In State v. Chisum (decided February 5, 2019) the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that police officers lacked a reasonable suspicion to justify detaining 10 party guests in a motel room after concluding their investigation of a noise complaint. Accordingly, the weapons they discovered during the investigatory detention were
In Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. R.L.M. and J.J., the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that parents have the right to represent themselves in actions to terminate parental rights. Facts of Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. R.L.M. and J.J Plaintiff New Jersey Division of Child
In Kaminskas v. State (NJ, 2019) the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that each county — not the Attorney General — is responsible for defending and potentially indemnifying its police officers. The court’s decision was unanimous. Legal Background The New Jersey Tort Claims Act governs the defense and indemnification
In Kernahan v. Home Warranty Administrator of Florida, the Supreme Court of New Jersey refused to enforce a mandatory arbitration agreement in a home warranty contract because it lacked mutual assent. The court did not reach the argument of whether its ruling in Atalese v. U.S. Legal Services Group should
The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled in Josh Finkelman v. National Football League (NJ, 2019) that the National Football League (NFL) did not run afoul of the New Jersey Ticket Law when distributing tickets to the 2014 Super Bowl. According to the unanimous court, New Jersey Ticket Resale Law
The New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act (“OPMA”) does not contain a fee-shifting provision that would allow a plaintiff who brings a successful enforcement action to recover his/her legal costs. However, an ongoing OPMA lawsuit is relying on a novel legal theory to recover counsel fees under the fee-shifting provision contained
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether federal agencies can challenge patents under the America Invents Act (“AIA”). The case, Return Mail Inc. v. United States Postal Service, centers on whether the government qualifies as a “person” who may petition to institute review proceedings under the AIA. Legal
Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed legislation into law that extends the New Jersey Prompt Payment Act to include local governments, school boards and independent authorities. The law, which already applies to state government agencies, aims to ensure the prompt payment of public contracts for the purchase of goods and services and
