Governor Christie’s budget address will take place at 2 p.m. today. While lawsuit reform measures are typically devoid of budgetary line-items, changes that NJLRA seeks would add much-needed business investment to the state’s economy.
You can listen the Governor’s budget address live on the Legislature’s homepage, linked here.
The State Senate unanimously passed S-173, sponsored by Senator Robert Singer, which would require the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to conduct a study of New Jersey’s looming doctor shortage.
“The New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals warned us in 2010 that New Jersey will be short nearly 3,000 doctors by 2022 if preventative measures are not taken,” said Marcus Rayner, executive director of the Alliance. “This is on top of the current 12% gap between physician supply and demand.
“It’s encouraging that the Legislature is taking this issue seriously and trying to avert a crisis situation.
“New Jersey’s doctors, especially those in high-risk specialties, carry some of the highest liability insurance premiums in the country. It is becoming harder for the average physician to undertake the expense of practicing in New Jersey when so many other states have enacted cost-saving liability reform during the past several years.
If enacted, S-173 would convene a strategic planning summit of stakeholders. The Department would be required to report findings and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature six months after enactment.
The legislation was approved by a vote of 40 – 0. It awaits action by the General Assembly.
NJLRA will hold its annual Spring Membership Luncheon on
Tuesday, March 13th at noon, at the Trenton Country Club in West Trenton
Previous keynote speakers have included Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Union) and Rich Bagger, former chief-of-staff to Governor Christie.
This year's keynote speaker TBA.
There is no cost to attend, but an RSVP is required. Email us to RSVP - we hope to see you there!
Assemblyman Herb Conaway, chair of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, reintroduced legislation granting civil immunity for certain volunteer physicians, nonprofit clinics, and federally qualified health centers.
A volunteer physician is defined in this bill, A-2178, as a physician who is retired but maintains licensed and is not receiving compensation for patient care.
New Jersey is projected to be short by nearly 3,000 physicians by the end of the decade. Medical specialties, including OB-GYNs, are expected to be among the hardest hit. By protecting volunteer physicians, nonprofit clinics, and federally qualified health centers – acting in good faith – from liability, A-2178 would remove a significant disincentive to practice in areas in which there is high demand for such services.
Assemblyman Conaway is also the sponsor of A-1806, which would accomplish similar objectives and reverse the 2010 New Jersey Supreme Court decision in Ryan v. Renny. The decision gutted the state’s affidavit of merit statute.
We already know that lawsuit abuse impacts access to healthcare, insurance costs, and (if you live in New Jersey) your ability to profit from driving under the influence. But a new study suggests that frivolous litigation may have extended its reach to the playground as well.
According to research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, three primary barriers have been identified which impede children’s usage of playgrounds. A greater focus on academics and a lack of financial capital to install or maintain equipment isn’t necessarily surprising. But “risk of injury” is a barrier which is un-divorceable from liability.
Daycare centers, schools, municipalities, YMCAs, and other public entities (read: taxpayers) may be in legal jeopardy if a child is injured, irrespective of the reason. This reality has prompted playgrounds to adopt a plastic, safety-minded exterior – to the point of boredom. Alice G. Walton writes in the Atlantic that children master such equipment quickly and move on to more intoxicating electronic stimuli. Monkey bars just aren’t as exciting when they’re so low to the ground that you can walk, instead of holding on for dear life.
“Safety guidelines, which are admittedly important, can defeat the very purpose of the playground: rather than promoting physical activity, they are dampening it,” writes Walton.
Of course, experts say that the ripple effects of dwindling, unstructured playtime will affect how today’s children solve problems and resolve conflict as adults. Fewer cuts and bruises may save entities hefty seesaw-induced legal fees later on, but at the cost of a sedentary childhood.
Lawsuit abuse has managed to make its way to the playground. And it’s a painful reality to digest.
