Law firms operate in an aggressive marketplace, just like all other companies and professionals. However, lawyers understand business clients are continually challenged to manage their legal fees and costs. While acknowledging that legal costs, for litigation or otherwise, can be viewed as a necessary “cost of doing business,” it is an expense that companies constantly […]

Court Continues Trend of Restricting Venues Available to Plaintiffs On June 19, 2017, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) v. Superior Court of California San, Francisco County, et al. The Court’s decision in BMS represents another in a string of decisions limiting the concepts of general and specific jurisdiction […]

In the business arena it is readily understood that open competition is healthy where it is unrestricted and subject to free rein. It is theoretically anticipated to stimulate macro and micro-economic growth.  Competition in a laissez-faire marketplace is expected to increase supply and lower price points, consequently affording consumers and purchasers with option variety for […]

Business “partnerships,” like marriages, always begin with dreams of a long, happy life together. Unfortunately, they too often end in acrimony, in-fighting and ultimately dissolution. In the business context, specific to closely held entities and smaller limited liability companies, New Jersey law provides for resolution of such disputes without ringing a death knell for the […]

On March 9, 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that the failure to advance arbitration fees, as required in an arbitration agreement, voids the arbitration agreement and renders it unenforceable. The case Roach and Jackson v. BM Motoring, LLC at al. is the first time the Supreme Court has taken […]

Most people make the effort to schedule or conduct regular “audits” of aspects of their life whether it be personal finances, physical fitness, estate planning or otherwise. That discipline should also be adopted for an individual’s insurance needs. All too often people, whether in their personal life or for their business or company, obtain insurance […]

In a recent decision the Supreme Court of New Jersey determined that under New Jersey’s Limited Liability Company Act (“Act”), a dissenting owner who does not agree with proposed terms of a management agreement cannot be expelled from the company for that reason.  Subsection 3(c) of the Act empowers a court to enter a judicial […]

Yesterday, in a precedent setting case, the Appellate Division ruled that a waiver to sue third parties in an employment contract was void as against the public policy.  The Appellate Division held that Allied, who employed the injured worker as a Security Guard, could not in its employment contract with the Security Guard waive the […]

In Part II of our series, we continue our discussion regarding the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent announcement that it will adopt the recommendations made in the September 14, 2015 Report of the Working Group on Ethical Issues Involving Metadata in Electronic Documents.  The amendments will (1) require lawyers to be aware of and safeguard […]