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JUDGES' POWER TO SUSPEND LICENSES IS UPHELD, BUT GUIDELINES ARE LAID DOWN
"The Appellate Division on Tuesday upheld a law granting judges the authority to suspend driver's licenses but urged the Legislature to enact guidelines to reduce sentencing disparities. Absent statutory standards, the court outlined factors to be used in deciding whether to invoke the law and suggested that one or more Supreme Court panels explore the defense lawyer's allegations of widespread abuses of discretion. The defense contended that the law, N.J.S.A. 39:5-31, had been repealed by implication through the Legislature's adoption of the point system in 1952. But the appeals court, in State v. Moran, A-3810-07, found no such intent."

CASE TESTS ETHICS OF LEAVING FLYER FROM LAW FIRM ON RAPE VICTIM'S WINDSHIELD
"The Committee on Attorney Advertising held a hearing Monday to decide whether legal ethics rules were violated by the placing of a lawyer's advertising leaflet on the windshield of a rape victim's car. The victim, known in court papers as K.D., claims an orange flyer from Fred Zemel's Newark firm appeared on her car in February 2007 ? two months after the sexual assault occurred. It touted the firm's services to anyone who had been the victim of "rape and assault in your building or apartment." No other car parked nearby had such a flyer on it, leading K.D. to assume the flyer was directed at her. Zemel, in his answer to the formal ethics complaint in Committee on Attorney Advertising v. Zemel, CAA Docket No. 14-2007, denied that he deliberately targeted K.D. or that he even knew about her case, where she lived or whether she had a motor vehicle."

PUBLIC-RECORDS COUNCIL IS ORDERED TO OBEY THE LAW IT WAS CREATED TO ENFORCE
"The Government Records Council has found itself at the losing end of a lawsuit that alleges it violated the Open Public Records Act it is supposed to enforce. A Mercer County judge held in NJFOG v. GRC, MER-L-1177-09, that the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government is entitled to full copies of 69 requested e-mails ? with the e-mail addresses left in ? and that the GRC must turn them over by Aug. 14. The e-mails are notices of acknowledgment sent by the GRC to those who lodged complaints over the denial of access to government records in 2009. NJFOG, a nonprofit organization that advocates for public access to government records and meetings, says it wants the e-mail addresses to contact complainants without lawyers and offer them assistance. The GRC provided them in March but only after scrubbing the recipients' e-mail addresses."

COURT LIMITS 'MORAL WRONGNESS' CHARGE FOR INSANITY DEFENSE
"The state Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a new trial for a man who claimed he killed a cab driver on instruction from voices in his head, holding there was no basis for charging the jury that the insanity defense could be based on the defendant's inability to understand the immorality of his actions. The Court, in its 5-2 ruling, declined to adopt a wider interpretation of a jury instruction it outlined nearly two decades ago. Instructing a jury that it could consider the difference between legal and moral wrong can only be used in "exceptional" cases, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia wrote for the majority in State v. Winder, A-34-08."

HOME-RESTORATION CLIENT MAY BE A MONEY PIT FOR RIKER DANZIG, OTHER FIRMS
"At least four law firms have been left hanging for millions of dollars in legal fees from Home Solutions of America Inc., a home restoration company whose former chairman pleaded guilty to fraud involving another corporation. The latest firm left waiting for payment is New Jersey-based Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, which was been owed $60,000 for work performed from November 2008 to April 2009. Ironically, the firm was defending the company in a suit brought by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius over $2.5 million in unpaid fees. N.Y. Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman last week granted Riker Danzig's request to withdraw from the case. Morgan Lewis is awaiting a decision from Goodman on its request to hold Home Solutions in default."

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