Top News Clips for the Week of March 28-April 2
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of March 28-April 2.
Weird Regulatory Lawsuits Flooding New Jersey Courts, Blindsiding Businesses
The judicial system was not designed with business regulation in mind. Nevertheless, over the past few years New Jersey businesses have faced an increasing number of regulatory-based lawsuits, many of them quite frivolous in nature. These lawsuits are not being brought by the government, but by private attorneys empowered to enforce obscure business regulations on the government’s behalf.
Top News Clips for the Week of August 15-21
A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of August 15-21.
Is Litigation the Best Way to Regulate Business?
A number of New Jersey’s state regulatory provisions specify statutory penalties for violations. Having a defined penalty enhances predictability and reduces inconsistent application of the law. When the statutes provide for enforcement actions by individual consumers, the statutory penalty model has the potential to provide the individual with a straightforward means of redress, often without need to even hire an attorney. Attorneys are getting involved though, and it is leading us toward a system where businesses are being regulated one jury at a time.
Upcoming Events of Interest
There are a number of upcoming events of interest to the legal reform community.
Could New Jersey be the Next Delaware?
Delaware has dominated the business law scene for decades, but a recent move by its legislature has companies considering moving their legal issues, and thus their business, elsewhere. Delaware’s stumble could be an opportunity for New Jersey to woo businesses to the Garden State.
Asbestos Liability in New Jersey
Asbestos litigation has been described by one prominent plaintiffs’ lawyer as an “endless search for a solvent bystander.” Nowhere is this truer than in New Jersey, where we have experienced three waves of asbestos litigation.
Making the Case for Expert Testimony Reform in New Jersey
New Jersey’s rules regarding the admissibility and review of expert testimony have remained unchanged since 1991. In this same period, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Uniform Rules of Evidence, numerous state evidence rules, and our own jurisprudence have all changed to reflect the increased importance and use of expert testimony. The disconnect between the rules on the books and the realities of practice were on full display at the New Jersey Supreme Court’s May 19, 2015 hearing on the Committee on the Rules of Evidence’s latest report.
An Appealing Policy Change
Did you know New Jersey is one of only eleven states where the court system is required to give tobacco companies a benefit that other defendants are denied? It’s true. As part of the Master Settlement Agreement reached in 1998, New Jersey agreed to put a cap on the amount of money tobacco companies must post as bond in order to appeal adverse verdicts in exchange for money and other concessions from the 5 tobacco companies involved in the litigation. To this day, tobacco companies are the only defendants in New Jersey that get the benefit of an appeal bond cap.
NJCJI Will Be Busy with Appellate Work This Summer
Monday was probably one of the last days the New Jersey Legislature will meet before the fall elections, but that does not mean that we at the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute are kicking back to relax until January. Did you know that the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute is the only organization that systematically reviews every case taken up by the state’s Appellate Division courts and the New Jersey Supreme Court to determine what impact each case might have on the state’s civil justice system?