News & Resources - Page 32 of 46 - Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC

Patterson on panel for CAI roundtable

Ansell Grimm March 2, 2017

Stacey Patterson, Esq. will serve as a panel member in a roundtable luncheon discussion with property managers and homeowners, answering legal questions affecting New York community associations, as presented by the attendees. This event is hosted by the Community Associations Institute Hudson Valley. The luncheon will talk place at the Hyatt House in White Plains, New York on March 22 from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Attendance is free for property managers and homeowners. Please visit the CAI website for more details and to find out how you can register.

AGA offering new service for companies seeking government contracts

Ansell Grimm February 28, 2017

ANSELL GRIMM & AARON, P.C. is excited to announce a professional alliance with REMTC, Inc. to provide a new service in the field of security compliance for government contracting work.

REMTC, Inc. has over 20 years of experience and a tremendous success rate in providing consulting services to government contractors large and small to ensure compliance with all applicable eligibility regulations for government contracts and to secure and maintain security clearances. With new regulations coming into effect, even companies with existing contracts and security clearances will need to ensure compliance with the new regulatory framework. Ansell Grimm & Aaron, PC attorneys can assist clients in navigating this complex process to achieve the necessary compliance and security clearances to obtain lucrative government contract work.

For more information or assistance regarding our services, please contact Michael H. Ansell, Esq. in the firm’s Woodland Park office at (973) 247-9000 or by email at [email protected]. Additional information concerning REMTC may be found at www.remtcs.com.

Linderman selected as Author of the Year by NJ CAI

Ansell Grimm February 22, 2017

Rich Linderman (center) was honored at NJ CAI’s Annual Awards Dinner as both author of the year and for his work on the revamping the organization’s magazine Community Trends, as part of the Editorial Committee.

We are pleased to recognize that Richard B. Linderman, a partner in the Community Association Practice group for being honored as the Author of the Year by the New Jersey Chapter of Community Associations Institute at its Annual Awards Dinner on Feb. 17 at the Palace at Somerset Park.

Richard’s article for the December 2016 issue of CAI’s Community Trends magazine, “The Changing Shape of Our Neighborhoods” took a look at how the communities we build shape our lives and how they are shaping communities today. In addition to the individual honor, Richard is a member of the organization’s Editorial Committee, selected as Committee of the Year by NJ-CAI’s membership, after relaunching and improving Community Trends.

Along with Richard the committee members were, Robert Arnone, Mary Barrett, Joe Chorba, Dan Fusco, Bill Harvey, Melissa Lathrop, Angela Morisco, Kari Valentine and Committee Chairman Robert Roop of Lockatong Engineering, Rosemont. Congratulations to the Editorial Committee on your achievement and award!

Bauchner and D’Artglio review the state of NJ Cannabis Industry

Ansell Grimm February 16, 2017

ANSELL GRIMM & AARON, PC attorneys Joshua S. Bauchner and Anthony J. D’Artiglio recently published an article with High Times Magazine on the emerging cannabis industry in New Jersey. The article, entitled “New Jersey’s Cannabis Industry Is Growing: Where Does It Grow from Here?” is available here.

ANSELL GRIMM & AARON, PC’s dedicated Cannabis Law Group has an in-depth understanding of the laws both specifically and generally related to cannabis production, sale, use, regulation and legalization and our attorneys are here to help individuals and businesses of all sizes and at any stage of development plan for a successful future. Please contact Josh ([email protected]) or Anthony ([email protected]) by email or at (973) 247-9000.

Zoning Dispute To Continue in State Court

Ansell Grimm February 2, 2017

Ansell Grimm & Aaron recently secured a victory for its client, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, permitting it to continue its fight in state court. For the past decade, Raceway Park has been involved in a zoning dispute with a neighboring property owner, Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang Association of North America (DRSANA), over its plans to build a house of worship and accompanying residential facilities near the famed drag strip.

