http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-23T02:18:03-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/suspect_in_homicide_of_nj_attorney_is_arrested_in_philadelpia/ A man well-known on the Web as "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" has been arrested in Philadelphia and charged in the homicide of Joseph Galfy Jr., a 73-year-old New Jersey lawyer who was found dead at his home in Clark earlier this week. Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, 24, was arrested at a… Criminal Justice, States, New Jersey Fri, 17 May 2013 11:50:58 -0500 44227.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/dad_faces_child-endangerment_and_weapon_charges_after_authorities_say_son_4/ The father of a 4-year-old boy accused of shooting a 6-year-old playmate to death last month is facing multiple charges of child endangerment and one count of enabling access by minors to a loaded firearm. Anthony Senatore, 33, of Toms River, N.J., is cooperating, says his lawyer, Robert Ebberup, but… Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, States, New Jersey Wed, 15 May 2013 11:20:16 -0500 44193.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/death_of_new_jersey_lawyer_is_ruled_a_homicide/ An autopsy has determined that blunt force trauma caused the death of a 73-year-old New Jersey lawyer found dead in his home on Monday. Authorities are labeling the death of Joseph Galfy a homicide, report the New Jersey Star-Ledger and MyCentralJersey.com. Galfy was a… Criminal Justice, States, New Jersey Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:21 -0500 44187.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_of_salomon_bros_founder_sues_citigroup_says_secretary_assigned_in_consu/ The 99-year-old son of a founder of Salomon Brothers has sued Citigroup, contending that the bank breached a retirement contract by assigning him and failing to supervise adequately a personal secretary who allegedly stole $3 million of his personal funds. William Salomon, who began working for the famed investment bank… Banking Law, Contracts, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey, New York Mon, 13 May 2013 10:45:05 -0500 44146.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kobe_bryant_battles_mom_for_ownership_of_sports_memorabilia_from_his_youth_/ Not one but two federal courts have been asked to weigh in on the issue of whether Kobe Bryant's mom had a right to clear out his boyhood bedroom and sell at auction the sports memorabilia she found there. Initially, the Philadelphia-area auction house to which Pamela Bryant consigned the… Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, 9th Circuit Court, States, California, New Jersey Fri, 10 May 2013 12:50:18 -0500 44128.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/unhappy_with_child-custody_award_woman_and_parents_plotted_to_murder_her_ex/ A former elementary school teacher and her father pleaded guilty Thursday to their admitted roles in a plot to murder her former husband because they were unhappy with a child-custody award in the couple's divorce case. Then, after onetime third-grade teacher Kathleen Dorsett was arrested in the 2010 slaying of… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, States, New Jersey Fri, 10 May 2013 10:30:57 -0500 44112.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/did_kobe_bryants_mom_have_ok_to_clear_out_his_boyhood_bedroom_federal_judge/ Just in time for Mother's Day, basketball great Kobe Bryant is involved in a federal lawsuit against his own mother, who he says cleared out his former boyhood bedroom without his permission to obtain sports memorabilia for an unauthorized auction. After a dispute developed, a New Jersey auction house filed… Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Family Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 09 May 2013 13:43:53 -0500 44110.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/cahill_steps_down_in_rutgers_probe_due_to_local_counsel_conflict_is_replace/ Last month, Cahill Gordon & Reindel was hired by Rutgers University to conduct an independent review of the school's handling of the suspension and firing of former men's basketball coach Mike Rice. But on Friday, after discovering a conflict, Cahill stepped down from the representation and has been replaced by… Education Law, Entertainment & Sports Law, Government Law, Labor & Employment, Law Firms, Trials & Litigation, States, New Jersey Thu, 09 May 2013 11:50:39 -0500 44108.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/immigration_lawyer_conned_clients_and_courts_for_years_35-count_indictment_/ Although Michael Schorr is not a lawyer, he practiced in immigration courts in New York and New Jersey for four years by simply borrowing other attorneys' bar registration numbers or using a fake number, authorities allege. Arrested Friday and held without bail, he is accused of stealing tens of thousands… Criminal Justice, Immigration Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, 2nd Circuit Court, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey, New York Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:22 -0500 44072.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/can_remote_texter_be_liable_if_driver_is_distracted_by_message_appeals_cour/ It's common knowledge that texting and driving is a bad idea and, in a number of jurisdictions, illegal. New Jersey is one of them. But what about sending a text to someone you know is behind the wheel? In addition to moral responsibility, could there be any civil liability for… Appellate Practice, Legal Theory, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, States, New Jersey Mon, 06 May 2013 17:32:54 -0500 44059.