Category | Firm news
What are the rules about police brutality that protect officers?
Given that officers have to interact with criminals, those impaired by mind-altering substances and those experiencing mental health emergencies, they need to be able to protect themselves. They have training in the use of physical force and typically carry firearms and other weapons. Sometimes, the actions an officer takes will...
Checkpoints and pints on St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is an annual Irish holiday Americans celebrate with massive parades and let us not forget, the trademark Guinness and green-colored lager beer. People join drinking contests in participating pubs, chugging that green beer as if their lives depended on it. If they are considering driving home after,...
The rights of police brutality victims in New Jersey
Most New Jersey citizens trust their local and state police to protect them. While the vast majority of officers strive to serve their communities from dangerous criminals, some police may cross a line during interrogations. When this happens, victims of police brutality need to be aware of their rights. Excessive...
How much force are the police supposed to use?
If you cooperate with the police during an arrest, you expect that there will be no use of unjustifiable force. However, it may not be the case, and you might find yourself nursing physical injuries from a simple arrest, a classic case of police brutality. Understandably, law enforcement requires the...
5 ways to potentially challenge a Breathalyzer test
Driving is an essential part of daily life for many people in New Jersey. Being allowed to operate a vehicle on the road can help facilitate employment as well as family visits. As a result, the consequences of a DUI conviction can be devastating. Breathalyzer tests often form a key...
When is a police officer using excessive force?
Have you been in a situation where you believed an officer may have used excessive force? Do you understand what levels of force are considered acceptable? Excessive police force is presumed when an officer applies physical force greater than what needs to be used against a person who is not...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
We give thanks, today and every day, for you and the trust you place in us. We are committed to building strong relationships with our clients because we understand that strong relationships lead to better results. We hope that this holiday allows you to spend time with loved ones, to...
NEW JERSEY’S DOG BITE LAW – LIABILITY AND DEFENSES
A dog is man’s best friend-most of the time. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than four million Americans are bitten by domesticated canines every year, and almost a million of those bites develop some type of infection. New Jersey law imposes what is known as “strict liability”...
PROTECTING YOUR RECOLLECTION OF WHAT HAPPENED IN AN ACCIDENT
When you are involved in an accident, chances are good that you’ll replay the events over and over in your mind, like a video that keeps looping. You may think you’ll never forget exactly what happened. You may be surprised then, when you’re in a deposition a year later, that...
NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS–BYSTANDER CLAIMS
If you’ve ever witnessed a serious accident, seen someone hurt in a car accident or a work-related accident, you know that the emotional impact can be devastating. You can relive the event for months or years, and experience significant emotional trauma, particularly if the person who was injured or killed...
APPEALS COURT REINSTATES GASTRIC SLEEVE CLAIM
A New Jersey appeals court has reinstated a medical malpractice claim involving allegations of negligence in the performance of “gastric sleeve” surgery. The lawsuit was previously dismissed because the injured party had not filed an affidavit with the court from a licensed and approved specialist stating that the standard of...
CLASS ACTION AGAINST PROGRESSIVE REINSTATED
A class action against insurance giant Progressive, alleging that the company sold automobile policies to Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries who were not eligible to purchase those products, has been reinstated by a New Jersey appeals court. The ruling, handed down on Monday, March 6, 2017, vacated the prior dismissal of...
COURT FINDS THAT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS DON’T OFFSET BACK PAY AWARD
The New Jersey Appellate Division has reinstated a jury award for back pay in a claim based on discrimination and retaliation under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The court concluded that a lower court had improperly reduced the jury award by offsetting unemployment benefits against it. The case was...
WELLS FARGO SUED IN NEW JERSEY FOR DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION
Wells Fargo Bank, facing a multi-billion dollar class action by former employees, has been served with a complaint in state court in New Jersey. The legal action, filed by a former teller, alleges gender discrimination, age discrimination and wrongful discharge. The plaintiff, Lenore Kuter, says she was terminated when she...
LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT MAKES SEXUAL HARASSMENT DIFFICULT TO DETECT
Over the past couple years, a number of scandals have come to light involving sexual harassment in state legislatures across the country. Just last week, an Oklahoma representative resigned when it became apparent that his colleagues were going to vote to have him expelled from the Oklahoma House. A month...
COST OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION MAY RISE IN NEW JERSEY
In the aftermath of a decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court, legal experts expect that workplace discrimination lawsuit awards will escalate in coming years. In Cuevas v. Wentworth Group, New Jersey’s top court permitted a $1.4 million award for emotional distress to two Hispanic men who alleged race-based harassment...
CAMDEN COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT FACES SEXUAL HARASSMENT INVESTIGATION
School Superintendent Jason Eitner has been put on paid leave until the end of December, as the Waterford Township Board of Education looks into allegations that he engaged in both sexual harassment and ageism. Eitner has been in the post for about 18 months. According to officials, three senior teachers...
PROSECUTORS ASK COURT TO THROW OUT CONVICTIONS
Government attorneys in Cleveland have filed a request to nullify the convictions of 40 people, alleging that they were victims of illegal acts by law enforcement officers. According to Cuyahoga County officials, three East Cleveland police officers engaged in a lengthy pattern of corruption, targeting specific individuals for arrest and...
MAJOR CHANGES SET FOR BERGEN COUNTY JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Effective Friday, April 1, 2016, sweeping changes will be made to the Bergen County judiciary, changes that proponents say will strengthen a defendant’s right to a speedy trial and impose bail reform. The Changes to the Bail System Under the reformed approach to bail, the right to bail will be...