The following pieces of legislation were prefiled for introduction for the new legislative session, which officially began on January 10th. Please contact NJLRA if you would like additional information about any of the following:
|
Summary |
New Bill # |
Old Bill # |
Sponsors |
|
Extends $50 million cap on appeal bonds in civil actions to all industries in New Jersey |
A2473 |
Schaer, McKeon |
|
|
Permits litigants contesting class certification the right to immediately appeal that ruling. |
A4135 |
Chiusano, Wisniewski |
|
|
Caps noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions at $250,000. |
A1367/S610 |
Weber, Chiusano, McHose |
|
|
Establishes a medical malpractice part in the Superior Court. |
A260 |
Russo |
|
|
Concerns liability in good faith treatment cases, standards of care, insurance coverage for medical malpractice actions and also sets time limits on medical malpractice claims being filed. |
A1982/S670 |
Conaway, O'Scanlon, Weber, Handlin, McHose, Angelini, Riley, Huttle, Chiusano |
|
|
Establishes limits for certain damages in medical malpractice actions. |
A1806/S1844 |
Casagrande
|
A-3304, which NJLRA opposes, is scheduled for consideration by the full Assembly today. If enacted, this legislation would make the 2008 False Claims Act retroactively applicable to alleged offenses occurring up to 14 years ago, from March 1998.
A lot can happen in nearly 14 years. Companies change. Employees change. Exonerating evidence is harder to come by.
But this bill doesn’t take any of that into consideration. Instead, a company – no matter how big or small, equipped with a legal department or not – may be forced to defend itself against a False Claims lawsuit without the benefit of time-sensitive exonerating material.
More importantly, A-3304’s retroactive application of the False Claims Act is unconstitutional, and puts companies that do business in the State of New Jersey in serious danger of unfair and unjust litigation abuse.
What do the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, NJBIA, New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, National Federation of Independent Business-New Jersey, Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey, Chemistry Council of New Jersey, New Jersey Food Council, and the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey have in common?
All were present to support A-265, sponsored by Assemblyman David Russo, which would create specialized business courts in New Jersey. Chairman Peter Barnes noted the wide range of support.
Legal issues involving businesses are complex, laden with terminology and evidence which is unfamiliar to the common court. Highly technical matters are identified and addressed at great cost to both businesses and taxpayers alike. The advantage of a business court is that it would permit business-related judicial matters to be heard by courts with an established background and knowledge of such litigation. A majority of northeastern states already have a business court in place, and it is actively under consideration by several others.
Establishing a business court doesn’t just improve the efficiency of our court system – it sends a strong message to businesses that New Jersey is a solid place in which to expand and hire workers.
A-265 was posted today for discussion only. NJLRA looks forward to the bill’s reintroduction and advancement in the 215th legislative session, which begins next week. You can download a copy of NJLRA's testimony in support of business courts here.
A-265 would create a specialized business court within the New Jersey Superior Court.
Legal issues involving businesses are increasingly complex, laden with terminology and evidence which is unfamiliar to the common court. Highly technical matters are identified and addressed at great cost to both businesses and taxpayers alike.
And unsurprisingly, we are among a minority of states on the east coast which do not have a business court in place.
NJLRA supports A-265 because it would permit narrow business-related judicial matters to be heard by courts with an established background and knowledge of business litigation. And with an unemployment rate in excess of 9 percent – the highest in the region – the creation of a business court serves as an incentive for leading employers to increase their business presence in New Jersey. The highly specialized industries, including the life sciences, which are affected by this legislation have the potential to create long-term, high paying jobs that will be essential to growing our state’s economy over the next several years.
It is sponsored by Assemblyman David Russo (R-Midland Park).
Have a happy & safe holiday season, from all of us at NJLRA!
Since you just can’t make some things up (“Man who overdosed at teen house party awarded $4.1 million settlement,” Markos, The Record), here is NJLRA’s statement:
Ridgewood drug store to pay nearly half; underscores need for legal reform
TRENTON, N.J. – Marcus Rayner, executive director of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance, released the following statement regarding a $4.1 million settlement awarded to a 21-year-old who overdosed on Xanax stolen from a local pharmacy:
“In this case, the pharmacy was the victim – not the plaintiff, who made a decision to ingest stolen drugs. Yet it is the pharmacy that is being denied justice by today’s legal system and the drug user who is benefiting from it.
“The pressure to settle cases – even ones as ridiculous as this – is high, particularly for small businesses like Harding Pharmacy. This isn’t CVS or Walgreens, with a legal department to handle such matters. This is a neighborhood business, which settled a case of questionable merit presumably because the cost of justice is simply too high and out-of-reach.
“In New Jersey a drunk driver can already sue a bar tender if he injures himself while driving under the influence. Apparently pharmacies which have drugs stolen from them can be financially liable for thieves’ overdoses. It is a classic example of abusing the system in the hopes of winning a jackpot judgment at everyone else’s expense.
