New Jersey

Former Employees Say Insurer May Have Paid Their Lawyer $5 Million

Did a major insurer make a $5 million payment to a law firm representing former employees against the company? That is the question that may soon finally be answered after more than five years of litigation between Prudential and some of the 359 employees who filed an earlier suit against…

Apr 21, 2009 12:52 AM CDT

Well-Known Louisville Lawyer Accused in ‘Bust-Out’ Schemes

A well-known Louisville, Ky., lawyer has been accused in schemes to drain the assets of companies that were offered for sale. Bankruptcy lawyer Bruce Atherton is facing charges in two separate cases for aiding the alleged ringleader of a so-called “bust-out” scheme involving multiple companies, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. The…

Apr 20, 2009 6:27 PM CDT

N.J. Judge Refuses Gag on ‘Other Man’ Claim About Bruce Springsteen

Both Bruce Springsteen and a New Jersey woman who knows him because they have patronized the same health club deny that the legendary 59-year-old rocker is the “other man” in her divorce, as her husband claims. But a judge in New Jersey has refused to issue a confidentiality order concerning…

Apr 15, 2009 5:24 PM CDT

Jury to Decide if Lowenstein Sandler Used Secret Data to Raid Firm

In a trial that begins today, New Jersey law firm Lowenstein Sandler is fighting a tort claim that it caused the collapse of another, smaller law firm. The former 45-lawyer law firm Ravin Sarasohn contends Lowenstein raided 15 of its top lawyers after examining secret financial data, including billing records,…

Apr 13, 2009 11:54 AM CDT

Guitar-Wielding Lawyer Rocks Fender

A New Jersey lawyer, who by day practices entertainment law and by night plays guitar and tours the country with one of his two rock bands, has helped win a key trademark case over Fender Musical Instruments. The case began when lawyer Ron Bienstock was doing due diligence for a…

Apr 9, 2009 4:13 PM CDT

Nonequity Parter Liable for $84K in Receivables After Firm Dissolves

An appeals court in New Jersey has affirmed an $84,850 verdict against a lawyer who claimed his status as a contract partner meant he didn’t have a fiduciary duty to his firm when it dissolved. John Pribish was at Friedman Siegelbaum for just seven months when the firm shut down…

Apr 9, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

Appeals Court Raps ‘Sophie’s Choice’ Given NJ Plaintiff and Caregiver

A New Jersey judge erred when he gave a plaintiff a “Sophie’s Choice” between pursuing her sex discrimination case against a former employer and caring for her mortally ill 89-year-old father in Florida, a state appellate court has held. It reinstated the case brought by plaintiff Linda Pangione, which Ocean…

Apr 2, 2009 11:55 PM CDT

In ‘Kafkaesque’ Case, Pro Se Client Foils Former Counsel’s $145K Fee Collection

Apparently unhappy about his lawyer’s handling of a federal national-origin discrimination case in which he won an $80,000 jury verdict on a retaliation count, a tenured assistant professor of economics at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business fought back. After dismissing his counsel, Antonia Kousoulas, and successfully defending the…

Apr 2, 2009 10:07 PM CDT

Counsel’s ‘Kill Them or Hope They Die’ Comment Blamed for $2.1M Verdict

After a hostile takeover of a direct marketing firm in 2003, corporate counsel William Wachtel reportedly said in a management meeting that the best way to avoid paying severance to previous managers was to “kill them or hope they die.” The words, arguably said in jest, have come back to…

Apr 1, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

NJ Sues Multiple Lawyers in Alleged $18M Mortgage Racketeering Scam

A disbarred lawyer who lives in Montvale, N.J., and his son, as well as four other licensed attorneys have been accused of participating in an $18 million mortgage racketeering scam in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general. The case concerns a claimed straw-buyer scam allegedly operated through Casey…

Mar 13, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Disbarred NJ Lawyer Beats the Rap in Misappropriation Case

A New Jersey lawyer who was disbarred for misappropriating mortgage settlement funds can’t be criminally convicted for the same conduct, a state appeals court ruled today. Because prosecutors didn’t charge Lawrence Coven in time, a three-judge appellate panel held, the criminal case against him concerning four mortgage refinancings was properly…

Feb 11, 2009 6:47 PM CST

Oldest Federal Prosecutor Celebrates 80th Birthday

The oldest federal prosecutor in the country celebrated her 80th birthday last week with an office party and birthday greetings from President Barack Obama. Lorraine Gerson has worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey since 1979, prosecuting mostly financial and fraud cases, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports. It…

Feb 11, 2009 12:50 PM CST

Bailiff’s Suicide Attempt Ignites Ethics Complaint Against N.J. Judge

A discipline case has been launched against a New Jersey judge who allegedly had an affair with his bailiff. The romantic relationship between the bailiff and Wilson Campbell, a Jersey City municipal judge, came to light when the woman overdosed in late June of last year, reports the New Jersey…

Feb 10, 2009 6:46 PM CST

Vaseline Threat by Ex-Judge Leads to Three-Month Suspension

A former New Jersey judge has been suspended from law practice for three months for an incident in which he allegedly told police officers who had arrested him on a drunken driving charge to “get the Vaseline out and bend over.” The municipal judge, George R. Korpita of Dover, resigned…

Feb 9, 2009 4:50 PM CST