Quarterly Newsletter Articles

Indexed By Practice Area

Administrative Law/Government Procurement

• A Recent Change to the Prevailing Wage Act Worth Noting: Update for Clients Working With the Public Sector
• Cash In On Atlantic City - Casinos Broaden Role In Redevelopment Projects
• Challenging the Award of Public Contracts: The Necessity of Swift Action
• Home Improvement Contractors and Contracts: Know Your Rights and Obligations
• Indiscriminate State Spending: Are There Constitutional Protections?
• Negotiation Rules Under Local Public Contracts Law for Award of Contracts Without Public Bidding
• New Jersey Goes Smoke Free: The Smoke Free Air Act Enforcement Provisions
• Redevelopment Plans: Mutually Beneficial For Both Developers and Municipalities in Times of Economic Recession
• Shortcomings of the Single-Prime Law
• The Election Law Enforcement Commission v. Freedom of the Press
• The Value of Multiple Awards

Arbitration

• Arbitration: Coming To A Contract Near You
• Arbitration of Employment Disputes in Employment Agreements:
  Didn't We Agree to That?

Automotive Dealers Business & Liability

• An Ounce of Prevention: Automobile Dealerships and Environmental Risk Management
• Auto Dealers Beware
• Driving Around Land Use Law for Automobile Dealerships
• Minority Auto Dealers: Succeeding Despite 9/11 and The Economy
• Motor Vehicle Franchise Act
• When The Customer Refuses To Be Happy

Business & Commercial

• Fax Blasts - Don't Fax Me I'll Fax You!!!
• Partnership Agreements: It's in the Drafting
• When Small Business Owners Divorce

Civil & Constitutional

• New Jersey Has Done Its Part In The Wake Of The September 11th Tragedy
• Recent Developments in Prison Litigation Cases

Community Association Law

• A Fence By Any Other Name Is Still a Fence
• Attorneys - Valuable Members of Association's Professional Team
• Collecting Maintenance Fees: Does Publication of Delinquency Lists Cross the Line?
• Common Ground: The Role of Architectural Control Committees in Maintaining a Common Scheme
• Court Applies Reasonableness Standard to Amendments to By-Laws
• Court Speaks on Speech, But Final Word Still Unspoken: Twin Rivers Case Establishes Some Parameters
• DOs & DON'Ts of D&Os
• Federal Fair Housing Act Presents Risks for Unwary Community Associations
• Governing Documents Yield to Court's Interpretation of Law; Owners' Expectations Secondary
• Investigation of Disability Claim Prevents Pet Free Community From Going To The Dogs
• New Jersey Supreme Court Preserves Rights of Common Interest Ownership Associations
• Protecting the Well-Being of Communities: Controlling Smoking in Associations.
• Termination of Utility Services for Non-Payment of Assessments May Help
• The Price of a Happy Hooker
• Unit Owners Bear Responsibility for Removing Amenities from Limited Common Elements to Allow Repair
• Verdict In On FDCPA: Community Association Assessments are Debts Covered By Act
• Your Lawn Is Making Me Sick! Pesticide Application and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Complex Litigation

• Beware What You Say - Someone Might Be Recording It

Construction Industry

• A Limitation of Liability Clause in their Contract
  Can Save a Design Professional Thousands of Dollars
• Act Quickly When Placing a Lien on Residential Property
• Design Professionals Beware
• Designers Beware
• The Affidavit of merit Statute Has Produced Mixed Results and Questions
• The Tolling Effect of the Design/Build Method of Construction

Corporate & Business

• Big Brother Is Watching You: Is It Legal?
• Exposure of Corporate Records and
  Computer Systems in the Event of Litigation
• Protecting Your Privilege of Confidentiality - Part One: Discovery
• The United States' Attempt To Catch E-Commerce

Creditors' Rights/Bankruptcy

• Equities Dictate Against Strict Application of Merger Doctrine Where It Would Serve to "Handcuff" Bank
• Grounds for Eviction
• Helpful Hints For The Judgment Creditor
• Ignorance of Mortgage Obligations Can Exacerbate Problems in Divorce
• Notification Requirements for Mortgagees at Sheriff's Sales
• Pendente Lite Sale, Why Sit Back and Watch a Sinking Ship?
• The Creditors' Committee For Chapter 11 Bankruptcies
• The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act
  and Its Effect on Mortgage Foreclosures

Domestic Relations

• Alimony's Changed Circumstances
• Child Support Liens: Deadbeat Parents Cannot Receive Proceeds of Judgments Until Their Obligations Are Met
• The Soprano's and Family Law: Civil RICO in Divorce