“This case underscores just how much our tort system has become out-of-step with common sense and fairness. Instead of investing in Ridgewood’s local economy, $1.9 million will be going into the pocket of a man who made poor and illegal choices.
Scott Simon voluntarily ingested Xanax stolen by a friend who used to work for the pharmacy nearly four years ago. His cohorts did not seek immediate medical attention after he went into a coma. Harding Pharmacy will pay $1.9 million. Other parties will pay the remaining amount.
A Florida resident, who makes a living by suing under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is poised to make litigation tourism New Jersey’s premier industry.
“The ADA was intended to protect consumers, not liquidate businesses.”
Read it here in The Record.
A-3434, which NJLRA opposes, was passed in the Assembly yesterday by a vote of 44-27. This bill, which requires a review of consumer contract for unconscionability, may actually be in conflict with Federal law under a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down on April 27th, 2011 in AT&T vs. Concepcion. In that decision, the Court ruled that "[w]hen state law prohibits outright the arbitration of a particular type of claim, the FAA [Federal Arbitration Act] displaces the conflicting rule." Please click here for more information.
Last year, a teen who sued the surviving members of family she killed during her failed suicide attempt for her “mental anguish” took this unenviable prize. Here are this year’s nominees:
Click below to vote now!
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula’s “Trade Secrets Act” was passed unanimously by the General Assembly during Monday’s voting session. Under A-921/S-2456, a company or organization would be able to sue for damages or losses that result from someone taking proprietary information (a recipe, chemical formula, invention, intellectual property, etc.) and trying to profit from it by selling it or manufacturing it. If I take a secret recipe for a food item, sell it and make money from it, for instance, I would have to pay royalties to the company or person from whom I stole it. A-921/S-2456 has now passed both houses and has the support of NJLRA.
On the agenda for Thursday’s Assembly Regulated Professions Committee hearing is A-3929, which would require civil actions against certain licensed professionals (including most doctors) to be brought within two years instead of six. This is especially important as witnesses become unavailable and records are destroyed over the extended period. NJLRA supports this bill and looks forward to the committee’s favorable passage. It is sponsored by Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson).
The so-called “lame duck” session of the Legislature – the period between Election Day and the start of the next legislative session in January – is traditionally a period of frenetic lawmaking activity. For outgoing legislators who may be retiring or have not been reelected, it is the very last chance they have to shepherd bills through the democratic process.
NJLRA has five bills which it hopes will advance:
A-2473/S-480, which would apply the $50 million appeal bond cap enjoyed by tobacco companies to all businesses in New Jersey, so they do not have to prepay in order to appeal a judicial decision.
A-3333/S-2855, which would limit causes of actions under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act to consumers who suffer an ascertainable loss (as opposed to businesses), and make the Act applicable only to transactions which occur in New Jersey.
A-4228/S-3028, the “New Jersey Licensed Alcoholic Beverage Server Fair Liability Act.” This bill would prevent drunken motorists, convicted of DUI, from suing licensed beverage servers who served them in the event they drive drunk and cause themselves injury. (Yes, thanks to the New Jersey Supreme Court, we need legislation to clarify that drunk drivers cannot legally profit from their irresponsibility).
A-4135, which would allow defendants the right to immediately appeal a class action certification.
A-1982/S-760, which would address skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums and a consequential physician shortage in certain specialties by: protecting volunteer physicians acting in good faith from liability; prevent insurance companies from immediately imposing an increase on doctors who are named in a malpractice suit; require physicians providing expert testimony to be licensed in New Jersey and board certified in the appropriate specialty; and reverse the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Ryan v. Renny, which gutted the Affidavit of Merit Statute enacted in 2004.
LRW will keep you abreast should any of the aforementioned bills advanced. For the most up-to-date legislative calendar, click here to visit the Legislature’s website.
This time, it’s a man-made disaster: lawsuits.
The best odds in Atlantic City may be in the Courtroom - not its casinos. The Press of Atlantic City reports that until very recently, the City paid out an average of $2.5 million annually in legal settlements.
“…a shocking number of the plaintiffs suing Atlantic City are current or former employees of the resort. It verges on sport, a local tradition as popular as strolling the Boardwalk.” - Press of Atlantic City, 11/20/11
NJLRA has underscored the amount of money the Atlantic City school district must budget each year for lawsuits in previous posts. But the Press of Atlantic City’s editorial in Sunday’s paper draws attention to the high price of slip-and-falls – for the city’s taxpayers.
