Business & Commercial Law
New Jersey Law Blog
Does a Foreclosure Complaint Prevent a Community Association from Enforcing Rules and Regulations?
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
A New Jersey Chancery Court was called upon to rule whether the filing of a foreclosure complaint by a condominium association prevents the association from taking other actions to enforce its rules and regulations as they would apply to the defendant in the foreclosure action. Specifically, a condominium association had… Continue reading
Ignite Restaurant Group Fires Up Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
Ignite Restaurant Group (“Ignite”) filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division today (Case no. 17-33550). Ignite operates 137 Joe’s Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern + Tap restaurants, including three international franchise locations in Dubai. Ignite employs 8,400 people, including… Continue reading
NJ S181-Act Concerning Snowplow/De-Icing Service Contracts in Community Associations
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
The New Jersey state Senate passed the bill 181, authored by Senator Christopher Bateman(Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset), by a vote of 35-0 on January 23, 2017. The bill, if passed by the Assembly and signed into law by the Governor, will render void and unenforceable any indemnification/hold harmless language in… Continue reading
Foreclosure an Effective Method to Recoup Unpaid Condo Assessments
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
Foreclosure rates for residential properties continue to drop. Black Knight Financial Services reported that in 2016, the national foreclosure rate dropped by 30 percent. The first quarter of 2017 reports the lowest rate of foreclosure activity since 2006. As the inventory of foreclosed properties lessens, housing markets will see an… Continue reading
Rue21 Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
Rue21 Inc. (“Rue21”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Pittsburgh, PA on Monday (case no. 17-22045-GLT, Western District of Pennsylvania). This was another bankruptcy filing I saw coming back in January, when I wrote my blog Retailers to Watch for Possible Bankruptcy Filings in 2017. In the bankruptcy petition,… Continue reading
Divorce Arbitration – How it Works and Why it’s Right
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
Divorce arbitration is an effective method of dispute resolution which has been recognized by the New Jersey Supreme Court as an alternative to conventional litigation. Given the severe backlog in the New Jersey court system and the difficulty obtaining consecutive hearing dates and receiving timely decisions, more divorcing parties are… Continue reading
Say What? The Second Circuit Establishes a New “Outer-Bounds” Limit to Protected Employee Speech
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
To say that Facebook and social media have complicated the relationship between employer and employee and, specifically, what an employee can say or do with respect to his/her work, is an understatement. Social media has added a new dimension to analyzing the intersection between employee speech and protected activity under… Continue reading
Read Before You Click: The Enforcement of Web-Based Restrictive Covenants and Arbitration Agreements Against Employees
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
When was the last time you clicked a box indicating your agreement to terms of service without actually reading, let alone understanding, the terms and conditions of service? The use of “clickwrap” whereby users of web-based applications memorialize their acceptance of legal agreements by clicking something, like a check box,… Continue reading
Sex Discrimination Includes Sexual Orientation Says the 7th Circuit
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
“We must consider what this country has become in deciding what [a statute] has reserved.” So wrote Judge Richard Posner, Circuit Judge of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, quoting Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416, 433-34 (1920), in his concurring opinion of… Continue reading
Small and Independent Brewers Saw Growth in 2016
Posted in Business & Commercial Law
The Brewers Association, the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers, recently released 2016 data on U.S. craft brewing. Small and independent craft brewers represent 12.3 percent market share by volume of the overall beer industry, with more than 5,300 breweries operating during the year. In 2016, craft… Continue reading
