LAW OFFICES OF GEOFFREY D. MUELLER, LLC

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"A lawyer serving as a court-appointed rent receiver for a foreclosed building can be sued in his official capacity by a tenant injured on the premises, an appeals court ruled on Thursday.

"The Appellate Division, in Rojas v. Rubenstein, A-5755-10, reinstated a tenant's claim against Glenn Peterson, a Clifton attorney who spent 13 months as the receiver for the apartment building at 201-210 Parker Ave. in Passaic.

"The court, however, affirmed dismissal of the claim against Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu), the mortgage lender that had foreclosed on the building before the injury occurred."

From the Appellate Division's decision:

"We are satisfied the court's ruling is correct and is amply supported by our decision in J.L.B.  Peterson was appointed by the court as a rent receiver, with professional responsibilities.  Any negligence by Peterson in failing to inspect or repair the railing was a result of his official duty as a rent receiver; he had no  personal responsibility with respect to the property."

More after the jump...

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"New Jersey legislators are pushing for adoption of a law that would make New Jersey the third state, after Oregon and Washington, to allow assisted suicide.

"Legislation pending in the Assembly and Senate would let a terminally patient with less than six months to live receive and self-administer life-ending medication if he or she expressed a wish to die.

"The prime sponsor, Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Gloucester, says the bill was written to put the patient in control of the decision to end his or her life, and minimize the potential for pressure from others, such as heirs and health-care providers.

"It would amend New Jersey’s criminal code, which since 1978 has made helping another person commit suicide is a second-degree crime if death results, and a fourth-degree crime if it does not. Action taken in accordance with the proposed law would be exempt from prosecution under N.J.S.A. 2C-11-6.

"Although the bill in its current form calls for a referendum on assisted suicide, Burzichelli says he intends to strike that requirement, since the legislation concerns a civil-rights issue and as such does not lend itself to a public vote."

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"The bill requires a patient seeking a lethal prescription to request it orally to his or her attending physician and reiterate the oral request at least 15 days later. The patient must then make the request in writing, and at least 48 hours must elapse between the signing of the written request and the writing of the prescription."

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"Any provision in a contract, will, insurance policy, annuity or other agreement is invalid if it conditions or restricts a person’s decision to make a request for assisted suicide, under the legislation. The bill also may not be construed to permit a physician or other person to end a patient’s life by euthanasia, lethal injection or mercy killing, or lower the standard of care to be provided by a health-care professional."

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"The Assembly measure, A-3328, introduced on Sept. 27, was referred to the Health and Senior Services Committee. The Senate version, S-2259, is sponsored by Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, and Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex."

Full article after the jump...

Per The New Jersey Law Journal:

"A New Jersey appeals court on Thursday upheld the state's medical marijuana law, along with the Department of Health's determination that only nonprofit entities may qualify as cultivators and dispensaries.

"The Appellate Division turned away a challenge by Natural Medical Inc., a for-profit company that argued the department's restrictions on "alternate treatment centers" (ATCs) were onerous and beyond statutory authority.

"The statutory provision at issue here, considered in full, does not allow for automatic licensure. Nor does it express an explicit legislative commitment to an unlimited number of ATCs," the judges said in Natural Medical Inc. v. Department of Health, A-3406-10."

From the decision:

"At issue is whether the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (Act), N.J.S.A. 24:6I-1 to -16, grantsappellants, a for-profit corporation and its principal, an unqualified right to apply for permits to operate alternatetreatment centers (ATCs) to cultivate and distribute marijuana and to have their applications processed and evaluated irrespective of need. Subsumed within this issue is the question of whether in limiting the initial permitting to the statutorily-mandated minimum of six ATCs, the Department of Health (Department) acted arbitrarily, unreasonably, or in contravention of the Act. For reasons that follow, we answer
both questions in the negative."

Law Journal article and Full Decision after the jump...

Per The New York Law Journal:

"A Western District bankruptcy judge has found that a debtor's non-dischargeable student loan obligation is a "special circumstance" that can overcome the statutory presumption of abuse when a higher-income debtor attempts to eliminate financial obligations under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

"Chief Judge Carl Bucki's recent decision in In re Jeffrey Howell and Rebecca Howell, 11-12685, is the latest in a plethora of rulings on an issue that has divided courts all over the country. Bankruptcy judges in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Delaware, Oklahoma and Georgia have reached the same conclusion as Bucki; judges in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona, Kansas and New Hampshire have come to the opposite conclusion."

More after the jump, including the full decision...