“Former firefighter Ricky Williams settled a suit with the city after claiming he had been the subject of racist threats by his supervisor. The city then fired the supervisor, Capt. Edmund Mawhinney, who subsequently sued for wrongful termination and got a six-figure settlement.
It would almost be comical - if these lawsuits and settlements weren't taking money out of taxpayers' pockets.
Why is the city sued so often? Hard to say. The resort has a long history of not carefully following its own policies and procedures - that has certainly led to plenty of lawsuits from disgruntled employees.
And, of course, plenty of plaintiffs sue the city simply because it appears to work.”
One thing is for certain: wasting precious taxpayer dollars on excessive litigation in an era of budget cuts and economic downturn is no laughing matter- except, perhaps, to the lawyers and plaintiffs they represent.
People often say that they sit out “off year” elections like this one because they’re not as important as Presidential or gubernatorial elections.
This notion is entirely false. Only a handful of us will ever meet the President or require an intervention from the White House. For substantive help, government begins from the bottom up.
It is the level of government closest to you – your mayor, town council, and state senators and assembly members – who decide the best use for the empty lot across the street from your house, how frequently your trash will be collected, and by how much your property taxes will rise. These are the elected officials best equipped to make changes when you can’t get through to the state unemployment office, experience problems at the MVC, or need to raise awareness about an issue that’s important to your community. This is why it’s especially important that we exercise care and concern during “off year” elections –at the very least, that we pay attention to whom we are entrusting with the oath of local office.
All of New Jersey’s 40 legislative districts are up for grabs today. Many municipalities have mayoral and town council races as well. Click here to find your voting location, and visit NJ Spotlight’s voter guide for more information about some of the candidates.
It’s Election Day. Make it count.
A majority of New Jersey’s small business owners want the Legislature to address legal reform, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton survey.
And business owners in the Philly suburbs are the most likely to be taken to court.
The survey found that the majority of New Jersey’s small business owners aren’t happy with the state’s culture of litigation:
Marcus Rayner, NJLRA's executive director, released the following statement:
“It’s clear that New Jersey’s liability laws put the state at a disadvantage,” said Marcus Rayner, executive director of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance. But that disadvantage is exacerbated if a business happens to operate in the suburbs of Philadelphia.”
“Every time a lawsuit is filed against one of New Jersey’s small businesses, every business’s insurance costs threaten to rise. Business owners are telling us that even if it’s not their business being sued today, they still might incur costs and will need to make judgments about where to invest their business’s resources."
“This is not the kind of restraint we ought to have in a state with a 9.2% unemployment rate. When 87% of small business owners in a state want change, it’s time for the Legislature to act.”
The survey was conducted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Full results can be found our website, http://njlra.org.
Want to see New Jersey's unemployment rate drop by up to 2.3%?
Tort reform would bring a welcome infusion of cash and jobs into New Jersey’s struggling economy, according to a report issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform.
New Jersey could save as much as $1.7 billion if comprehensive tort reform is enacted, according to the study, which measured New Jersey’s tort activity index. A decrease in the state’s index would also yield between 35,000 and 94,000 new jobs, nudging the state’s unemployment rate down from 9.2% to 8.35% - 6.9%. Litigation costs would drop by as much as 21.5%.
“The correlation between tort reform and economic growth is evident,” said Marcus Rayner, executive director of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance. “This study demonstrates that the economic growth New Jersey so desperately needs can be spurred with common-sense tort reform.
“$1.7 billion reinvested in our economy will help put people back to work and help New Jersey reclaim its economic footing. Civil justice reform is a way to capture the money we waste on lawyer’s fees and litigation costs – without raising taxes or cutting essential services.”
A state’s tort index is comprised of the number of tort claims filed annually, the frequency of major verdict awards, and the concentration of attorneys practicing in the state.
A link to the study can be found on our website and via the U.S. Chamber.
Statehouses across the country are grappling with budget deficits and declining revenue. We’ve all heard of successful programs meeting their demise due to an absence of funding. Crippling budgetary trade-offs being made to our educational system, law enforcement, and the like have become so commonplace that they barely raise eyebrows in disbelief.
What we’ve heard less about is the economic downturn’s impact on a key cornerstone in our democracy: justice.
Layoffs, furloughs, and unfilled judicial vacancies eventually leave their mark on our judicial system. The American Bar Association’s Task Force on Preservation of the Justice System found that civil cases have been the hardest hit by budget cuts. Typical civil cases include everything from child custody and divorce to employee compensation.
