Legal Information and Resources

Read the recent article in the New Jersey Lawyer from August 2011 answering the question, “Does medical monitoring still exist?”

The long-awaited trial for the children of Kiddie Kollege is finally here. Partner, Jim Pettit, is the court-appointed Lead Counsel for plaintiffs, who are members of a class of the children (and their parents and faculty) who attended Kiddie Kollege Daycare in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. The daycare was in a building formerly a thermometer factory, and it was heavily contaminated (sometimes 40 times, or more, than the federal standard) with mercury. Mercury can become vapor even at room temperature and this metal, when inhaled, enters the brain and the central nervous system. Mr. Pettit and his co-counsel seek medical monitoring for the class members. That is, they seek to have the defendants financially support a court-supervised fund for testing of the central nervous system and the immune system. The trial will be a bench trial (not a jury trial) conducted before the Honorable James Rafferty, in Woodbury.

The defendants moved for summary judgment on numerous issues. The government defendants (the State of New Jersey, the County of Gloucester, and the Township of Franklin) argued that they were not liable factually and in any event they could not be held liable because as government entities they could not be sued under the Tort Claims Act. The other defendants argued that they were not liable as a matter of law. Defendants also moved to preclude each and every one of plaintiffs’ experts from testifying. Finally, they moved to de-certify the class actions. The judge denied the motions and ruled that the case is proceeding to trial. The defendants then moved for a stay in order to appeal which was denied.

Mr. James Pettit was elected as the Chair of the Product Liability & Toxic Tort Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. This is a very large Section with hundreds of members from all across the state, consisting of both plaintiff counsel and defense counsel.

Partner, Jim Pettit, was asked to join a speaker panel on the topic of Courtroom Technology. The seminar on April 27 was sponsored by the Camden County Bar Association. Mr. Pettit’s topic was Ten Technology Questions to Resolve Prior to Trial.

Partners Jonathan Miller and Michael Galpern were recently interviewed by Trial magazine of the American Association for Justice for their role in the recent Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery victory. The full text of the article is found below:

March 4, 2010
New Jersey residents can sue foreign companies in state court, high court rules

Carmel Sileo

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a foreign manufacturer can be sued in New Jersey state court for selling dangerous products there. In affirming an intermediate court decision, the state’s highest court held that “a foreign manufacturer that places a defective product in the stream of commerce through a distribution scheme that targets a national market, which includes New Jersey, may be subject to the in personam jurisdiction of a New Jersey court in a product liability action.” (Nicastro v. McIntyre Machinery, 2010 WL 343563 (N.J. Feb. 2, 2010).) (more…)

Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court recognized the reality of the globalization of commerce and gave protection to New Jersey residents from injuries caused by products manufactured by foreign manufacturers. In NiCastro v. McIntyre, the Court held that a foreign manufacturer who manufactures a machine that injures a New Jersey resident will be subject to jurisdiction in the state courts of New Jersey if the manufacturer knew or should have known through its distribution scheme that its products were being sold in New Jersey. This is a major victory for the people and manufacturers of New Jersey, for it ensures that foreign companies will not escape having to face their share of responsibility for injuries occurring in New Jersey. Jonathan Miller and Michael Galpern, partners with Locks Law Firm, briefed the appeal on behalf of the Association of Trial Lawyers – New Jersey, now known as the New Jersey Association for Justice. Mr. Miller argued before the Court that it should recognize the reality of globalization, which it did.

Partner Marc P. Weingarten has been extremely active in lecturing internationally to various groups of lawyers and asbestos victims. Last November, he lectured at the Occupational Disease Conference of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) in Manchester, England. Marc spoke to them about Lung Cancer Attribution Without Asbestosis. (more…)

Locks Law Partner Marc P. Weingarten was recently awarded the most prestigious international award given by the American Association of Justice (AAJ), the national organization of plaintiff trial lawyers. At the Annual Convention of AAJ in San Francisco in July, Marc received the 2009 Jackass Penguin Award from the International Relations Committee and the International Practice Section of AAJ. (more…)

Marc P. Weingarten, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Locks Law and Joseph M. McGill, a senior associate in that office recently were successful in the jury trials in Philadelphia state court for two gentlemen who tragically died of mesothelioma. The cases were tried together, in a consolidated manner, before one jury. One man died of mesothelioma at the age of 93 and was awarded $492,000. The other gentleman died of mesothelioma at the age of 63 and was awarded $732,000. (more…)

Merck & Co., which certainly is familiar with mass tort trials (including the diet drug Fen-Phen jury trial in which partner James Pettit was co-lead counsel), now faces the first FOSAMAX trial. (more…)