By John O'Brien | Legal Newsline, 9/15/11

A recent decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court has the potential to decimate the hospitality industry, Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan said Wednesday.

Two bills have been introduced in the state Legislature that seek to overturn the court's decision in Voss v. Tranquilino, which held that a restaurant customer who is served alcohol and drunkenly causes a wreck when he or she leaves can sue the restaurant.

By Adam Cohen | Time Magazine

On Sept. 1, New Jersey's new antibullying law - billed as the nation's toughest - took effect. The law, which co-sponsor Barbara Buono, the state's senate majority leader, called "a powerful message to every child in New Jersey," is an important step forward in combating the bullying of young people. However, even before its start date, backlash was already under way. Critics say the law is too burdensome for teachers and too expensive for school districts and will spawn too many lawsuits. But here's why New Jersey should ignore its critics and press ahead - and why other states should follow its lead.

By Alexandra Rice | Education Week

Supporters of New Jersey's newly amended anti-bullying law say it will create a tough safety net for students who had been afraid to go to school because of continued bullying, even as administrators and others brace for the impact from increased reporting requirements.

By Marcus Rayner | Home News Tribune, to the Editor

Last year, Tyler Clementi's tragic suicide propelled the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act through the Legislature. Nearly everyone agrees that addressing student is a positive step toward deterring the conditions that contributed to this young man's untimely death. As schools across New Jersey prepare to reopen, however, the unintended consequences of this law may end up may end up exposing school districts to costly liability.

By Marcus Rayner | Hunterdon County Democrat

A jury recently awarded a $2.5 million judgment against Warren Township, population 16,000, over its handling of a report the Council received about an intoxicated municipal judge on the bench. With a total budget of $16 million, this is a surcharge residents will feel for years to come if it is not overturned on appeal.

By Marcus Rayner | To the Editor, The Star-Ledger

Warren Township previously ranked in CNNMoney.com as one of the best places to live in the United States. The fact that a single judgment can absorb an eighth of its entire budget, however, threatens that status and its budgetary priorities.

By Marcus Rayner | The Star-Ledger

Pleading guilty to a DUI charge might prompt most people to accept responsibility for endangering themselves and others.  In a nod to how notions of personal responsibility - and our courts' appetite for lawsuits - have changed, Voss took Tiffany's restaurant and Kristoffe Tranquilino, the driver of the car he hit, to court. 

By Kathleen Hopkins | Asbury Park Press

In response to a recent state Supreme Court decision in an Ocean County case, an assemblyman has introduced a bill that would prohibit drunk drivers from suing the establishments that served them liquor.

By Marcus Rayner | Asbury Park Press

Our civil justice system wasn't intended to offer financial incentives for irresponsible behavior - especially when it's restaurateurs and consumers who are being forced to subsidize the court's interpretation of the law.

By John O'Brien | Legal Newsline

A Pacific Research Institute study that ranked New Jersey's as the most worrisome tort system is proof reform is needed, a group dedicated to that effort said Monday.