New Jersey Lawyer & Attorney : Stark & Stark Law Firm : New Jersey Law Blog

Thomas B. Lewis, Chair of Stark & Stark’s Employment Litigation Group, was quoted in the January 14, 2012 New York Post article, Bonus (cry) babies taking the money and running.  The article discusses a recent trend in Wall Street bankers retiring early amidst  fears of skimpy bonus checks this year, and for the foreseeable future. 

Mr. Lewis states, “There’s a strong argument that the gravy-train days of Wall Street may never replicate themselves again. It’s going to be very hard to make an embarrassingly large amount of money at a bank that’s a publicly traded company compared to a private-equity fund or a hedge fund.

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Thomas B. Lewis, Shareholder and Chair of Stark & Stark’s Employment Group, was quoted in the December 30, 2011 Chicago Tribune article, Regional firms trump big brokers in adviser hiring.

The article discusses the recent increase in financial advisers switching firms in the last half of 2011. During this time, at least 166 advisers, managing a combined $25 billion of assets, moved to a new firm.

Mr. Lewis states that recruiting packages have reached 300 to 400 percent of a broker's annual production, including up-front and back-end bonuses, whereas ten years ago, a 50-to-100 percent package was considered healthy.

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Jennifer D. Gould and Bari J. Gambacorta, Shareholders in Stark & Stark’s Bankruptcy & Creditor’s Rights Group, co-authored an article for the December edition of Equipment Finance Advisor entitled, Recent Cases and Bankruptcy Amendments Impacting Lessors.

The article discusses equipment leasing issues dealing with authentication of assignments of equipment leases and repossession of equipment when late payments are accepted after notice of default. The article provides a summary of these cases as well as recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure which may impact a lessor’s current business practices.

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Martin P. Schrama, Shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Litigation Group, and Stefanie Colella-Walsh, member of Stark & Stark’s Litigation Group, authored an article for the December 12, 2011 New Jersey Law Journal Product Liability & Toxic Torts Supplement entitled, Requirements for a Proper Privilege Log: The significance of these often overlooked rules.

The article discusses the importance of discovery, and more specifically the privilege log, in complex product liability and toxic tort litigation cases. The authors state that a proper privilege log is critical to avoiding wasted time and resources, as well as any potentially misinformed rulings on privilege log entries at issue.

You can read the full article online here. (PDF)

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Thomas B. Lewis, Chair of Stark & Stark’s Employment Group, was quoted in the December 2, 2011 Reuters.com article, Heading up a branch office seen as risky game. 

The article discusses the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s recent disciplinary actions against Brandon Tompson and Patricia Collantes, former Citigroup managers in California, after they failed to supervise a sales assistant who stole $750,000 from client’s accounts. Mr. Lewis states that becoming a branch managers comes with great risk and by electing o become a branch manager, brokers are effectively signing up to be responsible for every action of every employee, all day long.

You can read the full article online here.

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Congratulations to Craig S. Hilliard, Shareholder in Stark & Stark's Litigation Group, who was recently installed as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey. Mr. Hilliard was installed at the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey’s 44th annual banquet on October 13, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey along with the other officers for the upcoming year.

(shown from left): The Trial Attorneys of New Jersey's 2011-2012 officers: Craig Hilliard, Diana Manning, Edwin Matthews, John North, Michael Marone, Jim Batsides, Harry McEnroe and Paul O'Connor.

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Vincent J. Mangini, Shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Real Estate, Zoning & Land Use Group, authored the article, Builders and Contractors Take Note: The Move to Make Buildings Healthier is Upon Us, for the October 2011 edition of Mercer Business Magazine.

When construction a new building, contractors should ensure that the facility is sturdy, functional and safe. However, some materials and products used in building design and construction are not. Due to this fact, government agencies and non-profit organizations have recently expressed concerns over the chemicals used in construction and their impact upon the public health.

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Stark & Stark is representing a group of plaintiffs in a class action arising from the sale of several weight loss products in the United States including, Liquid Hoodia, Slimquick and NV products. If you, or someone you know, has purchased these products in the United States for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 2003 and August 5, 2011, you could receive a cash payment from a class action settlement.
 
A hearing is scheduled for November 2011 – at that time, if the Court approves the proposed settlement, anyone who purchased the products could be entitled to a cash refund. In order to obtain your refund, you must submit a claim form by October 24, 2011.

For more information and to submit a claim form, visit: www.WellNXUSASettlement.com. If you know of someone who has taken these products, we encourage you to share this information with them as well. If you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, please feel free to contact us at 609.895.7324.

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October is breast cancer awareness month. Stark & Stark would like to aid Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in their mission to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find cures. 
 
Visit Stark & Stark's Facebook page during the month of October and "like" us. For each "like" we receive in October, Stark & Stark will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
 
Susan G. Komen fought breast cancer with her heart, body and soul. Throughout her diagnosis  and treatments, she spent her time thinking of ways to make life better for other women battling breast cancer instead of worrying about her own situation. 
 
Susan's sister, Nancy Brinker, was moved by Susan's compassion for others and founded the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, which is now the global leader of the breast cancer movement. 
 
Together, we can save lives.
 

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Craig S. Hilliard, Shareholder in Stark & Stark Intellectual Property Group, co-authored the article, Trademark Infringement in Keyword Advertising, for the September 26, 2011 edition of The New Jersey Law Journal.

The article discusses the challenges electronic media poses for the interpretation of the Lanham Act.  It presents situations where marks are used in non-traditional ways.  In particular, the use of keyword advertising, where words are linked to advertisements in a web page, may stretch the limits of the Lanham Act.  Recently, a Second Circuit decision in Rescuecom Corp. v. Google, Inc., redefined a “use in commerce”, one of the basic criteria required to prove trademark infringement.  This article will address the changes in the Second Circuit’s position on keyword advertising, and how its position compares to other Circuits.
 

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