Publications

In September 2018, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of long-time client Steven Wronko seeking the list of users that Carteret Mayor Daniel J. Reiman has banned from his Facebook page.… Read more

Many people want to know how they can monitor an agency's spending and determine how much an agency is paying a certain vendor (such as a law firm, plumber, construction company, or insurance company) or even who the agency's vendors are. A "Vendor Activity Report" (or "Vendor History Report") is a very helpful tool for learning this information.… Read more

Happy New Year! 2018 was a very busy year for the OPRA team at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden.… Read more

Family business owners face unique challenges when planning for death and disability. The stability of the business—that often times was built from nothing—relies heavily on the family business owner's contribution to the business. Unlike an intangible asset (such as a bank account), the family business may have an intrinsic value based on the owner's actual participation in the operations.… Read more

After months of delays, three bills are finally scheduled for hearings before the Senate and the Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee. On November 26, 2018, the Senate and Assembly committees will consider the bill introduced by Senators Scutari and Sweeney, S2703, to legalize adult use marijuana; and bills to revise medical marijuana laws introduced by Senators Vitale, Scutari and O'Scanlan, S10 and S2426. Identical companion bills have been introduced in the assembly as well.… Read more

While nobody should ever drink and drive, there are no shortage of theories and other bizarre methods that have been used – or rather, attempted to be used – to "beat" a police breath test. In fact, a variety of these methods were featured in an episode of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters; none were deemed effective. Turns out, however, that beating a breath test in order to avoid a DWI conviction may not be necessary when the State fails to properly calibrate its testing devices… Read more

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about OPRA is that there is a very, very short statute of limitations period. This means that if you receive a denial, you need to act very quickly or you may lose your rights to gain access to the record you seek.… Read more

One million people enter a coin-flipping contest. The winner becomes a Supreme Court Justice. Everyone flips at once, and you live to flip again if your coin lands on heads. Statistically, it will take about 20 flips to crown our champion. That is because the odds of flipping a coin 20 times and landing on heads each time is one in a million.… Read more

After decades of advocates asking for cannabis to be removed as a Schedule I drug, on September 28, 2018, the DEA recognized that cannabis can have medicinal value and therefore the cannabis drug Epidiolex cannot be a Schedule I drug. Schedule I is reserved for drugs that have "no medicinal value" and have the potential to be highly addictive.… Read more