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PRU SUES EX-EMPLOYEES' LAWYERS FOR CONTRIBUTION IN FRAUD SUIT
"Prudential Life Insurance Co. is pursuing an unusual contribution claim against four New Jersey firms that obtained settlements of between $10,000 and $190,000 for former employees suing the giant insurer for fraud. But the company may need an affidavit of merit to support its claim, a judge ruled on Monday. In the much-publicized litigation, the former employees charged the company conspired with New York's Leeds, Morelli & Brown to defraud the workers by arranging to have the Leeds firm represent the employees in alternative dispute resolution and then rigging the ADR process. A handful of the workers retained their own lawyers who obtained settlements for them, and Prudential contends that if those plaintiffs suffered damages above the amounts they received in the settlements, their own lawyers should bear some or all of the responsibility."

LAW BARS ALIMONY, INHERITANCE FOR ABUSIVE, NEGLECTFUL PARENTS
"Parents who abuse, abandon, neglect or cause the death of their children will be ineligible for alimony and for inheritance benefits from their children's estates, under a new state law signed by Gov. Jon Corzine on April 17 that takes effect in July. The new law amends N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 to deny alimony to a person convicted of murder, manslaughter, criminal homicide, death by auto or vessel, aggravated assault or a similar offense in another jurisdiction if the crime results in the death of a child and is committed after the divorce or dissolution of the marriage or civil union. It also amends N.J.S.A. 3B:5-4 to eliminate inheritance rights for a surviving parent who abused, abandoned, negligently endangered the welfare of, or committed a sexual offense against, the child. And it amends N.J.S.A. 34:15-21 to eliminate recovery under worker's compensation statutes by parents found to have committed the same acts against their child."

WIKIPEDIA HELD TOO MALLEABLE TO BE RELIABLE AS EVIDENCE
"A New Jersey judge who allowed a lawyer to plug an evidentiary gap with a Wikipedia page has been reversed on the ground that the online encyclopedia that 'anyone can edit' is not a reliable source of information. '[I]t is entirely possible for a party in litigation to alter a Wikipedia article, print the article and thereafter offer it in support of any given position,' an appeals court held. 'Such a malleable source of information is inherently unreliable and clearly not one 'whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned,' ' such as would support judicial notice under in New Jersey Evidence Rule 201(b)(3). The ruling tossed out a judgment in a collection case, Palisades Collection v. Graubard, A-1338-07, in which the plaintiff relied on a Wikipedia entry to help trace ownership of a credit-card debt to establish standing to sue."

GOV. WANTS BROADER MANDATE FOR NEW SENTENCING COMMISSION
"Gov. Jon Corzine has signaled he will sign a bill to create a new Criminal Sentencing Commission to conduct the first comprehensive review of the state's sentencing statutes in three decades, but he wants some tweaking done first. Corzine said in a conditional veto on April 17 that he supports the goal of the bill, S-1880/A-3452 , which is to develop a 'rational, just and proportionate' sentencing scheme but he said it needs to be revised to broaden its scope of review to include, for example, racial and ethnic issues that may affect the system. The Legislature is likely go along with Corzine's recommended changes when it reconvenes in June. The measure would create a 13-member commission charged with reviewing the sufficiency of current sentencing options, focusing on determinate and indeterminate sentencing, supervised release and intermediate, alternative and additional sanctions, among other areas."

COURT TO RULE ON BIAS AVOIDANCE IN JOB DISCRIMINATION CASE
"The elements of a perfect storm for employers coalesce in the Supreme Court this week in a major job bias case asking what employers legally may do when a decision to avoid discrimination against one group of employees may mean discrimination against another group. The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, involves a public employer, but could have significant ramifications for private employers and their efforts to maintain diversity in their workplaces. The plaintiffs, New Haven firefighters who were among the top scorers on a promotion test, argue the city's refusal to certify the test results due to racial disparities acted to discriminate against them on the basis of race in violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and Title VII's prohibition on disparate treatment discrimination. The city counters that to have gone forward with the test results would have put it in violation of Title VII's ban on disparate impact discrimination and in jeopardy of a lawsuit by black firefighters. "

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