Gov. Chris Christie took up his veto pen on Monday and conditionally vetoed an equal pay bill that would have made New Jersey a significant outlier and opened employers in our state up to unprecedented liability. In his five-page veto message, Christie objected to several provisions of the bill that NJCJI had flagged as problematic.
“The biggest opponents of arbitration are plaintiffs' attorneys, who make their living in the courtroom. These attorneys are running a smear campaign against arbitration because they know that having a faster and cheaper process for resolving disputes will cut into their bottom line," writes NJCJI President Marcus Rayner in an op-ed in the South Jersey Times.
In order to file a medical malpractice claim, plaintiffs in New Jersey must submit an affidavit of merit from a board-certified medical professional with expertise in the medical procedure at issue attesting that the care provided by the defendant fell outside acceptable professional standards. The affidavit of merit is designed to limit frivolous claims, and ensure that physicians are being justly accused of wrongdoing.
In 2015, doctors and insurers in the United States paid out over $3.95 billion dollars in medical malpractice cases, an increase of 1.68% over the previous year, and a continuation of the trend toward additional payouts after nearly a decade of decline. A closer look at the data reveals that the problem may not be rooted in quality of care, but in law and culture.
Over the past few years, we’ve been sounding the alarm about the unique danger New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA) poses to our state’s businesses. Unfortunately, it seems members of the trial bar are the only ones listening. Plaintiffs’ attorneys are filing an increasing number of TCCWNA-based class actions against companies doing business in New Jersey.
On Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court announced that it has come to a decision about what to do about three important topics that it has been wrestling with: the Uniform Bar Examination, admission by motion, and metadata in electronic documents.
Each day seems to bring additional news confirming what we already know: New Jersey needs economic growth to create jobs and much needed tax revenue. The state took a tremendous hit during the recession, and has yet to fully recover. The state’s unemployment rate remains high, and the budget gap continues to widen as revenue collections miss their targets.
NJCJI is not the only organization that knows legal reform needs to be a component of New Jersey’s economic development plan. A broad coalition of New Jersey’s leading employers, small businesses, individuals, and not-for-profit business associations and professional organizations have joined our call for common sense legal reform.
Yesterday afternoon, Governor Chris Christie, joined by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, announced that he will nominate former federal prosecutor Walter Timpone to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
The New Jersey Assembly voted 46-17-9 in favor of A883, the employment statistics bill, this Thursday. NJCJI is concerned that this bill will create a treasure trove of data on employers that could be used by the trial bar to gin up lawsuits.