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/registered_sex_offender_charged_with_using_law_firm_computer_to_send_child_/ A registered sex offender working as a paralegal at an unidentified law firm in Paterson, N.J., has been criminally charged, accused of using his law firm computer to distribute child pornography. Kevin Rease, 32, was denied bond at a hearing Wednesday in federal court in Newark, after the government argued… Criminal Justice, States, New Jersey Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:39:33 -0500 43919.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_fallout_for_rutgers_over_fired_coach_as_another_ex-employee/ A former employee filed a whistleblower suit against Rutgers University in state court in New Jersey on Friday, contending that he suffered retaliation for complaining about mistreatment of basketball players. Eric Murdock, who made public a video that led to the recent firing of the basketball coach, followed by the… Contracts, Education Law, Entertainment & Sports Law, Labor & Employment, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, States, New Jersey Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:27:11 -0500 43620.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_is_disbarred_for_dealings_with_partners_in_soured_real-es/ A New Jersey lawyer who had two previous run-ins with ethics authorities has now been disbarred because of his dealings with partners in a real estate business. The New Jersey Supreme Court disbarred Vincent Paragano in an opinion (PDF) issued last week, the New… Legal Ethics, States, New Jersey Tue, 02 Apr 2013 05:40:50 -0500 43506.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_allows_suit_claiming_widener_law_school_posted_misleading_job_stats_c/ A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that Widener University School of Law posted misleading and incomplete job statistics. Senior U.S. District Judge William Walls of New Jersey allowed the suit to proceed in an opinion (PDF) published last week. Eight Widener law grads claimed… Consumer Law, Law Schools, Law Students, Trials & Litigation, States, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:30:20 -0500 43410.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-prosecutor_convicted_in_law_firm_rico_enterprise_case_should_have_had_a_/ A former state and federal prosecutor convicted this week of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and participating in drug-dealing, prostitution and even a conspiracy to murder witnesses, might have done better to let a… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Juries, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:40:58 -0500 43376.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_convicts_criminal_defense_attorney_accused_of_operating_law_firm_as_ra/ Once a prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, Paul Bergrin was convicted Monday by a federal jury in Newark of all 23 counts he faced in a case in which he was accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and conspiring to murder witnesses, among other crimes.… Criminal Justice, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:24:49 -0500 43328.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_takes_state_plea_will_pay_1m_to_widows_estate_federal_8.5m_ponzi_pro/ A New Jersey lawyer has pleaded guilty in state court to money laundering and promised to fully repay within five years the estate of the elderly widow he bilked of $1.1 million Michael Kwasnik has also agreed to repay, before his scheduled May 10 sentencing, the client couple from whom… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:41:18 -0500 43268.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/archer_greiner_lays_off_14_lawyers_27_staff_members/ After mergers during the past several years that brought its attorney roster from 150 to nearly 210 lawyers, a well-known law firm with longtime roots in New Jersey is retrenching. Archer & Greiner gave layoff notices last week to 14 attorneys and 27 staff members, the… Careers, Layoffs, Law Firms, Associates, Midsize Firm, Partners, States, New Jersey, Pennsylvania Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:04:53 -0500 43234.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/attorney_on_trial_in_claimed_law_firm_rico_enterprise_conspiracy/ Seven weeks into the federal trial of a New Jersey criminal defense attorney accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise that trafficked in drugs and prostitution and conspired to murder adverse witnesses, the prosecution has rested. Paul Bergrin, 57, who is acting as his own lead counsel,… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:15:45 -0600 43153.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/plan_to_merge_rutgers_two_law_schools_would_end_competition_for_students_fa/ Officials at Rutgers in New Jersey have announced a plan to merge the university’s two law schools at Camden and Newark. The merger, which would take place by the fall of 2014, would create one of the country’s largest law schools. Neither campus would be closed, but the schools would… Law Schools, Law Students, States, New Jersey Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:03:04 -0600 43057.abajournal.com