Eminent Domain

• "Just Compensation" - Non-Compensable Damages in Eminent Domain Proceddings

Environmental

• The Environment - Of Deposits and Discharges: The Supreme Court Fashions A New Insurance Coverage Trigger for Leaking Landfills

Gaming Law

• Online Sweepstakes as a Marketing Tool - Too Great a Risk?
• Navigating the Pay to Play Morass

General Litigation

• Caution: Slippery When Wet
• Property Rights and the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Government Affairs

• What The Heck Is a Government Affairs Agent?
• Homeland Security: The Price of Compliance
• The Election Doesn't Stop at the Polls: A Review of NJ's Election Law
• Trade Association Members May Not Be a Client of the Trade Association's Client

Immigration

• Non-Immigrant Visas An Avenue For Terror: What is The INS Doing, and Is It Enough?

Labor and Employment

• Does a Disabled Employee Seeking a Reassignment Have to Compete with the Rest of the Applicant Pool? Maybe!
• Employee Benefit Plans - An Overview of ERISA Applicability - What is ERISA?
• Employers Beware: Merely Creating Sexual Harassment Policies May Not Be Enough to Escape Vicarious Liability
• Employers Beware: Sexual Harassment Claims Are On the Rise
• Employers Beware: You May Be Liable for Your Employees' Harassing Emails
• Legislature Amends New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination to Include A New Protected Characteristic
• Prepare for An Encounter with the "Whistleblower"
• Protection Against Discrimination Because of Sexual Orientation: Pennsylvania's Scattered Approach
• Recent Court Decisions Expand Definition of Retaliation
• The Statute of Limitations: Does It Really Protect Employers?
• Waiving the Right to a Jury Trial in Employment Matters
• Who's In Charge Here? Multiple Employers, Multiple Employees, Multiple Problems

Land Use Division

• Access to Infrastructure For Other Projects
• Affordable Housing in the Meadowlands?
• Affordable Housing - Still A Social Problem, Still A Builder Opportunity, But Now A Builder Obligation Too?
• Applicants Must Provide Formal Public Notice of "Workshop Meetings"
• Are Zoning Ordinances Regulating Aesthetics Enforceable?
• Atlantic City Market Update
• Beyond Active Adult: Conversion of Age-Restricted Communities and Other Options
• Building Churches Often Contentious, Often Complex
• Building for Fun (and Maybe Profit) Under the Proposed COAH Regulations
• Building In Planning Areas 4 and 5
• Challenging Planning Board Denials and Unauthorized Conditions
• Council on Affordable Housing Declares War on Housing...and Other News
• Court Decision Invalidating COAH Regulations Poses Practical Questions for Builders
• Court Decision Reinstates Consumer Fraud Act's Application to Homes Sales
• Court Rules That Towns Cannot Condemn Land Simply to Prevent Development
• Courts Approve Expansion of Municipal Land use Powers: How Does It Affect Your Development Application?
• Courts Forge New Legal Tools for Builders of Housing for the Elderly
• Conflict of Interest: The Death of a Massive Development
• DEP Throws Down Gauntlet With New Septic Regulations
• DEP's Proposed Water Quality Management Regulations: Legitimate Rules or a Veiled Attempt to Curtail Residential Development?
• DEP's Tough New Soil Cleanup Standards - Are You Grandfathered?
• Developable Land: Where Is It?
• Developing in Harmony with Nature: Use of Habitat Conservation Planning Under the Endangered Species Act
• Developments in Mount Laurel Law: The West Windsor Decisions
• Do Developers Paying "In Lieu" Fees Lose Mount Laurel Advantages?
• Due Diligence In More Densely Developed Communities
• Executive Order No. 109; The Governor's Clarion Call to Slow Development
• Finding Places To Build Amidst Regulatory Upheaval
• Fort Monmouth Redevelopment Planning Efforts Move Forward in Anticipation of Base Closing in 2011
• General Development Plan Approval – Difficult Tactical Choices
• Highlands Council Adrift; Regional Master Plan Stalled
• Housing Law and State Policies Up For Grabs
• Is this The Darkness Before The Dawn?
• It's Not Easy Being Green: Increased Green Regulation Requires More Attention From Builders
• Keeping Planning Boards on the Straight Path
• Legislature, Courts Lend a Hand to Proponents of Economic Development, and Other News
• Living With COAH's New Rules
• Making a Federal Case of It When A Town Acts Unlawfully
• Mitigating Wetlands: What You Need to Know About NJDEP's New General Permitting Requirements
• Morristown: A Case Study on the State Plan and Planning Rules
• Mount Laurel: A Shield Against Improvident Anti-Sprawl Initiatives
• Multi-Stage Project? Don't Lose Your Rights!
• New Tools For Dealing with Recalcitrant Towns
• NJDEP Policy Directive 2002-003 - Acceleration of Brownfield Cleanup and Reuse
• NRDs and Brownfields Redevelopment: Perfect Together?
• Open Space Preservation or Development Prevention?
• Overview of Legal Developments in 2000 Affecting the Real Estate Industry
• Overview of Recent Legal Developments Affecting Real Estate Industries
• Permit Extension Act Extends Many Approvals Throughout the State (Except in the Highlands Region?)
• Preserving the Opportunity to Construct Inclusionary Developments
• Proceed With Caution When Relying on the NJDEP NFA Letter
• Progress Being Made in Battle for Increased Housing Opportunities
• Redevelopment in the Wake of the Supreme Court's Gallenthin Opinion
• Redevelopment Law: The Gallenthin Decision and Beyond
• Redevelopment Law: What's New?
• Redevelopment Opportunities in a Nutshell
• Rising to the Challenge
• Six New Lessons For Builders from Toll V. West Windsor
• Strategies for Modifying and Extending Approvals to Deal with Changed Market Conditions
• Sophisticated Legal Strategies to Fight Downzoning
• Supreme Court Breathes New Life Into Rezoning Litigation
• Taking Land for Economic Redevelopment - Kelo V. New London Heads to the U.S. Supreme Court
• The Evolution of the Land Use World
• The Disqualification of Planning Board or Zoning Board Members
• The Highlands Legislation: Its Scope and Effect
• The Public Advocate's War on Redevelopment
• The New Importance of Inverse Condemnation Suits: Acquiring Just Compensation When the Government Engages in Over-Regulation of Land
• The Next Wave of Reform: Redevelopment Pay to Play
• The State Plan Obstacle Course
• The Year in Review 2008/2009: Recent Legal Developments Affecting the Real Estate Industries
• This Old Barn – Coping with Historic Preservation Requirements
• To Grow or Not To Grow - That is the Question Facing Trenton
• Understanding "Merger" of Nonconforming Lots
• Whatever Happened To Fast Track Permitting?
• What's the Stink with NJDEP's New Sewer and Septic Rules?
• Who Pays For Future Utility Extensions? The BPU Enters the Growth Control Business
• Worsening Regulatory Climate Calls For Innovative Strategies

