Publications

Within the last 24 hours, hopes for the passage of legislation to legalize adult use cannabis have soared in New Jersey and soured in New York.… Read more

A new bill pending in the Senate, S-2267, directs the State Lottery Commission to amend its regulations so that the identities lottery winners are not accessible under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The bill offers the winners of the lottery lifetime anonymity.… Read more

This week is Sunshine Week, a week dedicated to promoting openness in government! In honor of Sunshine Week, we're sharing the following resources which will help you shine a light on the government.… Read more

A lawyer who takes funds with some reasonable belief of entitlement may be presented as a lesser threat to the profession and the public.… Read more

Until now, the United States Supreme Court has not agreed on a workable standard to determine the constitutionality of partisan gerrymanders. After March 26, 2019, the date for oral argument in Common Cause v. Rucho, the court could decide that it no longer can adjudicate partisan gerrymanders without a clear standard.… Read more

Today, The Record published a story about the Borough of Wallington's decision to suspend its Borough Clerk and file tenure charges against him with the state Department of Community Affairs. According to The Record, the Clerk is charged with "serious deficiencies," including failing to comply with OPRA's statutory time frames "43 times in 2018 and 36 times in 2017."… Read more

Divorce litigants often hear judges and their attorneys recite the importance of "maintaining the status quo" during the pendency of the litigation. N.J.S.A. 2A:34–23 imparts the court with the statutory authority to provide pendente lite relief in the form of support in matrimonial actions, which is well established in practice and precedent.… Read more

Pashman Stein Walder Hayden has grown over the years, and, according to its leader, continues to define its place in the marketplace. *This is one in an occasional series of Q&As with New Jersey law firm leaders. The responses below were provided by Michael Stein and edited lightly for style.*… Read more

In 1965, Ralph Nader's "Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile" was published, raising the public's conscientiousness of the auto industry's disregard for safety in favor of profits. The book's title was purposefully provocative, and its hyperbole was effective in grabbing the public's attention. But in the world of toxic torts, "unsafe at any level" is insufficient to establish a prima facie case of liability in most jurisdictions in the United States. See, e.g., Lawrence G. Cetrulo, Toxic Tort Litigation Guide Appendix 33-A, Court Decisions re: "Single Fiber Theory" (November 2018).… Read more