In the past few months, we’ve had a patron pursue a lawsuit against restaurant for injuries he sustained while driving his motorcycle drunk all the way up to the State Supreme Court; a lifeguard sue for age discrimination just before he retired; a patient who fell asleep while polishing a gun sue his doctor; and a woman who filed suit against ABC, claiming to be “severely damaged” after the station read the wrong winning lottery numbers.
These are the types of cases pushing back court dates for issues that matter. These are the types of cases being vetted when resources thin and demand for the court’s services grow. And yes, these all happened here in New Jersey.
“All of us must have and protect our right and our freedom to use courtrooms when we need to…That courtroom must be open to protect families…to validate and protect contracts for business...” said newly elected ABA President Wm. T. Robinson III at a symposium in Kentucky.
Spreading ever-thinning public funds around may be a new reality for the foreseeable future. But compromising access to justice is one sacrifice Americans shouldn’t have to make.
No matter what the trial lawyers tell you, filing a frivolous lawsuit isn’t a victimless crime.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (center), with David Kott of McCarter & English (left), and Marcus Rayner
Marcus Rayner (far left), and AnnMarie McDonald (far right), with Scott Ross of the New Jersey Petroleum Council and Michael Egenton of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
(From left) Michael McDonald and Joe Anson of Bayer Healthcare with Marcus Rayner
Paul Madrazo of Glaxo Smith Kline and MaryAlice Barrett of Roche with Eileen Kean (center)
One thing is clear: NJ's hospitality industry could be severely impacted by Voss v. Tranquilino.
Here are some highlights from Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan’s (D-Union) keynote address at NJLRA’s annual Fall Membership Luncheon:
"As much as we try to help new businesses establish, hire people and flourish, we need to devote the same sort of efforts to making sure existing businesses and industries flourish. We all know that tort reform goes a long way to removing the obstacles that exist and actually prevent businesses and industries from growing.
"We've got to be able to give businesses and physicians and those who are impacted by what we [legislators] do some stability and some certainty in the marketplace. And hopefully together we can do that."
Cryan told the audience about his personal experience with lawsuit abuse in Middlesex County. His family-operated establishment was the third and largest of three establishments visited by an intoxicated patron. The patron, who was refused service by Cryan's establishment, fled as an employee attempted to call him cab and caused a fatal automobile accident. Cryan's establishment - the only establishment to refuse him service - ended up paying out half a million dollars in claims.
"I look at this recent Voss decision, for example, and the Supreme Court is going to potentially take down the whole hospitality industry... Have we kind of lost our way a little bit in terms of who's responsible for what?
The case refers to the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Voss v. Tranquilino earlier this year, which permitted an Ocean County motorcyclist to sue the establishment which served him for bodily injuries he sustained while driving under the influence.
"Tort reform isn't a Republican or Democrat issue - it's an economic issue," said Marcus Rayner, NJLRA’s executive director.
"That's why it's important to urge the legislature to support measures like A-3333/S-2855, which would help protect honest businesses from frivolous litigation," Rayner said.
Late last month, Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) introduced S-3028. Like its companion bill, A-4228, this legislation would reverse the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Voss v. Tranquilino, which allowed a motorcyclist to sue the bar for injuries he sustained while driving drunk.
The text isn’t available on the Legislature’s website as of today, but an earlier report in the Asbury Park Press outlines some of its parameters.
NJLRA hopes that everyone is safe, powered, and dry following Hurricane Irene. Kudos to all of those who helped others last weekend and during the ensuing floods.
As we look toward Labor Day weekend, here are some outrageous lawsuits to help lighten the mood. And, as always, beware of hot dogs:
Where's the beef? Hot dog battle goes to court
Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods and Downers Grove, Ill.-based Sara Lee have been embroiled in the litigation since 2009 over advertising claims that consumers prefer Kraft’s Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Hot Dogs over Sara Lee’s Ball Park and that Oscar Mayer is "100 percent pure beef."
Kids lose bad mother lawsuit. Can't take mom to court over bad birthday cards.
For starters: she didn't send her son college care packages, or buy her daughter the homecoming dress she wanted. And their birthday cards? No cash or checks, just Hallmark sentiments.
Protester sues Capitol worker who popped balloon
The altercation allegedly happened July 25 during a daily sing-along, which was an ongoing protest of the state law curtailing collective bargaining rights for public workers.
