging her with making racial, sexual and religious statements that left them feeling uncomfortable in the workplace,” and she filed counter-complaints. “All of the grievances were dismissed by township administration, and both sides filed suit against the town.” Now the town has paid $200,000 to resolve the former town clerk’s claims, which she has not elaborated publicly on advice of counsel, while the status of the office workers’ $4 million claim is not clear. [Parsippany Patch via NJLRA]

Filed under: New Jersey, public employment, sued if you do

Unshuffled decks at the mini-baccarat table

Gamblers at a mini-baccarat table at the Atlantic City Golden Nugget could scarcely believe their good fortune: the house was dealing from an unshuffled deck, making it possible to guess which cards were coming next. “Forty-one consecutive winning hands later, the 14 players had racked up more than $1.5 million in winnings — surrounded by casino security convinced they had cheated but unable to prove how.” When the truth emerged, the casino filed a lawsuit against the card manufacturer, saying the decks had wrongly been promised as pre-shuffled. Meanwhile, it is refusing to cash in the uncashed chips of the winners, on the theory that New Jersey regulations invalidate casino games that do not offer fair odds to both sides. The players’ lawyer rejects that theory and also claims the casino has shown bias toward his clients because of their Asian origin, which the casino denies. [AP/NJ.com]

Filed under: gambling, New Jersey

August 17 roundup

Judge OKs settlement in Skechers shoe promotion suits, valued at $40 million [WaPo, earlier]
“Philadelphia woman faces $600-a-day fine for feeding needy neighborhood kids” [Fox]
“Minister Found Guilty of Aiding Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping” [BTB, my latest, earlier]
Yes, the HHS waiver eviscerates welfare reform [Andrew Grossman, Kaus, more, yet more; Bader, more; Kay Hymowitz, City Journal (quoting Doug Besharov on the reversal: “The domestic policy staff doesn’t believe in ‘work first'”); contra, Josh Barro, Dave Weigel] USDA: Por favor, acepte food handout [Barton Hinkle, Bader, NR (backs off)]
Reason “nanny of month” is New Jersey dog seat belt law [Ted Balaker, Hit and Run; our earlier coverage]
“Malicious prosecution, unfair trials and the U.S. Constitution” [Alison Frankel, Reuters]
Manchester, Conn.: “Mom Arrested for Letting Her Kids, 11 & 7, Walk to Pizza Shop” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids] “Desperate Dad: ‘I Let My 12 y.o. Play Outside. Is that Criminal?'” [Skenazy, The Agitator; update on another case]

Filed under: animals, Miller-Jenkins case, New Jersey, Philadelphia

“Suspect In Wild N.J. Car Chase Now Suing Bergen County Police For $17 M”

Francesco Piserchia and another suspect were speeding away from the scene of a botched burglary when the police caught up with them. Piserchia’s suit claims he was trying to surrender when he was shot. [CBS New York]

Filed under: chases, New Jersey, personal responsibility

Torts roundup

Dixon v. Ford Motor Company: “The Best Causation Opinion of 2012” [David Oliver] “Any exposure” causation: “Pennsylvania Supreme Court delivers significant asbestos ruling” [Point of Law]
Maryland high court may consider pro-plaintiff shift from contributory negligence to comparative fault [Sean Wajert]
In last-minute ploy, Albany lawmakers extend time limits for suing local governments [Torch via PoL, Times-Union]
Mental diagnoses: what to do when courtroom experts armed with DSM-5 shoot from the hip [Jim Dedman, Abnormal Use]
California appeals court, legislature decline to go along with trial lawyers’ crusade against Concepcion and class arbitration waivers [WLF, CL&P]
Critics challenge legality of Louisiana AG’s use of contingency lawyers [Melissa Landry, Hayride]
To curb client solicitation, NJ mulls withholding crash reports from noninterested parties for 90 days [NJLRA]

Filed under: arbitration, asbestos, attorneys general, chasing clients, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, psychiatry

“Thanks for saving my life. That’ll cost you $5 million.”

Ellen Shane, 62, of Carteret, N.J., was taken hostage at knifepoint by a parolee at Woodbridge Center Mall and was freed only when a police officer shot the criminal dead. Now she “plans to sue the township for $5 million, claiming it failed to protect public safety and that she was injured as a result of the officer’s acts. Both Shane and her husband, Ronald Shane, ‘are suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome and both have been dramatized from this incident,’ according to the tort claim notice filed by their lawyer, David Corrigan of Eatontown’.” It alleges that the officer should “attempt[ed] to resolve the situation” by other means before shooting. [Tom Haydon, Newark Star-Ledger via AnnMarie McDonald, NJLRA, from which the headline is taken]

Filed under: New Jersey, third party liability for crime

Wal-Mart sued over teen’s bogus P.A. announcement

At a Wal-Mart store in Turnersville, N.J. in 2010, a 16-year-old visitor got hold of the store’s public address system momentarily and announced to shoppers, “Attention Walmart customers: All black people must leave the store.” “A manager quickly made his own announcement, apologizing for the message. … The teenager was charged with harassment and bias intimidation, but now Donnell Battie, who is black, is suing Walmart claiming the store was negligent and reckless and showed deliberate indifference by not keeping the P.A. system safe from abuse.” [Gloucester County Times]

Filed under: New Jersey, Wal-Mart

New Jersey woman sued over sending text to someone who was driving

A judge in Morris County, N.J. is expected to rule soon whether to dismiss Shannon Colonna as a defendant in a lawsuit over a car crash. Colonna was far from the scene at the time, but plaintiffs said she had sent a text message to the driver whose inattention caused the accident, and thus aided and abetted his negligence. [The Record; AP; NJLRA] Update: judge dismisses claims against Colonna.

Filed under: cellphones, New Jersey, shotgun defendant selection