A federal judge has awarded two law firms, including New Jersey’s Mandelbaum Salsburg, nearly $750,000 in fees and costs after a series of commercial disputes between one of its clients and a vendor.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Hammer, sitting in Newark, awarded the $694,174 in fees and $63,183 in costs to lawyers representing Asta Funding on Sept. 29. Hammer ordered that the fees and costs be paid by two of its IT vendors, David Shawn Neal and Robert Coyne, and their company, NWS.