Municipal/School Law

• New Legislation Changes Negotiation Impasse Procedures for School Boards
• Should Students be Allowed to Carry Pagers in School?

Real Estate

• Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act Requires Lenders' Attention
• PENNSYLVANIA REALTY TRANSFER TAX UPDATE - Amended Regulations Could Result in a Double Tax on Assignments of Purchase Agreements and Like-Kind Exchanges
• Registration Required When Targeting New Jersey Residents for Sales of Out of State Homes
• Time of the Essence Clauses in Real Estate Contracts
• What Qualifies As A Single Asset Real Estate Case?

Trial & Insurance

• Apportionment of Fault to Public Entities = Fairness for Joint Defendants
• Insurance Coverage for Employment Claims
• Investigation Interviews by an Insurance Carrier
• Is a "Resident Relative" Under the Personal Injury Protection Statute as Restrictive as Being an "Immediate Family Member" Under the New Jersey Tort Option
• Liquidated Damages
• Minivans and SUVs Used for Business Purposes Must Carry PIP Coverage
• Parents Beware: The Court May Deem You Responsible For Your Child's Actions
• Responsibility Amounts to Liability When Raising Children
• The Doctrine of Justifiability May Offer The Cure For Excess Carrier's Bill
• Timing Isn't Everything When It Comes To Terminating An Employee

Trusts & Estates

• Estate Planning for Family Business Owners
• Fore-Warned Is Fore-Armed

Workers' Compensation

• Don't Stress Out: Stress Related Claims in Workers' Compensation
• Effectively Returning Injured Employees Back to the Work Force
• An Employer's Introduction to the Second Injury Fund
• Employers Do Not Owe Injured Workers An Obligation To Keep A Job Available While Out On Disability
• When Is An Employer Responsible For An Employee Injury Outside of the Office?
• Workers' Compensation and the Intoxication Defense
• Workers' Compensation - The Exclusive Remedy for the Employee