A lot of ridiculous lawsuits are filed in New Jersey each year, but only one can be crowned NJCJI’s Most Ludicrous Lawsuit of the Year. 2014’s honoree, the woman suing Disney for $250 million because she claims the blockbuster hit Frozen was stolen from her autobiography, was just recently told by the court that she needs to take Queen Elsa’s advice and “let it go.”
The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act has been the focus of several news stories this week since a state court judge issued a ruling that will allow a CFA-based lawsuit over “gay conversion therapy” to move forward.
Although A4097, which would place additional restrictions on contract into the state’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), is not on its face an anti-arbitration bill, that is its effect. That much was made clear when the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee held a hearing on the bill on February 5.
A lot of ink has been spilled over the federal corruption charges that have been filed against longtime New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. At the heart of the case is the sharing of asbestos patients/clients by doctors and law firms tied to Silver on an apparent quid pro quo basis.
On January 20, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of its biggest cases of 2015, Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc. The court will decide if an employee performing activities as part of his or her core job functions, on that basis alone and without further conduct by the employee, can seek whistleblower protection under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) if they are fired. The day after the case was heard, NJCJI hosted a policy teleforum on the case featuring Adam Saravay, a partner at McCarter & English, who co-authored NJCJI & NJBIA's joint amicus brief and participated on the organizations' behalf in the high court's oral arguments on the case. During the call, Saravay provided an overview of the case and its implications before sharing his insights on how oral arguments in the case went.
On Thursday, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges. A spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association called the arrest a “turning point” in the effort to combat abuses in the nation’s top judicial hellhole since Silver is the state’s number one opponent of legal reform.
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, Gov. Chris Christie delivered his fifth State of the State Address. One of the main points of the speech was a call for a “New Jersey renewal.” The New Jersey Civil Justice Institute shares this sentiment.
A few weeks ago, Law360 published an opinion piece by William J. Pinilis of Pinilis Halpern LLP concerning our recent panel discussion of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and our overall efforts to reform the Act. This week, Law360 has a rebuttal to Mr. Pinilis’ column penned by fellow panel member Dr. Joanna Shepherd of the Emory University School of Law.
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the [...]
This morning at the State House, Sen. Steven Oroho (R-24) joined with the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to call for the legislature to pass some common sense legal reforms to improve the state’s business climate.