STATE AND ALLSTATE WIN MULTIMILLION DOLLAR PIP FRAUD CLAIM
New Jersey is one of a number of states that have a law allowing PIP, or personal injury protection, as an extension of car insurance coverage, designed to provide benefits for medical expenses, lost wages and other damages. Sometimes known as “no-fault” insurance, PIP is typically paid without respect to...
LAWYERS PREPARE FOR ONSLAUGHT OF POKEMON GO INJURY CLAIMS
You’ve probably seen them-individuals walking down the sidewalk, across a field or in a parking lot, eyes alternating between their devices and the landscape in front of them. What are they doing-playing Pokemon Go, the “augmented reality” game from Niantic, where players use their devices-phones, pads and even laptops-to find...
NEW JERSEY SLIP AND FALL LAW MAY COVER ADJOINING PROPERTY
In New Jersey, as in other states, under what is known as “premises liability,” the owner of commercial or residential property has a duty to maintain the premises so as to minimize the risk of injury to anyone legally on the property. Until 2013, the owner of property was only...
LAB TECH CHARGED WITH FAKING RESULT IN DRUG CASE
NEARLY 8,000 NEW JERSEY CRIMINAL CASES IN JEOPARDY New Jersey state police say a lab technician falsified the results in a drug case last December, causing nearly 8,000 drug convictions in New Jersey to come into question. The technician, Kamalkant Shah, was apparently observed by investigators writing test results for...
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF POLICE MISCONDUCT
It’s a common misassumption that the terms “ police misconduct ” and “ police brutality ” are interchangeable. Under the law, though, police misconduct is a much broader term that includes police brutality. Police brutality necessarily involves the use of force, whether with weapons, batons, feet or fists. Police misconduct...
CRIME BOSS SENTENCED
New York resident Matthew Madonna, allegedly one of the ruling bosses of the Lucchese crime family, was sentenced earlier this month to five years in the New Jersey state prison facility in Trenton, after pleading guilty to running an illegal gambling operation. Madonna was formally charged with violation of the...
LOCAL POLICE KILL 400 PER YEAR, ACCORDING TO STUDY
STUDY SHOWS THAT MINORITIES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY VICTIMS In a study conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, documents show that over a seven year period, local law enforcement officers shot and killed an average of 400 people a year, and that about one in four were black persons shot by...
Recovering Damages for Wrongful Death
Recovery Compensation after the Death of a Loved One When a loved one dies because of the carelessness or negligence of another person, no amount of money can bring them back. No financial recovery can restore you to the life you had before their death. Nonetheless, you have a right...
FETAL HEART MONITORING AND BIRTH INJURIES
Fetal heart monitoring is essential in alerting nurses and doctors to potential problems during birth. During labor, fetal heart monitoring can signal the onset of fetal distress and other problems that may result in the need to perform a C-section or undertake certain delivery maneuvers during birth. In most cases,...
RECOVERING FINANCIALLY AFTER A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
Long-term consequences of a traumatic brain injury are not always obvious in the weeks and months following a serious car, truck, motorcycle or pedestrian accident. Depending on the area of the brain injured and the severity of the injury, people experiencing traumatic brain injury often suffer from memory loss, chronic...
PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS AFTER A BURN INJURY
DEALING WITH THE AFTERMATH OF A BURN INJURY One of the most debilitating and painful injuries you can suffer involves any type of burn…chemical, electrical or fire (or thermal) burns. In addition to permanent scarring and disfigurement, you can suffer nerve damage, loss of flexibility or mobility, loss of limb,...
WILL LAW ENFORCEMENT BE ABLE TO LISTEN IN ON A CAR’S BLACK BOX?
Black boxes and GPS in cars could encroach on the freedom of New Jersey residents as well as others throughout the nation. It appears that the potential for auto-manufacturers to use GPS technology to determine when drivers break laws is already available in most new cars. Ford’s executive VP of...
WHAT TO EXPECT IN A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROCEEDING IN NEW JERSEY
It can happen in an instant, and for a variety of reasons. You may be having a discussion with your spouse or an ex, when a disagreement becomes heated. Tempers and voices may go up. Unfortunately, if anyone calls the police, whether it seems necessary or not, there is a...
INJURIES COVERED BY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWS
WHAT TYPES OF INJURIES ARE COVERED BY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWS? When you have been hurt on the job, one of the first questions you want answered is whether your injury is one that is covered by the state’s workers’ compensation laws, so that you can secure benefits for lost wages,...
CARELESS DOG OWNERS, DOG BITES AND YOUR RIGHTS NEW JERSEY
PERSONAL INJURY LEGAL HELP IN FREEHOLD AND PT PLEASANT SINCE 1985 Dogs have instincts that don’t always lead to safe situations when dogs are around people. For this reason, most people are free to own dogs in New Jersey, but strict laws restrict dogs’ movements. For instance, in many areas,...
TRUCK ACCIDENTS, THEIR CAUSES AND YOUR RIGHTS
PERSONAL INJURY LEGAL HELP IN FREEHOLD AND PT PLEASANT SINCE 1985 More often than not, auto accident victims feel they know what caused the accident. Observations we hear frequently in our office include “They didn’t even stop at the stop sign!” “He just turned, he didn’t even signal.” and “The...
PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS
In the hustle and bustle of today’s world, with increasing traffic on the roads, more and more pedestrians are suffering injury because of the carelessness or negligence of motor vehicle operators. In most instances, drivers simply fail to exercise the degree of care necessary to protect the rights of innocent...