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CHILD CUSTODY AND PARENTING ISSUES HELD ARBITRABLE
'Parents have a right to arbitrate parenting and custody issues, subject to a judge's scrutiny to prevent harm to the children, the state Supreme Court held Wednesday, bringing New Jersey in line with the majority of other states. The Court based its ruling, in Fawzy v. Fawzy, A-38/39-08, on parents' fundamental and thus constitutionally protected liberty interest in raising their children, which includes the right to submit any family controversy to a decision maker of their choosing. Still, the Court set down some limits, holding that while the state's parens patriae duty does not preclude arbitration of parenting and custody matters, the state has a duty to intervene in order to prevent harm to a child."

JUDGE WON'T CERTIFY CLASS ACTION OVER MAGAZINE RENEWALS
"A federal judge in Newark has denied class certification to magazine subscribers who claim a Time Warner subsidiary charged for renewals without their authorization. The suit, McNair v. Synapse Group, 2:06-cv-05072, claims that Synapse Group Inc., of Stamford, Conn., used overly complex automated telephone systems and confusingly worded mailings to prevent cancellations after 90-day free subscription periods. The putative class consists of Synapse subscribers in New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. But U.S. District Judge Jose Linares ruled Monday that the five named plaintiffs' varied experiences obviate class certification because common issues of law and fact are overshadowed by individual ones."

STUDY SHOWS SHARP DISPARITIES IN LAW ASSOCIATE PAYS
"The relatively recent movement to cut law firm associate salaries isn't likely to eliminate the dramatic compensation disparities between new attorneys, according to the National Association for Law Placement. A NALP survey of starting associate salaries for 2008 law graduates finds that the pay gap is wider than ever. A chart of the pay distribution shows a gradual bulge in the $40,000 to $65,000 range and a dramatic spike at $160,000, which was the starting pay at many large firms last year. Few attorneys fell into the pay ranges between those two peaks, however, and that valley has grown wider than ever as large firms continued to push up starting pay before the recession broke."

REPORT: SOTOMAYOR HARD TO CATEGORIZE
"The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has produced a 55-page report on the opinions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, drawing conclusions that lend support to her advocates' assertions that she is far from an extreme liberal. It says that her opinions 'belie easy categorization along any ideological spectrum' and that the most consistent characteristic of her approach as an appellate judge seems to be 'an adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis.' Other characteristics appear to include a careful application of particular facts at issue in a case and a dislike for situations in which a court might be seen as overstepping its judicial role, the CRS says. The report stands as a useful survey of Sotomayor's opinions that will likely be discussed at her confirmation hearing, starting July 13."

ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE 0-FOR-5 AT SUPREME COURT THIS TERM
"Environmentalists suffered a stunning 0-for-5 outcome in the U.S. Supreme Court this term, their "worst term ever," according to advocates and scholars. The defeats left the environmental community ? and even its traditional antagonist in these cases, the business community ? wondering where the Court is heading in this increasingly important area of the law. The defeats were particularly painful for environmentalists because they had prevailed in the courts below in all five cases. Although none of the five decisions is a landmark ruling, all raised bread-and-butter environmental issues, some with potentially huge implications for the ability of environmentalists and the government to enforce the nation's major environmental laws."

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