Tag Archives: Regulation via Litigation

Bringing Common Sense To Our Legal System

January 20, 2017News, Top StoriesAppeal Bond Cap, Arbitration, CFA, Civil Justice, Class Actions, Expert Evidence, Fee Shifting, Judicial Independence, Judicial Selection, Legal Reform, Medical Liability, Regulation via Litigation, Settlement Trust Transparency, Statute of Limitations, TCCWNANJCJI

Our court system shouldn’t have to deal with suits over the length of sandwiches, amusement park rides that make kids too dizzy, and gassy co-workers. But it does.

Why? Because numerous state laws explicitly encourage litigation when other means of dispute resolution would be quicker and more cost effective; poorly drafted statutes invite endless lawsuits over their interpretation; and antiquated policies limit the ability of our state to improve its legal climate.

Things have gotten so far off track, New Jersey has been named one of the nation’s worst “judicial hellholes.” At this point, there is nowhere to go but up, and the time is right to make changes, both legislatively and via judicial action.

Click here to read our 2017 agenda, which is focused on bringing some common sense reform to our legal system.

Kick ‘Em When They’re Down: When Regulation Triggers Litigation

September 25, 2015News, Top StoriesCFA, Class Actions, Legal Reform, Regulation via Litigation, Trial LawyersNJCJI

One of the things that struck a chord with attendees of our recent legal reform conference was our discussion of class actions that are filed in the wake of government enforcement actions. Under these circumstances, companies end up taking a double hit – first from government regulators, and then from plaintiffs’ attorneys acting under the cloak of consumer protection. Hastily filed consumer class actions can compromise the government’s ability to effectively regulate, and often provide only marginal additional benefits to consumers, yet they are increasingly common. In just the past few days, news broke that two such cases have been filed in New Jersey shortly after high-profile government enforcement actions were announced. Continue reading →

What do we Mean When we say Government Enforcement has been Outsourced?

September 2, 2015News, Top StoriesAttorney Fees, Business Climate, CFA, Class Actions, New Jersey Courts, New Jersey Legislature, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

When most people think consumer fraud protection they imagine government agents going out into the field to inspect businesses, write tickets, and shut down bad-actors. As reports from the state Attorney General’s office can attest, these things do happen, but they are just one part of the state’s enforcement mechanism. A wide variety of regulations are also enforced via lawsuits brought by private attorneys effectively deputized as government enforcement agents. Continue reading →

Is Hardwood Flooring “Household Furniture?”

August 28, 2015News, Top StoriesNew Jersey Courts, NJCJI, Regulation via Litigation, TCCWNANJCJI

The New Jersey Civil Justice Institute has partnered with the United States Chamber of Commerce to file a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit that will answer this question. However, as you may have guessed, this lawsuit is about much more than flooring. This lawsuit could be the key to stopping out-of-control regulatory enforcement litigation under New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act. Continue reading →

Weird Regulatory Lawsuits Flooding New Jersey Courts, Blindsiding Businesses

August 28, 2015News, Top StoriesBusiness Climate, CFA, Civil Justice, Class Actions, Legal Reform, New Jersey Courts, Regulation via Litigation, TCCWNANJCJI

The judicial system was not designed with business regulation in mind. Nevertheless, over the past few years New Jersey businesses have faced an increasing number of regulatory-based lawsuits, many of them quite frivolous in nature. These lawsuits are not being brought by the government, but by private attorneys empowered to enforce obscure business regulations on the government’s behalf. Continue reading →

NJCJI Opposes Workplace Bullying Bill

December 9, 2014News, Top StoriesBusiness Climate, Civil Justice, Employment Law, New Jersey Legislature, NJCJI, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

On Monday, December 8, the Senate Labor Committee held a hearing on the “Healthy Workplaces Act,” which attempts to outlaw workplace bullying, abuse, and harassment.

NJCJI testified against the bill. While we realize that no one wants employees to face a hostile work environment, we have significant concerns that many of the provisions of this bill will be counter-productive, generating unnecessary litigation, and causing actual harm to workplace environments.

Click here to read NJCJI’s full written testimony in opposition to the bill.

Top News Clips for the Week of Oct. 25-31

November 5, 2014News, Recent NewsCFA, Governor Christie, New Jersey Courts, New Jersey Legislature, NJCJI, Outrageous Lawsuits, Patent Law, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of Oct. 25-31. Continue reading →

A Busy Week in the State House

October 24, 2014News, Top StoriesCFA, New Jersey Legislature, NJCJI, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

Several bills of interest to NJCJI saw action in the State House this week.

Consumer Fraud Act

This week the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee kicked off the discussion of one of the topics of greatest interest to NJCJI this session, reform of the state’s consumer fraud act.

A207, which is being sponsored by Assemblymen Gusciora (D-15), Space (R-24), and Lagana (D-38), was drafted with the intention of ensuring that a plaintiff must establish that a technical violation caused some actual harm, or “ascertainable loss,” in order to recover attorney fees and court costs.

The committee heard a wide range of opinions on the legislation and the broader debate on whether the law should be structured to encourage litigation for regulatory purposes without regard to harm, or whether the incentives should be refined to target the most egregious cases.

As amended, the bill would now largely codify existing case law. It would require a plaintiff to offer some evidence of harm in order to recover his attorney fees, sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.

Click here for additional information on this issue from NJCJI.

Rent, Lease & Sale of Recalled Motor Vehicles

Also up in the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee was A1892, which would prohibit rental companies from renting, leasing or selling unrepaired motor vehicles which are the subject of a safety recall.

NJCJI urged the committee to amend the bill to precisely specify what remedy individual parties who rent, lease, or buy an unrepaired car, but suffer no harm from driving that car, have available to them. A statutory penalty and, as is already included in this bill, a right to exchange the car without penalty, would allow individual consumers to exchange the car and recover quickly and efficiently. NJCJI is also asking the legislature to explicitly state that individual remedies cannot be aggregated and filed as a class action.

Click here to read NJCJI’s full written testimony.

Lawsuit Lending

The Assembly Committee on Regulated Professions was planning on holding a hearing on A3699, which would regulate litigation funding providers for the first time in state history. However, the hearing was postponed. NJCJI is closely monitoring this bill, which is being sponsored by Assemblymen McKeon (D-27) and Lagana (D-38).

Bill Designed to Shield Federally Regulated Manufacturers & Sellers Introduced

September 19, 2014News, Top StoriesCivil Justice, Legal Reform, New Jersey Legislature, Pharmaceutical Litigation, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

Currently everything from pharmaceutical products and medical devices to the labels on prepared foods are subject to regulation at the federal level, under the FDA. But they are also effectively subject to an ad hoc regulation at the state level via litigation. A3581, which was introduced by Assemblyman Michael Carroll (R-25), would take a step towards ensuring New Jersey manufacturers are not doubly regulated via lawsuits. Continue reading →

Abuse of the ADA Part of a Larger Problem

August 26, 2014News, Press Releases, Top StoriesLegal Reform, New Jersey Courts, Regulation via LitigationNJCJI

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does the important job of providing equal access, opportunities, and jobs to our nation’s disabled citizens. While it is imperative that the disabled have these protections, unscrupulous attorneys have found a way to turn the law into a money making tool.

ADA cases have mushroomed in California, Florida, and New York over the past decade, and as Charles Toutant’s recent article in the New Jersey Law Journal, “Fla. Lawyers Driving Boom in N.J. Disabled-Access Suits,” reveals, New Jersey is the latest target. To attorneys who use the ADA and disabled plaintiffs as pawns in a get rich quick scheme, litigation has become the goal rather than the means to a greater end. Continue reading →