Blog

This past week, Partner Janet Walsh, organized and co-hosted with Professor JaneAnne Murray of the University of Minnesota Law School a virtual event for the Irish American Bar Association of New York. The event celebrates James Joyce's Ulysses and its contribution to First Amendment jurisprudence in the United States. Featured in the Irish Times, the event raised money for Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative which is “committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.”

Every person is responsible for themselves and their actions or their failure to act. However, in a society, every person also has a duty, an obligation, to act (or not act) in a way which is responsible for others. This is why we as a society have laws. The Laws are the Rules to live by; if you break or disobey those rules, you can hurt yourself and others around you. For example, we stop at red lights. We punish those who do not. If a red light "runner" causes a crash or hits a pedestrian, we can hold that "runner" responsible for the harm that results from his lack of responsibility - his carelessness and negligence - in a courtroom. 

College Education in the US was, like most all of life in the country, turned upside down in a matter of days by the Covid 19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of students, looking forward to Spring on the quadrangle or other favorite campus hangouts were told to pack up and leave all student housing in a hurry. Classroom learning changed rapidly to online learning. All activities, sports and travel slammed to a halt. 

The most recent data breach potentially exposing user information is coming out of California-based genetic testing laboratory, Ambry Genetics.  In accordance with HIPPA Breach Notification Rule, Ambry Genetics published a notice on their website announcing the potential exposure of personal health information (PHI) of 233,000 customers. 

I have been in the long-term care industry for almost 25 years. I have been a volunteer, a public policy advocate, an elder law legal services attorney, and a trial attorney with a practice focused for the last 10 years on litigation against nursing homes and long-term care facilities for abuse and neglect throughout New Jersey. With that background, I have been asked by many for my thoughts on the crippled status of the long-term care industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Congratulations to Associate Victoria Schall, who was selected to the 2020 New Jersey Rising Stars list. This is Tori’s 4th year on the list. (Rising Stars is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. – superlawyers.com).

Congratulations to Partner Karl Friedrichs, who was selected to the 2020 New Jersey Super Lawyers list. This is Karl’s 4th year on the list. (Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. – superlawyers.com).  

Congratulations to Partner Al Anthony, who was selected to the 2020 New Jersey Super Lawyers list. This is Al’s 14th year on the list. (Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. – superlawyers.com).  

In this time of concern and anxiety, we at Locks Law Firm recognize and honor the Doctors, Nurses and all Medical professionals who are there for us in hospitals and nursing homes. They show us every day that they are willing to put themselves at risk to treat the sick and weak. Doctors and nurses have a tough job, work hard and in the process expose themselves. They show great character. We especially recognize the thousands of retired persons who have stepped up to help at hospitals around the country. 

Dear Colleagues and Friends, 

We are closely monitoring this rapidly changing situation and we want to assure you that our main priority at this time is making sure our clients, staff and community are all safe. 

In efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 we have asked that all of our staff work remotely until further notice from health officials. Thanks to our IT team, we have infrastructure in place that allows us to continue our work, remaining fully staffed while also practicing social distancing. 

We have put in place firm-wide plans across all of our locations so that we are able to continue:

• Working on existing matters. 
• Accepting new referrals.
• Handling any/all client needs that may arise during this time.