Our Litigation Department is well known for its ability to effectively address the complex, as well as the routine, lawsuit. Its philosophy balances aggressive initiatives with the economical allocation of tasks among attorneys, law clerks and paralegals. Our litigation attorneys range from recently admitted attorneys to attorneys with more than twenty-five years experience in handling highly sophisticated litigation. This experience complements a diversity of experience in various specialized substantive areas, such as First Amendment, Aviation Insurance Defense, personal injury, Commercial, and Trusts and Estates Litigation.

First Amendment: Our firm has handled many New Jersey matters for major publishers, such as Time, Inc., and regularly represents a variety of publications in the state and federal courts. In addition to defending numerous libel actions, the firm has handled other types of First Amendment litigation, including invasion of privacy, court closure, reporter's privilege, right to know/Open Public Meetings Act, and news rack suits. Among the more notable cases in which the firm has been involved: the Myron Farber/Dr. X case, in which a reporter from the New York Times was jailed because he refused to testify in a highly publicized murder trial in Bergen County; Schiavone v. Fortune, in which the United States Supreme Court, upholding lower court decisions, affirmed the dismissal of a libel suit brought by then Secretary of Labor Raymond Donovan's construction firm; The Record v. City of Clifton, in which the court not only invalidated restrictive news rack ordinances, but awarded our client $100,000.00 in costs and counsel fees; Turf Lawnmower Repair, Inc. v. Bergen Record Corporation, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court extended the actual malice privilege to articles alleging conduct violating the consumer fraud statute. The discovery, summary judgment and related motion practice strategies and skills honed by our attorneys in the area of First Amendment litigation have also been of great benefit to our general litigation practice.

Insurance Defense: The insurance defense group provides vigorous, but cost-effective, representation, from initial pleadings through jury trials and appeals, offering the services of attorneys skilled in the areas of liability and damages assessment, arbitration, settlement negotiation, and jury and non-jury trials. Through its representation of the United States Aviation Insurance Group, the firm has successfully defended the interest of various airline companies, including Continental Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, in claims arising from both ground-based and in-flight injuries. We also have defended complex litigations involving wrongful death claims arising from aircraft crashes. In addition, the insurance defense group has successfully defended premises liability, automobile and products liability claims for Motorists Insurance; brokers errors and omissions claims for Zurich Insurance and CNA; and title insurance claims for Commonwealth Insurance and Lawyers Title.

Commercial: Our long-standing representation of large and small businesses has enabled us to effectively protect their interests in litigation when necessary. We actively pursue and defend cases involving employment law, contracts, business torts and commercial and corporate transactions. Our substantial representation of financial institutions is reflected in our experience in collection, foreclosures, and workout litigation. Our commercial collection section regularly handles substantial collections from commercial accounts for two major companies, and litigates such matters in courts throughout the United States.

Trusts and Estates Litigation: The Trusts and Estates section of our Litigation Department provides services in connection with a broad range of contested estate, probate, and trust matters, including claims involving undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, will construction, trustee management, lost wills, holographic wills, elective share and omitted spouse claims and intestate estates.

Local Counsel: Our broad litigation experience and familiarity with New Jersey practice and procedures also makes the firm well qualified to serve major companies and law firms around the country as local counsel in cases brought in the state and Federal Courts in New Jersey. Our litigators are able to render advice on the particulars of New Jersey courts, judges, opposing counsel, and rules. We have noteworthy experience in New Jersey practice: one partner has served as an adjunct professor of New Jersey Practice at Fordham Law School for more than fifteen years and another attorney is a retired Appellate Division judge and former acting Administrative Director of the New Jersey Courts. We also have ample physical facilities and support services for conferences, depositions, research and generation of "rush" motions, briefs and other pleadings.

Our diverse litigation practice extends to many other specialty areas as well. In addition to arbitration and administrative court proceedings, our litigators handle landlord/ tenant, breach of contract, business collection, environmental, municipal court, wrongful termination, corporate dissolution, board of education, municipal land use, employment discrimination, personal injury and products liability cases.

Practice area members are: Robert M. Jacobs, Gary S. Redish, Carolyn Geraci Frome, Kenneth K. Lehn, Scott K. McClain, Edward P. D'Alessio, Peter G. Banta, Christine R. Smith, R.N. Tendai Richards, Roman Vaccari, Michael J. Cohen and Rita R. Mungioli.

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