The matter was before the Old Bridge Township Zoning Board of Adjustment for more than five years and has been the subject of battles in both state and federal courts.

For its part, DRSANA sought to limit all wrangling over its plans and the Zoning Board’s decision to federal court by entering into a consent decree seeking to resolve all issues; including Municipal Land Use Law challenges typically subject to state court review. Raceway Park’s attorneys filed objections to the approval in state court which DRSANA argued were precluded by the federal consent decree. In March of 2015, a judge of the Middlesex County Superior Court dismissed Raceway Park’s suit with prejudice finding the consent decree foreclosed the action.

Raceway Park appealed and on January 6, 2017, a three judge panel of the Appellate Division reversed the dismissal permitting the action to proceed in state court. Among other things, the Appellate Division considered whether the federal court consent decree served as an “end run” around the state court prerogative writ process for challenging zoning decisions; as Raceway Park was not a party to the federal case or the decree. The Appellate Division also concluded that the trial judge abused his discretion in dismissing the action with prejudice.

Raceway Park is represented by Ansell Grimm & Aaron partner, Joshua S. Bauchner, and by Michael R. Leckstein and Marc A. Leckstein of Leckstein & Leckstein LLC.

Ansell Grimm & Aaron attorneys regularly represent clients in pursuing their property rights against public and private incursion. For additional information, please contact Joshua S. Bauchner, Esq . ([email protected]) at (973) 247-9000.

Alternative Dispute Resolution seminar offered

Ansell Grimm February 1, 2017

Richard B. Linderman, Esq. will provide an overview of the Alternative Dispute Resolution process at Community Associations Institute’s Feb. 3 seminar at The Glen at Masons Creek, Hainesport, NJ. Alternative Dispute Resolution is required for community associations in New Jersey, and this program will provide an overview of what mediation is and how it is generally run.

Community managers will receive 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit for participation in the seminar which runs from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and is preceded by a continental breakfast and registration period from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Please note, to receive the continuing education credits managers must register for the program from their individual member profile. Registration for the seminar is available online at CAI’s website.

Class Action suit filed against FieldTurf USA

Ansell Grimm January 17, 2017

Ansell Grimm & Aaron recently commenced a federal class action litigation against FieldTurf USA and its affiliates in the wake of revelations that the company made false claims about the durability of its artificial turf field systems for years despite knowledge of the product’s defects.

The lead plaintiff in the case is New Jersey Stallions Soccer Academy which installed a FieldTurf USA field in 2010 based on the deceptive information provided by the company.

According to an investigative report by NJ Advance Media, about a year after first beginning installation of the fields, internal communications of FieldTurf USA indicate that executives were concerned that the claims the company was making regarding the durability of the product were not accurate.

Despite being aware of the problems, and mounting evidence that the fields did not perform as claimed, the company continued to market the product with particular emphasis given to its purported durability.

In their advertising, the company claimed, “Making the wrong turf decision can cost you a million dollars”, their customers, such as the Stallions, may end up paying more to repair and replace the field than expected.

In a November 2007 email, a FieldTurf employee wrote that the company’s “claims made regarding the Duraspine… are ridiculous. Every day we are putting stuff out there that can’t and won’t live up to the marketing spin.”

Despite having such information in hand, “FieldTurf engaged in a systematic class-wide campaign to conceal Duraspine Turf’s numerous defects, of which FieldTurf had knowledge,” according to the complaint.

The complaint also noted, “As part of its investigation, NJ Advance Media commissioned the University of Michigan’s Breaker Space Lab to test turf fibers from three Duraspine fields in New Jersey. The tests confirmed the strength of the turf to be well below industry standards, and FieldTurf’s own standards.”

Because FieldTurf installed nearly 1,500 fields (164 in New Jersey) using the system between 2005 and 2012, and at no point during that time did they mention to potential customers the well-known issues with the product’s durability, the Class Action Complaint alleges, among other things, violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (N.J. Rev. Stat. § 56:8-1 et seq.) and Breach Of Express Warranty Under New Jersey Law (N.J. Rev. Stat. § 12A:2-313).

