November 14, 2018
ROBERT B. SPAWN reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
A recent New Jersey case involved a Plaintiff whose home in Sayreville suffered significant damage in Superstorm Sandy. In December 2012, Plaintiff hired Third-Party Defendant ("Contractor A") to repair her home. Contractor A partially completed the repairs before requesting additional money from Plaintiff to continue working on her home. Plaintiff refused Contractor A's request because she was dissatisfied with the quality of the work, and, consequently, Contractor A walked off the job prior to April 2013. Subsequently, in April 2013, Plaintiff hired Defendant ("Contractor B") to finish repairing her home, and Contractor B completed its work in May 2013.
Then,(...)
November 5, 2018
ROBERT B. SPAWN reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
A recent New Jersey case involved a Plaintiff-dog groomer who filed a complaint against Defendants-dog owners after Defendants' dog bit Plaintiff during the course of a grooming session. At the trial level, Plaintiff claimed that Defendants were strictly liable for her injuries under the "dog-bite" statute, N.J.S.A. 4:19-16. Plaintiff also claimed that Defendants were negligent in failing to control their dog and allowing the dog to bite her. After both parties engaged in discovery, Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment based on the factual record laid out below.
When Defendants first brought their dog to Plaintiff's business in 2011, they informed(...)
October 31, 2018
Barry A. Kozyra, Esq. was interviewed and quoted on Magone & Company's Tax Information Blog dated September 27, 2018, regarding Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Enforceable or Not?, The Three Factors a Court Will Examine During a Non-Compete Case Hearing and the State's Requirements.
1) Time. Mr. Kozyra stated, "It's unreasonable to take somebody out of the workplace for one or two years if they only worked at your business for a month. You would have to demonstrate that you have very fragile intellectual property or confidential information that could be stolen."
2) Geography. Mr. Kozyra stated, "We routinely see situations where an employer wants to restrict someone from working anywhere on the planet because the company has such wide-ranging reach. While it's not commonplace,(...)
October 16, 2018
Kozyra & Hartz LLC is proud to announce that on October 16, 2018, Barry A. Kozyra received a Proclamation from Mayor Joseph P. Scarpelli, Commissioner Alphonse Petracco, Commissioner Thomas J. Evans, Commissioner Mauro G. Tucci and Commissioner Steven L. Rogers of the Township of Nutley.
The Proclamation paid tribute to Mr. Kozyra's accomplishments and contributions as a lawyer and citizen. The Township also extended their congratulations to Mr. Kozyra as the recipient of the 2018 Elks Citizen of the Year Award for his outstanding and meritorious service to humanity and charitable causes, and the 2018 Professional Lawyer of the Year Award for exemplary conduct, competence, diligence, and demeanor.
Congratulations, Barry!
October 15, 2018
ROBERT B. SPAWN reports on recent changes in New Jersey regarding the expungement of criminal records.
A recently-enacted New Jersey law has made it easier for people to expunge (i.e., remove) certain types of charges from their criminal records. Noteworthy changes are listed below:
Prior to the passage of this law, a person seeking to remove a criminal conviction would have to wait ten years before becoming eligible to petition the Court for an expungement. Under the new law, this waiting period has been shortened to six years.
The Court can now remove four disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offenses from a person's record. The old expungement law only allowed the Court to remove three such offenses.
The old law stated that interdependent charges(...)
