Legal Research

If you are already an online subscriber to the New Jersey Law Journal News Alert Service you should be able to click on any of the links provided below, sign in, and access the full text of articles listed.

Subscription required for online access:

FEEDER FUNDS HELD SUBJECT TO COMMODITY POOL REGULATION
"A fund that solicits money from investors for trading in commodity futures is subject to registration and regulation as a commodity pool operator, even if it does no trading itself, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Monday in a precedent-setting ruling. The decision came in an enforcement action filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Equity Financial Group, the creator and operator of Shasta Capital Associates, which induced customers to invest $15 million based on false reports of large returns by the 'super pool' that did the actual trades. The ruling could have repercussions in suits against other 'feeder funds,' including those that funneled investors' money into accounts run by Bernard Madoff in his $50 billion Ponzi scheme".

TOWN DROPS MALPRACTICE SUIT AGAINST LAWYER WHO FAILED TO NOTIFY CARRIER
"Former Manalapan solicitor Stuart Moskovitz stumbled upon a neat trick for getting a legal malpractice claim dismissed, but you probably shouldn't try it yourself. Moskovitz failed to put his professional liability carrier on notice when the township filed suit against him, which meant that any recovery would have to be satisfied out of his personal assets. Seeing that as a pumping a dry well, the town dropped the 2-year-old suit, Township of Manalapan v. Moskovitz, MON-L-2893-07. Moskovitz, a Freehold solo who appeared pro se in the suit, says he didn't notify his carrier because he considered it frivolous"

FAILURE TO CALL WITNESS CAN'T BE HELD AGAINST DEFENDANT
"The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday told criminal trial judges to drastically curtail issuing an instruction that allows juries to draw adverse inferences from defendants' failures to produce witnesses. Finding the instruction highly prejudicial, the Court, in State v. Hill, A-5-08, granted a new trial to a man serving a 17-year sentence for robbery. But the ruling was far broader, essentially overturning the half-century-old precedent, State v. Clawans, 38 N.J. 162 (1962), for which the charge is named."

$7.6 MILLION LATER, TROPICANA CASINO FEES STILL ROLLING IN
"As many gamblers know, things can get expensive in a hurry in Atlantic City. The latest proof is the Tropicana Casino and Resort, where the 20-month effort to sell the business has racked up nearly $7.7 million in legal and consulting fees, with still more to come. Among those being paid: Conservator and retired state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein received $829,468, and his law firm, Pashman Stein, got almost $1.3 million. Debevoise & Plimpton received $3.2 million, and bankruptcy law firm Cole Schotz got $1.1 million. Those fees, some billed at $970 an hour, are paid by the Tropicana, which is struggling to regain market share while threatening to lay off employees because of economic pressures."

TEXT MESSAGES BOLSTER SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS
" 'Textual harassment' is nothing to LOL about, warn employment lawyers. Attorneys say that text messaging in the workplace is turning into a growing liability for employers, which are landing in court over inappropriate and offensive texts that are popping up on employees' cellphones. Perhaps the biggest culprits, they note, are male bosses who are sending scandalous text messages to female employees, asking them out on dates or promising promotions in exchange for sexual favors. For employee-rights attorneys, text messages have turned into some powerful ammunition in workplace disputes in the past year."