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Cuyler Burk is pleased to announce that SuperLawyers magazine has included five of its lawyers in their 2009 issue.

Richard Crooker and Peter Petrou make their debut on the SuperLawyer list this year.  Joining them are returnees Stephen Cuyler (2007, 2008) and Barry Osmun (2008). 

For the second year in a row, Jaclyn DiLascio Malyk has been named as a “Rising Star.”

You can get futher infomation from the SuperLawyers site:  http://www.superlawyers.com

The Special Masters of the United States Court of Federal Claims issued its highly anticipated decisions today on the first three test cases in the Autism Omnibus Proceeding.  In all three cases, the court found insufficient evidence of a causal link between the vaccines and autism. 

The Omnibus Autism Proceeding consists of over 5,000 cases alleging that certain childhood vaccinations caused or contributed to the child’s diagnosis of autism or autism spectrum disorder.  As part of the proceeding, three test cases were selected and tried under two general causation theories:  (1) that the MMR vaccine and vaccines that contained thimerosal (a compound consisting of 49.6% mercury used as a preservative in certain vaccines) combined to cause autism; and (2) that thimerosal-containing vaccines alone caused the childrens’ autism.  The decisions on these two general causation theories will then be applied to the over 5,000 individual cases.

The three test cases decided today pertained to the first general causation theory.   The Special Masters issued separate decisions on each of the three test cases.  The lengthy decisions may be found on the United States Court of Federal Claims website.

Hearings on the three test cases on the second general causation theory, that thimerosal-containing vaccines alone can cause autism, were completed in July of 2008.  Decisions on the second general causation theory are not expected for a few months.

In recognition of the economic power of privately held businesses, DiversityBusiness.com, the nations’ leading business-to-business internet site, recently named Cuyler Burk, P.C. one of the Top 100 Women Owned Businesses in the State of New Jersey.

“Entrepreneurs are a growing force in the U.S. economy, and a force to be reckoned with,” said Kenton Clarke, CEO of Computer Consulting Associates International, the company that built DiversityBusiness.com. This is a whole business segment that can carry its own, that provides jobs, products and services, and generates wealth for their communities. These are the new leaders in American business.”

“We are honored to be counted among such extraordinary women,” said Jo Ann Burk, CEO of Cuyler Burk, LLP.

The List

This List is a classification that represents the top small businesses in the U.S., in sectors such as technology, manufacturing, food service and professional services. Large organizational buyers throughout the country that do business with multicultural, small and women-owned businesses use the list. The List is produced annually by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation’s leading multicultural B2B Internet portal that links large organizational buyers to multicultural product and service suppliers.

The winning companies will be honored at a special awards ceremony at DiversityBusiness.com’s “9th Annual Multicultural Business Conference”, taking place April 29 – May 1, 2009 at the Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida.

For the complete list of winning companies, please visit: www.diversitybusiness.com

Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 46,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection services for diversity including the “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities”, “Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America”, and others.

Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous awards for its content and design. It is a leading provider of Supplier Diversity management tools and has the most widely distributed Diversity magazine in the United States. DiversityBusiness.com is produced by Computer Consulting Associates International Inc. (CCAii.com) of Southport, CT. Founded in 1980.

So, you have decided you have better things to do with your money than to pay your lawyer the fees he has incurred in representing you.  The lawyer sues you for his fees.  You make the further decision to file a counterclaim for legal malpractice even though you know there is no basis for the malpractice claim.  Your strategy is that the malpractice claim will induce the lawyer to drop his suit for fees or to settle the claim cheaply.  At the very worse, the countersuit will delay the day you actually have to pay your former lawyer. 

What could go wrong? 

(more…)

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer vetoed legislation that would have imposed a “material prejudice” standard on insurers who deny coverage based on late notice. The bill would also have given claimants a right to bring a direct action against insurers. The bill, if signed, would have imposed dramatic change in New York insurance law.

The bill presented to Governor Spitzer would have made two significant changes in the existing law. First, it would have created a “material prejudice” standard with regard to late notice. In this regard, the bill provided that an insurer “shall not deny coverage for a claim based on the failure of an insured to give timely notice of claim unless [the insurer is] able to demonstrate that it has suffered material prejudice as a result of the delayed notice.” The governor noted that “there are some drafting issues with these provisions.” Of particular concern to the Governor was the burden of proof imposed under the bill. The Governor indicated that if the bill were modified to preclude a defense of late notice where there was no prejudice to the insurer, he would sign it.

Second, the bill sought to amend New York’s declaratory judgment statute by permitting a party who has interposed a claim against a policyholder to bring a declaratory judgment action against that party’s insurers. Governor Spitzer expressed concern that this provision would increase litigation and he urged that his concern be reviewed. Governor Spitzer stated: “this bill’s dual goals – streamlining litigation and prohibiting the denial of coverage for mere technicalities – are sound, and hopefully we can enact a new bill that accomplishes these important goals in a manner that protects the interests of claimants, policyholders and insurers alike.” The Governor’s staff and the Superintendent of Insurance will meet with the legislature and interested parties to further consider these issues.

Indications are that the legislation will be reintroduced in 2008.

HILLSBOROUGH & MANVILLE – Somerset County officials’ vision for a winding, contiguous greenway along the scenic Raritan River corridor has received a significant boost with the acquisition of 197 acres straddling these two municipalities.

The county closed last week on the Maverick Construction Co. tract that includes the former landfill used by Johns-Manville Corp.

The landfill section of the property has been capped, as required by state regulations, and will not be used. But the remainder of the property is envisioned for passive recreation as part of the Raritan River Greenway, Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski said.

“We already have acquired several hundred acres as part of this greenway,” he said. “The addition of almost 200 more is a tremendous asset to our preservation efforts in this area.” He noted that the Maverick property acquisition brings the total of preserved open space in Somerset County to just over 10,000 acres, or half the county’s ultimate preservation goal.

Purchase price for the land was $700,000. Maverick Construction Co., based in Hillsborough, was owned by Frank A. Marchello, who died in 2002. The landfill portion of the tract is just under half the total acreage.

The county has agreed to allow continued use of a ball field and clubhouse on the property by the Manville Youth Athletic League which will be guaranteed through a long-term lease agreement with the Borough of Manville.

Freeholder Director Zaborowski commended the Somerset County Park Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and consultants Cuyler-Burk of Parsippany and Kleinfelder of Hamilton for bringing the purchase to fruition.

He credited Somerset County Parks Directory Raymond Brown and Planning and Land Acquisition Manager Tom Boccino; attorneys Ed Collins, Andrew Craig and Richard A. Crooker of Cuyler Burk; professional engineer Donald W. Richardson of Kleinfelder; NJDEP Assistant Commissioner of Site Remediation Irene Kropp; and Ken Kloo and Ian Curtis of the NJDEP Office of Brownfields Reuse.