“… why not offer legal protections to the ugly, as we do with racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women and handicapped individuals?”
Extending the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect the “ugly?” Seriously?!
Most of us are taught that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not the ADA attorney.
Nevertheless, Professor Daniel S. Hamermesh at the University of Texas, Austin, argues that even affirmative-action programs for the ugly should be in order. Yes, he’s actually advocating to put ugliness-based lawsuits on the same platform of racial, ethnic, gender, and disability-based employment discrimination.
Oddly enough, he seems to acknowledge that money is the motivating – not supporting – factor in bringing potential lawsuits:
“There are other possible objections. ‘Ugliness’ is not a personal trait that many people choose to embrace; those whom we classify as protected might not be willing to admit that they are ugly. But with the chance of obtaining extra pay and promotions amounting to $230,000 in lost lifetime earnings, there’s a large enough incentive to do so. Bringing anti-discrimination lawsuits is also costly, and few potential plaintiffs could afford to do so. But many attorneys would be willing to organize classes of plaintiffs to overcome these costs, just as they do now in racial-discrimination and other lawsuits.”
Gee, there’s an idea. Let’s refrain from bathing and personal care and sue our way into cold hard cash. Exactly what our business community (and kempt colleagues) need to thrive during an economic downturn.
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) will be the keynote speaker at NJLRA’s annual Fall Membership Luncheon.
The event will take place at the Trenton Country Club in West Trenton on Tuesday, September 13, at noon.
Click here to RSVP now. It’s free, but an RSVP is required. We hope to see you there!
We all remember Tyler Clementi’s tragic suicide last year, which propelled the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act through the Legislature. Just about everyone agrees that addressing student bullying is a positive step toward deterring the conditions which contributed to this young man’s untimely death. But as schools across New Jersey prepare to reopen next month, the unintended consequences of this law may end up may end up exposing school districts to costly liability that taxpayers will be forced to bear.
According to a recent report in NJ Spotlight, online and out-of-school liability emerged as an area of concern for school personnel during required training sessions held over the summer. Where to draw the line between parental and school responsibility has been a subject of debate for many years. With the implementation of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, however, this responsibility and liabilities associated with it have been placed solely on school districts and the taxpayers which fund them. Trial lawyers in New Jersey have essentially been given a blank check to sue school districts on behalf of bullied children, no matter how ambiguous the term “bullying” may be.
School districts have an obligation to enforce New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and to be responsive to student bullying. But civil liability ultimately belongs on the backs of bullies, not taxpayers.
It’s something school districts will have to come to grips with this school year when the law goes into effect. Check out my letter-to-the-editor about it in the Courier News.
Christie on Perry: a laudable record on tort reform (Max Pizarro / Politicker NJ)
Tort reform was a key element in Texas’s economic recovery at a pace unheard of in most other states.
If you’re a small business entrepreneur and manage to sneak some time away this summer (or just a concerned citizen wanting to learn more about how your local government works), you might want to pick up a copy of Assemblywoman Amy Handlin’s latest book, Government Grief: How to Help Your Small Business Survive Mindless Regulation, Political Corruption, and Red Tape.
Handlin, who represents the 13th Legislative District, offers practical advice for engaging with local government officials. There are also extensive glossaries designed to make navigating the multitude of government bureaucracies easier, as well interesting commentary on what Handlin calls the “corruption tax.”
Perhaps best of all, the book is straightforward, down-to-earth, and actually helpful; it’s not filled with the generalities and hyperboles we’ve come to associate with elected officials. She stresses that the advice offered in her book (which is rooted in her extensive backgrounds in marketing and public service) is applicable to every state and local jurisdiction.
You can check it out here. Happy reading - hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
The results* of our very unscientific Facebook poll are clear:
*as of 8/9/2011, 1:04 p.m. EST
Yet, we still need legislation to deliver this message to the New Jersey Supreme Court…
A jury recently awarded a $2.5 million judgment against Warren Township, population 16,000, over its handling of a report the Council received about an intoxicated municipal judge on the bench. With a total budget of $16 million, this is a surcharge residents will feel for years to come if it is not overturned on appeal, wrote Marcus Rayner, NJLRA’s executive director.
Click here to read the full letter and click here to read about the lawsuit costing Warren Township taxpayers one-eighth of their entire municipal budget.
