Legal Research

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STATE DECISIONS:

Save Hamilton Open Space v. Hamilton Township Planning Board et al.
"LAND USE AND PLANNING - Phase II Storm Water Regulations
The DEP did not approve Land Development's storm water management plan as compliant with the Phase II regulations; moreover, those regulations do not provide for DEP review. It is the responsibility of the municipal land use agency to determine compliance with the Phase II regulations. "

Sealed Air Corp. v. Royal Indemnity Co.
"INSURANCE LAW - Directors and Officers Insurance - Pollution Exclusions
The D&O insurance policy affords coverage for defense costs and damages in the underlying suit alleging misrepresentations regarding contingent liabilities for pollution claims despite a pollution exclusion provision." 

State v. Williams
CRIMINAL PRACTICE - Sequestration - Voice Identification
"The victim's recall to give a voice identification after hearing defendant speak in the courtroom did not violate the sequestration order or defendant's constitutional rights."

Piniero v. New Jersey Division of State Police et al.
GOVERNMENT - Discovery - Open Records - Four-Way Investigations - State Police
"Plaintiffs either lack the requisite interest to warrant disclosure of the four-way investigation of a nominee for State Police Superintendent or their interest is outweighed by the public's interest in confidentiality."

Rogers v. Gordon
FAMILY LAW - Alimony - Changed Circumstances - Prenuptial Agreement
"Where the parties entered into a prenuptial agreement prior to the Legislature's adoption of the Uniform Pre-Marital Agreement Act, the agreement is governed by pre-act case law and defendant is entitled to seek alimony, if he demonstrates substantially changed circumstances."

Bueno v. Board of Trustees, Teacher's Pension and Annunity Fund, Division of Pensions and Benefits
EMPLOYMENT - Disability Retirement Benefits - Teachers
"Where an applicant for public employee ordinary disability retirement benefits is disabled from performing the duties of her assigned public-employee position but the employer has no other work available for her in the general area of her ordinary employment, then the applicant must prove that she is disabled from performing duties in the general area of her ordinary employment for other employers."

Tartaglia v. UBS PaineWebber Inc. et al.
EMPLOYMENT- Wrongful Termination - Retaliatory Discharge - Adverse-Inference Charge - Spoliation
"Plaintiff should have been given the benefit of an adverse-inference charge relating to missing documents relevant to her disability and retaliation claims that were also the subject of the bifurcated spoliation claims. To prevail on a common-law retaliatory discharge claim, the employee need not demonstrate that he or she actually notified an outside agency about the allegedly wrongful conduct of the employer."

In re Opinion 39 of the Committee on Attorney Advertising
LEGAL PROFESSION - Attorney Advertising - "Super Lawyers"
"Opinion 39 regarding the advertising of attorneys as 'super lawyers' is vacated; the issue is referred to the relevant advisory committees for expedited review and modification of RPC 7.1(a)(2) and/or (3)."

Felicioni v. Administrative Office of the Courts et al.
CRIMINAL PRACTICE - Restitution - Victim's Rights
"The practice of paying restitution on a first-in-time basis is not unconstitutional or violative of the Crime Victim's Bill of Rights or the Civil Rights Act."

Price v. Strategic Capital Partners et al.
LAND USE and PLANNING - Density Variances
"The grant of a density variance is reversed and remanded for a determination of whether this is a particular case or a condition common to the zone requiring an ordinance amendment."

Sroczynski v. Milek et al.
WORKPLACE INJURIES - Workers' Compensation - Cancellation of Policy - Notice
"A carrier does not satisfy N.J.S.A. 34:15-81 by transmitting electronic notice of cancellation of coverage to the commissioner by way of the FTP where the statute clearly requires that to effectuate the cancellation, a carrier also must file a statement certified by an employee that the required notice was provided to the insured."

Praxair Technology, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation
TAXATION - Corporation Business Tax Act
"In administering the Corporation Business Tax Act, the director may not give retroactive application to the clarifying example in N.J.A.C. 18:7-1.9(b), dealing with the tax liability of foreign corporations that earn licensing fees from parent corporations in New Jersey, to tax years antedating its promulgation in 1996."

Chicago Five Portfolio, L.L.C. v. Director, Division of Taxation
TAXATION - Commercial Real Estate - Mansion Tax
"An amendment constituted a modification, and not a novation, of the purchase agreement; therefore, the purchase agreement was fully executed before July 1, 2006, within the intent and meaning of N.J.S.A. 46:15-7.4, and the purchaser is entitled to a refund of the Mansion Tax."

FEDERAL DECISIONS:

Gross et al. v. The German Foundation Industrial Initiative et al., etc.
INTERNATIONAL LAW - World War II Reparations - Private Right of Action
"In this World War II reparations case, the Third Circuit held that the disputed interest provision of the Joint Statement of the Berlin Accords does not constitute or confer a privately enforceable cause of action on appellants, who assert standing as third-party beneficiaries. "

Altria Group Inc. et al. v. Good et al.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - PREEMPTION - TRADE PRACTICES
"Neither the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act's preemption provision nor the Federal Trade Commission's actions in the field preempt respondents' state-law claim of fraudulent advertising of 'light' cigarettes."

Anderson v. DSM N.V., et al.
EMPLOYMENT - Family and Medical Leave Act - Termination
"Defendants' motion for summary judgment is denied where plaintiff has met her burden of showing there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she was terminated for taking FMLA leave."

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