Under New Jersey law, a motorist driving with an unrestrained pet in the car may be fined.  This summer, as more New Jersey residents embark on vacations and family trips, the number of motorists driving with their pets will likely increase.  State officials are reminding people about the law, and warning them to keep their pets safely restrained in the car while they are driving.

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Thousands of people in New Jersey travel by bus every year.  Not many passengers are aware that the vehicle in which they are traveling may have been inadequately inspected due to the federal administration's failure to regulate independent inspection companies.

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According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, approximately 80% of all college students drink and at least half of them drink excessively.  This excessive consumption of alcohol, known as binge drinking, is often linked to a higher incidence of crime, including rapes and violent assaults. 

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New Jersey parents can take comfort from the findings of a new study which indicates that teenagers are heavily influenced by their parents in their alcohol imbibing practices.  This influence means that parents in New Jersey can take action to ensure that their teenager is not arrested for DUI. 

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You may be surprised to learn that law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and around the country frequently track people’s cell phones without warrants. This cell phone tracking is an ongoing attack on individual privacy and civil liberties, and New Jersey criminal defense attorneys believe that many citizens are not aware of this  practice. 

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Any New Jersey DUI lawyer will tell you that, in spite of laws banning the possession of alcohol by anyone below the age of 21, underage drinking is widespread.   Underage drinking in the country reaches its highest levels around important drinking holidays such as Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.  Also on that list is Spring Break vacation, which also sees large number of teens arrested for driving under the influence.

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More couples are choosing to live together under the same roof outside of marriage.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010, more than 45 percent of American households were run by unmarried couples.  New Jersey family lawyers strongly recommend a cohabitation agreement for people who wish to live together outside of marriage.

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College students around the country are now drinking a higher number of alcoholic beverages in a single session of binge drinking, according to a study of interest to New Jersey DUI lawyers.

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According to a new study published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, persons who have suffered a traumatic brain injury are much more likely to commit violent crimes, such as homicide, than those without such a brain injury.

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Federal agencies recently released data that shows that 1 out of every 4 women is a victim of domestic violence by an intimate partner.  Those numbers are much higher than those seen in earlier reports and are of great concern to New Jersey domestic violence lawyers.

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Evidence has now come to light suggesting that parents may have a much stronger influence on their teenagers’ drinking habits than they were aware of.  A new study has found that children of parents who drive under the influence are more likely to drive drunk themselves.

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Governor Chris Christie has signed a bill that makes it more difficult for people who have violated restraining orders related to domestic violence to post bail.

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New Jersey family lawyers encounter accusations of all kinds during child custody conflicts.  One issue that is increasingly arising is childhood obesity.  Parents making claims that the custodial parent is allowing the child to become obese by neglecting his or her nutrition needs. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reports that this trend is on the rise throughout the country. 

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For a long time, a primary goal for many New Jersey divorce lawyers was to try to help their client keep the marital home.   Retaining the house was considered important because houses were good investments and likely to have increased in value over the years. Today, however, it's a different story.   The marital home is quickly becoming less of a prize and more of a burden in a divorce settlement. 

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Every New Jersey DUI Lawyer knows that peer pressure is one of the biggest contributing factors in underage or teen drinking, so it comes as no surprise that a new study confirms the link.  However, according to this study, the pressure comes not from the teenager's friends or romantic partners, but from friends of their boyfriends or girlfriend.

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According to a recent US Census report, Northeastern states- and especially New Jersey- have some of the lowest divorce rates in the country.  In the Northeast, the divorce rate is about 7.2 divorces per 1000 men and 7.5 divorces per 1000 women.  In New Jersey, the divorce rate is 6.1 divorces per 1000 men, and 6 per 1000 women.  By contrast, the highest divorce rates in the United States are found in the Bible Belt.  In this southern area of the United States, the rates reach 10.2 divorces for every 1000 men, and 11.1 divorces for every 1000-women.

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Teenagers convicted of driving after drinking any amount of alcohol in New Jersey can face a 30-to-90-day suspension of their license. This is in addition to any loss of license for a DWI conviction, which can last anywhere from seven months to one year, as well as other penalties, including mandatory alcohol education, a delayed license and 30 days of community service.

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Marijuana-related crimes accounted for more than half of all drug-related arrests in the United States in 2010.  That information comes from new statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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In the year 2011, people are much more likely to get divorced because they fall out of love with each other, rather than because of infidelity on the part of one of the partners.  According to a recent survey, more people filing for divorce do so because they've growing apart or fallen out of love.

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New Jersey immigration lawyers have criticized a federal program called Secure Communities that requires local law enforcement officers to share information of arrests with federal immigration agencies.  Now, several states are pushing back against what they see as violations of individual liberties.

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New Jersey’s laws cover several types of credit card-related offenses, including credit card theft and credit card fraud.

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Energy drinks that combine alcohol and caffeine have proved to be very popular among underage drinkers.  However, consumption of these beverages has been linked to extreme levels of intoxication and serious injuries to college students and teenagers, who form the biggest market for these drinks.

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A New Jersey appellate court has ruled that a woman who used a GPS tracking device to keep track of her husband's whereabouts before a divorce did not invade the husband's privacy.

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A DUI conviction in New Jersey can also mean severe restrictions on travel to Canada.  That country’s current cross-border travel rules place limitations on the entry of Americans with criminal convictions, including convictions for shoplifting, drug crimes and DUI on their record.

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Often, New Jersey family lawyers come across cases involving parents in custody disputes from other states, and these often provide examples for the kind of behavior we would advise our clients to avoid.  A woman who posed as a 17-year-old girl on Facebook to entrap her husband and prove him an unfit parent would fall in that category. 

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From Mel Gibson's racial rants targeted at a police officer during a DUI arrest, to Lindsay Lohan’s bizarre car chase while wearing an alcohol monitoring device, Hollywood isn't short of bad examples of how to behave during a DUI arrest. 

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New Jersey has strict laws against domestic violence, which makes it all the more important that you consult with a New Jersey criminal defense attorney when you have been charged with domestic violence.

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Child support payments in New Jersey must be calculated in accordance with the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines.  Some of the factors considered in calculating child support are (unless otherwise agreed to by the parties):

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New Jersey laws categorize criminal offenses as indictable crimes and disorderly persons offenses.  In other states, indictable crimes are known as felonies, while disorderly persons offenses are known as misdemeanors.  Indictable crimes can include murder, assault and sex crimes, while disorderly persons charges are typically filed in the case of low-level criminal offenses.

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Forget about the detective in a trench coat snooping on your ex-wife, trying to dig up dirt about her personal life for your divorce attorney to use as ammo. These days, your New Jersey divorce lawyer is much more likely to find all the ammo he needs on the Internet, and more specifically, Facebook.

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For a generation of naturalized Americans, it's hard to look back at a  period in time when there was more intense scrutiny over immigration issues, than there is right now. Immigration has always been a sketchy political issue, but in a bad economy, has become a volatile one. The tendency has always been to blame immigrants for all kinds of real and imagined problems in society, and during a recession, these tendencies have simply skyrocketed. In a situation like this, it's very important that immigrants, whatever their status, be well aware of their civil rights.

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There's no better time than summer for the perfect wedding, and so, no better time than now to alert New Jerseyans headed to the altar, about the need for a prenuptial agreement.

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At Helmer, Paul, Conley and Kasselman, PA, we pride ourselves on the quality of legal service that we provide to our clients. We live our values –  energetically, compassionately and ethically assisting our clients to exercise their legal rights. The members of the firm are consumed by a passion for excellence. They treat each other with mutual respect and accountability, an approach that translates into benefits for our clients.

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