http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/index.jsp Updated daily en-us 11/20/2009 Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.law.com/service/terms_conditions.shtml http://www.law.com/img/nj/alert/nj_rss.gif http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/index.jsp Judges hearing parental-rights termination cases should not enter default judgments merely because represented defendants fail to appear, a state appeals court says. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435663725&rss=nj In a win for licensed ambulatory surgical centers, a state appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that health insurance companies cannot sue doctors for fraud when they refer patients to facilities they own. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435565331&rss=nj A longtime Giants and Jets season ticket holder can pursue a class-action suit that would kill the football teams' imposition of licensing charges of up to $25,000 for seats in the new Giants Stadium opening next year, a federal judge says. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435674737&rss=nj A state appeals court orders a new trial in a murder-for-hire case, citing a host of judicial and prosecutorial errors that included a detective improperly testifying as an expert. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435612902&rss=nj The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear an unusual dispute between avowed owners of beachfront property who want to build on it and a town that claims it acquired the land by inverse condemnation almost half a century ago. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435531433&rss=nj A state appeals court hands American International Group a big victory by holding that the state's preference for arbitration means a nonsignatory may enforce an arbitration clause in a contract signed by a subsidiary. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435564962&rss=nj Legal Services of New Jersey has launched a project to assist the growing ranks of disabled veterans with claims for government benefits. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435609600&rss=nj A state appeals court has thrown cold water on a type of plea bargain that has been used to bypass New Jersey's mandatory seven-month license suspension for drivers' refusals to take breath tests for alcohol consumption. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435519805&rss=nj The litigation privilege that protects parties and their lawyers from liability for statements in court applies equally well to actions that lawyers take in furtherance of a case, a state appeals court says. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435303312&rss=nj Lawyers for former state Sen. Wayne Bryant, who is serving a four-year prison sentence for bribery and corruption, are asking the state Supreme Court to overturn ELEC's ban on tapping into the $640,000 remaining in his campaign war chest so they can be paid their fees. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435295736&rss=nj The federal judge assigned to Levinson Axelrod?s suit against an ex-associate over his "Levinson Axelrod Really Sucks" gripe site decided to take herself off the case even before the defendant asked her to do so. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435421286&rss=nj The state Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that will decide whether local governments can settle sexual harassment suits against them and keep the payouts quiet. And from the reaction of some of the justices, secrecy's chances are slim. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435332373&rss=nj In a good-news ruling for repeat motor vehicle offenders, the New Jersey Supreme Court says the state's unsafe driving statute does not require license points to be imposed for every third offense, no matter how much time had passed since the second one. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435336612&rss=nj In a ruling that is sure to hearten attorneys defending illegal weapons cases, a federal judge says police officers violated the Fourth Amendment by a warrantless "stop and frisk" of a suspect on a city street, even though he gave his consent. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435370053&rss=nj It will cost a little less to run New Jersey's attorney-discipline system next year, and revenues are on the rise, creating a healthy surplus. But the annual assessment on practicing lawyers should remain the same, the Supreme Court Disciplinary Oversight Committee says in its annual report. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435338787&rss=nj New Jersey trial judges must walk a fine line in persuading stalemated criminal juries to keep on deliberating, and an Ocean County judge crossed it by suggesting that the case was too simple for the jury to be hung. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435418506&rss=nj The state Supreme Court has been asked to plug a loophole in the Law Against Discrimination that seems to allow employers to refuse to renew contracts for employees over age 70, even while prohibiting outright termination. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435367915&rss=nj A son's wild party while his parents were out of town has presented the state Supreme Court with a novel insurance question: What proof of drug ingestion must there be for the homeowner's policy's exclusion for injuries arising out of illegal drug use to apply? http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435372430&rss=nj A federal judge has approved a settlement by which former board member of Tyco International Ltd. will pay $5.6 million to settle claims that New Jersey pension funds lost more than $100 million because of securities fraud. http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ.jsp?id=1202435418818&rss=nj