Ansell Grimm & Aaron is joined by co-counsel Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Critchley, Kinum & Denoia, LLC and McManimon, Scotland & Baumann, LLC.

Any organization similarly victimized by FieldTurf’s deceptive marketing is eligible to join the suit. Please contact Joshua S. Bauchner, Esq, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (973) 247-9000 for more information.

“Exceptional Circumstances” lead to Grandparents gaining sole custody of child

Ansell Grimm January 11, 2017

Robert H. Siegel, Esq., recently won a major victory in the Monmouth County Superior Court, Family Division, where the trial court awarded Ansell Grimm & Aaron PC clients – the paternal grandparents of a ten-year-old – sole legal custody of a minor child after a two-day trial that commenced in late August 2016.

The child’s biological mother, residing in New York State, petitioned the court for custody of the child immediately after the child’s biological father transferred custody to the paternal grandparents. The lengthy trial tested the parameters of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decisions in Watkins v. Nelson, 163 N.J. 235 (2000) and V.C. v. M.J.B., 163 N.J. 200 (2000), as well as the New Jersey Appellate Division’s decision in Zack v. Fiebert, 235 N.J. Super. 424 (App. Div. 1989). The trial court explicitly referenced each of those precedential decisions in its oral ruling, which was placed on the record on January 9, 2017.

The trial court held that the paternal grandparents had met their burden of demonstrating the requisite “exceptional circumstances” to show that they had “stepped into the shoes” of the child’s parents, and were thus “in parity with the natural parent.” Having met each prong of the psychological parent standard, the trial court weighed the best interests of the child, and found that the paternal grandparents should continue to raise the child in New Jersey until she reaches the age of majority.

The ultimate impact of this case may be felt by its potential to encourage more far-reaching requests in grandparent custody cases, as the majority of grandparent-related family court decisions have been restricted to providing grandparents with limited parenting time rather than custody.

For questions concerning family law matters, including custody, support, and enforcement issues, please contact Robert H. Siegel, Esq. by email at [email protected] or by phone at (732) 922-1000.

Bauchner representing Morristown businessman in effort to enforce easement

Ansell Grimm January 9, 2017

Ansell Grimm & Aaron partner Joshua S. Bauchner is representing Morristown business owner James Cavanaugh in his dispute with the town’s Parking Authority over the use of an easement behind his South Street buildings.

Cavanaugh is asserting the historic right to continued and appropriate use of the right of way as the means of loading and unloading for businesses on South Street. Thus far, attempts to have the Parking Authority institute proper controls on the use of the right of way by the neighboring residential building have been unsuccessful.

Problems arose when the Parking Authority granted easement rights to new residential and commercial establishments resulting in overburdening which effectively precluded Cavanaugh’s use. In the face of indifference on the part of the Parking Authority, the entity tasked with ensuring fair and equitable use of the easement, Cavanaugh was left with no choice but to litigate.

The dispute recently was featured in the Morristown Daily Record, available here:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2017/01/06/iron-bar-owner-morristown-parking-clash-over-back-alley-use/96241970/

Ansell Grimm & Aaron attorneys regularly represent clients in enforcing their property rights against public and private incursion. For additional information, please contact Joshua S. Bauchner, Esq . ([email protected]) or Anthony D’Artiglio, Esq. ([email protected]) at (973) 247-9000.

CAI offering cyber security seminars

Ansell Grimm January 5, 2017

Stacey Patterson, Esq. will be speaking on the topic of cyber security and its effects on the management and operation of community associations at Community Associations Institute seminars this month in Newburgh, N.Y. on January 25 and in White Plains, N.Y. on January 26. Please visit the CAI website for more details and to find out how you can register to learn more about this important topic.

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