Warren Township whistle-blower suit exposes NJ's problematic legal climate
A jury recently awarded a $2.5 million judgment against Warren Township, population 16,000, over its handling of a report the council received about an intoxicated municipal judge on the bench (“The costly consequences of dismissing a whistle-blower,” July 18). With a total budget of $16 million, this is a surcharge residents will feel for years to come if it isn’t overturned on appeal.
Should drunk drivers be able to sue bartenders for serving them alcohol? Vote here!
It’s been a quiet week for civil justice reform. Unsurprising, since failed attempts to override some of the Governor’s vetoes, school funding, and speculation over which congressional district will be eliminated during redistricting have dominated New Jersey politics.
To recap the 2010-2011 Session thus far, NJLRA supports the following bills:
Legislation is necessary to limit suits in New Jersey
By Marcus Rayner
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently issued a decision allowing a motorcyclist to sue a restaurant that served him alcohol after he was injured when he crashed into a car while driving drunk.
The case stems from a 2006 incident in which 46-year-old Brick resident Fredrick Voss decided to drive home after drinking at Tiffany’s restaurant in Toms River. He pleaded guilty to a DUI charge after he rode the motorcycle through a red light and into a car. His blood alcohol level was nearly 21⁄2 times the legal limit.
Pleading guilty to a DUI charge might prompt most people to accept responsibility for endangering themselves and others. In a nod to how notions of personal responsibility — and our courts’ appetite for lawsuits — have changed, Voss took to court Tiffany’s restaurant and Kristoffe Tranquilino, the driver of the car he hit.
Link.
Kathleen Hopkins wrote about A-4228 in the Asbury Park Press over the weekend. This is the legislation that would prevent drunken drivers from suing restaurateurs who serve them alcohol from injuries they sustain while driving drunk (a la Voss v. Tranquilino).
We’ll link to A-4228 once it’s available on the legislative website.
NJLRA issued the following statement regarding A-4228, which would prohibit drunken drivers from suing restaurateurs for injuries they sustain while driving under the influence of alcohol:
"The New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Voss v. Tranquilino allows a convicted drunk driver to use our court system to profit from the poor choices he made, at the expense of New Jersey's business community. Common sense is being downgraded to the point where drunk drivers can relinquish personal responsibility by collecting monetary damages from the restaurateur serving them drinks.
"This decision was a kick in the gut to New Jersey's restaurateurs. A-4228 is a first step toward protecting our business community from the Supreme Court's misinterpretation of the law.
"The Court clearly defied the will of the legislature when issuing this decision, and I encourage leadership in both houses to consider A-4228 as soon as possible.
The case stems from a 2006 incident in which Fredrick Voss crashed his motorcycle into a car and injured himself. His blood alcohol level was nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit. He pled guilty to a DWI charge but later filed suit against Tiffany's Restaurant in Toms River under the Dram Shop Act. The New Jersey Supreme Court sided with Voss in a 5-2 decision, stating that existing law does not explicitly bar drunken drivers for suing for their own injuries.
The legislation is sponsored by Assemblyman John Amodeo (R- Atlantic County).
Anne Patterson’s nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court was approved late last night by the Senate, by a vote of 36-0.
Senators Madden and Lesniak abstained, while Senator Stack was not present at the time the vote was recorded. Senator Ciesla was absent.
Patterson will assume the seat being vacated by Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto this fall.
As we know, New Jersey is a class action lawsuit magnet. A piece of legislation introduced by Assemblymen Gary Chiusano and John Wisniewski, however, would bring more fairness to the process.
Imagine the following scenario: A New Jersey-based business becomes entangled in a product liability lawsuit. The plaintiff’s attorneys decide to file suit on behalf of everyone who bought a particular product, whether they were injured or not, and oftentimes without their knowledge. The judge certifies the group of unidentified consumers as a class, and a class-action lawsuit ensues, over defense objections to the certification. In our scenario, our business needs to go through the entire trial before it can appeal the judge’s determination of a class.
The legislation introduced by Assemblymen Chiusano and Wisniewski, however, would grant an immediate right to interlocutory appeal. In reality, a class certification usually means the end of the road for New Jersey civil defendants, because trying such cases is simply too expensive and burdensome. Many settle even if there is an error in certifying the class. A-4135 spares all parties time and expense.
We already know that New Jersey is infamous for its abuse of the Consumer Fraud Act. The one where a plaintiff doesn’t have to actually be defrauded in order to collect damages, lets attorney’s fees inflate nearly unchecked, and feeds the ‘litigation tourism’ industry by default. Yes, that infamy.
