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PANEL OKs TWO NEW JUDGES, TENURE FOR FIVE AND A PROSECUTOR
"The Senate Judiciary Committee has recommended confirmation of two nominees to the Superior Court, Donald Kessler for Essex County and Kimarie Rahill for Warren. Kessler, a Democrat, of Short Hills, has been a commercial litigator for more than 30 years. Rahill, a Democrat, of Hackettstown, runs a solo practice there concentrating in family law, mediation, land use and real estate. At a hearing on Monday, the committee also endorsed another five-year term for Salem County Prosecutor John Lenahan and tenure for five sitting judges: two in Middlesex County, two in Camden and one in Burlington."

JUDGE CAUTIONS CLASS-ACTION LAWYERS AGAINST FEE-FEEDING FRENZY
"A federal judge has warned a growing roster of plaintiffs' lawyers in a multibillion-dollar health insurance class action not to muddy up the case with jockeying over fees. U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg wants the lawyers to coordinate discovery in suits alleging Aetna, Cigna, WellPoint and Horizon Blue Cross of New Jersey underpaid claims for out-of-network treatments by relying on a database that deflated the usual, customary and reasonable reimbursements rates. The case has already been affected by a feud between two leading firms on the plaintiffs' side, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer in Woodbridge and Pomerantz, Haudek, Block, Grossman & Gross in New York. Class-action suits over the allegedly fraudulent database used by many carriers led to a $255 million settlement with HealthNet that Hochberg approved last year."

HOMEBUYERS' SUIT SEEKS TO BAR TITLE COMPANY OVERCHARGES
"Plaintiffs in a consumer fraud class action are trying to convince a federal judge in Newark to enjoin a dozen title insurance companies from overcharging home buyers on recording fees. The plaintiffs in Chassen v. Fidelity National Financial, 09-Civ.-291, are homebuyers who claim they were soaked in amounts ranging from $95 to $350 by settlement agents who falsely certified on the HUD-1 statements that the fees they collected were the amounts disbursed for the recording of deeds and mortgages, when in fact the monies were retained and misappropriated. U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan denied an injunction last month but the plaintiffs are asking him to reconsider, alleging the overcharges are illegal and rampant. The title companies contend the requested injunction would shut down residential real estate closings in New Jersey."

N.J. CASINO REGULATORS SANCTION BANKRUPTCY SALE OF TROPICANA
"The New Jersey Casino Control Commission voted Wednesday to authorize the sale of Atlantic City's Tropicana Casino & Resort in a bankruptcy court auction that will be kicked off with a $200 million bid by a group led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn. The commission also set a Dec. 31 deadline for a sale to take place and the buyer to obtain an interim casino license. The casino began plunging towards insolvency after the the commission denied Tropicana Entertainment LLC's license renewal application in December 2007, finding that casino executives were incapable of running a 'first-class facility' as required by law. Shortly after the commission's unanimous vote on Wednesday, the Tropicana filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in federal court in Camden and asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur to approve bidding procedures for a court-supervised auction."

NACDL REPORT BLASTS MISDEMEANOR COURTS
"The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has concluded, based on an 18-month study, that state and local governments are wasting millions of tax dollars to prosecute petty offenses, such as curfew and open-container violations, loitering and feeding the homeless. The report found that taxpayers are footing the bill for more than 10 million misdemeanor prosecutions per year, paying an average of $60 a day, per inmate, to incarcerate misdemeanor defendants. The NACDL recommends that states divert nonviolent misdemeanor cases that do not affect public safety to programs that are less costly to taxpayers and repay society through community service or civil fines. "

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