NO LIMIT IN NJ DWI SENTENCING ‘STEP-DOWN’

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that drunken drivers convicted of multiple offenses may use a ‘step-down’ provision in the state’s drunken driving statute more than once, provided that at least 10 years have elapsed between the most recent offense and the prior one. The current New Jersey drunk driving statute [N.J.S.A. 39:40-50] states in part that if a…
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NEW JERSEY TO REGULATE UBER STYLE CAR SERVICES

Car services such as Uber and Lyft, which connect drivers and passengers via a web application, have come a step closer to being regulated after a New Jersey legislative committee passed a bill aiming to set minimum insurance standards and impose other strictures. One of the concerns at the forefront is the insurance coverage issue involving passengers in these vehicles.…
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COURT WEIGHS APPLYING DWI WARRANT RULE RETROACTIVELY

The New Jersey Supreme Court is considering whether to retroactively apply a 2013 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said police generally must get a search warrant before obtaining blood samples or demanding urine samples from suspected intoxicated drivers. The Court is set to determine if past police practices in the state, where warrants were rarely obtained, violated a…
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PERSONAL INJURIES IN ROADSIDE HIT-AND-RUN

Changing a tire on major roadways such as the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike can be extremely dangerous. In Torres Pena v. Gonzalez a motorist was struck while in the process of changing a flat tire on the New Jersey Turnpike by another who allegedly left the scene and was paid a $3.25 million settlement. A flat tire…
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NJ DWI BREATHE-TEST WARNINGS

It has happened to many people; you get pulled over on the parkway, turnpike or some local road and an officer requests that you submit to a breathe-test for a possible DWI. Currently in New Jersey a refusal to submit to a breathe-test can result in a license suspension for not less than seven months or more than one year…
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AUTOMOBILE BLACK BOX DATA RESTRICTION

New Jersey lawmakers are contemplating enacting legislation that would limit the access to the information from event data recorders installed in automobiles that track speed, location, time of use and the number of people inside an automobile. Privacy concerns are at the forefront of this discussion. The proposed legislation would make the information on the automobile’s event data recorder (“Black…
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New Jersey Alimony Reform is Here

In all divorce, dissolution of a civil union, divorce from bed and board, legal separation from a partner in a civil union or nullity the court may award one or more of the following types of alimony: Permanent, open durational alimony, rehabilitative alimony, limited duration alimony or reimbursement alimony to either party. Each form of alimony, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23,…
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A NOT SO FINAL DIVORCE

At the conclusion of any matrimonial matter, in the State of New Jersey, the Court can grant either a Judgment of Divorce or a Divorce from Bed and Board. A Judgment of Divorce is considered by the courts to be an absolute divorce severing all ties between the parties. However, a Divorce from Bed and Board is considered by the…
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GETTING DIVORCED IN NEW JERSEY MAY NO LONGER REQUIRE ALL PARTIES TO APPEAR IN COURT

Throughout divorce proceedings there are several court mandated appearances whereby all parties and their counsel must be present. These include, but are not limited, case management conferences and putting through/finalizing the divorce on the record in the courtroom. All court appearances are costly to clients and in some instances, can be unproductive. New Jersey is taking steps to move closer…
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