Fortunately, civil justice seems to have come down against trial lawyers in one case. A federal court in New Jersey recently denied class action status for anyone who purchased “all natural” Arizona Iced Tea without realizing that it had high fructose corn syrup. The problem, according to a report in Forbes Magazine, is that plaintiff Lauren Cole consulted with an attorney before purchasing the product. And when you’re trying to seek class certification on behalf of a bottomless number of people, it helps to have at least one person file a claim.
Excerpt, pages 3 – 4 of the decision:
The factual and procedural record in this case is confused on at least one key question: whether Plaintiff’s qualifying purchase occurred before or after she concluded that Arizona beverages containing HFCS were not natural as labeled…
…During the course of discovery of this case, Plaintiff produced for Defendants a retainer agreement she signed in anticipation of this lawsuit. (Donovan Decl. Ex. C.) In the agreement, Michael Halbfish, Esq., one of Ms. Coyle’s current attorneys in this litigation, agreed to represent Ms. Coyle in an anticipated class action seeking damages and injunctive relief against the Defendants in this matter for their deceptive
practices in marketing beverages containing HFCS as “all natural.” (Id. ¶ 1.2.) The agreement was signed on August 9, 2007, more than seven months before Plaintiff has alleged that she was misled by defendants’ “all natural” labeling in her purchase on March 30, 2008. (Id. ¶ 10.1.)
NJLRA Executive Director Marcus Rayner sat down with Gretchen Carlson to talk about how the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Voss v. Tranquilino will impact the Garden State.
In case you missed it…
NJLRA's Marcus Rayner was on Fox & Friends this morning with Gretchen Carlson to discuss the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Voss v. Tranquilino and what it means for Garden State businesses and bar patrons. We’ll post the clip as soon as we get it.
Last year, Fredrick Voss made headlines for suing a Toms River restaurant for injuries he sustained after crashing his motorcycle while intoxicated.
Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of… Voss! Only Justices Albin and Rivera-Soto dissented.
Marcus Rayner, executive director of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance (NJLRA), issued the following statement in response to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision, in Voss v. Tranquilino, which upheld an appellate court decision to permit persons convicted of a DUI offense to sue restaurants for injuries they cause to themselves:
"The Court today has once again defied the will of the legislature to the detriment of business and common sense in New Jersey. The legislature sought, in plain language, to bar suits against bars and restaurants by intoxicated patrons under the motor vehicle laws of this state. Today drunk drivers can minimize personal responsibility for their actions and sue the restaurateurs of New Jersey for serving them drinks.
“Common sense tells us that pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated shouldn’t legally transfer responsibility from one party to another. Adults who choose to break the law and endanger others should not have the ability to use our civil court system to collect monetary damages at the expense of New Jersey’s business community.
The case stems from a 2006 incident in which Fredrick Voss crashed his motorcycle into a car and injured himself. His blood alcohol level was nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit. He pled guilty to a DWI charge but later filed suit against Tiffany’s Restaurant in Toms River under the Dram Shop Act.
The Court effectively upheld an appellate court's ruling, which found that an intoxicated motorist can sue a bar or restaurant for their own injuries resulting from being overserved alcohol at that bar or restaurant, even if they plead guilty to a DWI charge. The Court upheld the notion that the Dram Shop Act (which established this liability for restaurants, though it was typically exercised by those innocently injured) supersedes motor vehicle law in NJ, which holds that drunk drivers may not sue the bar or restaurant.
A copy of the Court’s decision can be found on NJLRA’s website.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin reviewing Anne Patterson’s nomination to the State Supreme Court today at 1 p.m., according to reports, in Committee Room 4.
Senator Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, told the Star-Ledger that the panel would be “looking for her [Patterson’s] philosophical views and thoughts on certain “facts and circumstances.” He plans to ask how she would feel if she were not reappointed to the bench after seven years “for the same reasons Wallace was not reappointed.”
It’s time to recognize the role that municipal lawsuits play in the crushing burden of New Jersey’s property tax.
In New Jersey, the arrival of spring doesn’t just mean warmer weather and the smell of fresh flowers, it’s also the time of year when our state’s 566 municipalities draw up their budgets. And most of us, busy with daily life, fail to take note of our own council’s agenda – until we see the increase on our next property tax bill.
Read NJLRA’s op-ed in NJ Spotlight.
