Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a research-driven, peer-influenced rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Attorneys are selected from more than 70 practice areas and all firm sizes, assuring a credible and relevant annual list.
The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes:
The objective of Super Lawyers is to create a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys to be used as a resource for both referring attorneys and consumers seeking legal counsel. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country, as well as the New Jersey Super Lawyers Digital Magazine. Please join us in congratulating our DHD attorneys on their selection.
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No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. A description of the selection process methodology for the awards referenced is available at SuperLawyers.com
St. Patrick’s Day is approaching and with it comes shamrocks, leprechauns, and, for some, DWIs. New Jersey Driving While Intoxicated (DWI or DUI) laws have recently changed, offering first offense (1st offense) opportunities to avoid loss of driver license. If you have a blood alcohol (BAC) level of .08 or .09 or a DWI DUI based on an observation for a first offense, you can keep your drivers license if you have an interlock device installed for a period of three months. If you have a blood alcohol (BAC) level of .10 to .14 for a first offense, you can keep your driver’s license if you have an interlock device installed for a period of seven months to one year. If you have a blood alcohol (BAC) level of .15 or above for a first offense, then you will lose your license for four to six months and then you can keep your driver’s license if you have an interlock device installed for a period of nine months to fifteen months after the initial loss of license. There are more significant penalties for a second offenses DWI DUI or third offenses DWI DUI. All DWI DUI charges include large fines and potential jail time.
The New Jersey criminal defense attorneys at DHD have experience in evaluating your DWI DUI case and can develop a strategy to assist in defending it entirely if you were not intoxicated, or seeking to have it reclassified as a lower tier offense, and negotiating the minimal amount of penalties required. If you are arrested in New Jersey for DWI or DUI, you need to consult with a New Jersey criminal defense attorney in order to understand your rights and to obtain the best possible outcome. Our experienced criminal defense attorneys includes two former Essex County prosecutors who have handled DWI DUI cases in municipalities throughout New Jersey, including Essex County, Union County, Morris County, Passaic County and Somerset County. Please call or email Brandon D. Minde, Chair of the firm’s Criminal Law Practice, for a consultation at (908) 272-0200 or bminde@dughihewit.com.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. is proud to announce that Brandon D. Minde, a trial partner and Chair of the NJSBA Criminal Law Section, will be the moderator and a speaker on the NJICLE live webcast: The ABC’s of PTI (Pre-Trial Intervention) and ISP (Intensive Supervision Program) on Tuseday, Feb. 23, 2021 at 9:00 am.
This live webcast is a “how to” for attorneys who are looking to get clients accepted into the Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI) prior to trial or the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) after conviction. PTI provides defendants, generally first-time offenders, with opportunities for alternatives to the traditional criminal justice process of ordinary prosecution. ISP is a program after conviction that is an intermediate form of punishment which permits carefully selected state prison sentenced offenders to serve the remainder of their sentence in the community rather than in prison.
Minde will lead an experienced panel of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and program administrators including the ISP Lead Judge for Passaic County and the ISP Program Administrator as they share their knowledge and experiences.
Mr. Minde is the head of Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski’s criminal law department, is a former Essex County Assistant Prosecutor, and is certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. is proud to announce that Rachel Schwartz has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s medical malpractice, hospital liability and nursing home defense department. Ms. Schwartz is a highly-respected civil trial attorney with an outstanding record of courtroom success.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Schwartz has had an extensive career as a trial lawyer with Giblin, Combs, Schwartz, Cunningham & Scarpa in Morristown, New Jersey, where she successfully defended doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers and facilities at trial in New Jersey and handled a wide range of complex matters in the area of medical malpractice and hospital liability defense. She has also successfully represented clients before the Appellate Division.
In addition to her managing her active case load, Ms. Schwartz has frequently lectured on medical negligence issues, risk management, legal trends and other health care related issues for physicians, nurses, residents, hospitals, and lawyers. During her career, she has also been selected to the list of “Super Lawyers” for her work in the area of medical malpractice defense, which is a distinction earned by less than five percent of attorneys in New Jersey.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. is excited that Ms. Schwartz has chosen to continue her career with the firm. With her addition, the firm has added another outstanding trial lawyer to its deeply talented team of medical malpractice, hospital liability and nursing home defense attorneys which will ensure that the firm can continue to provide the highest level of legal service to its clients.
Ms. Schwartz can be reached at rschwartz@dughihewit.com or (908) 272-0200.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs has recently issued a Scam Alert for doctors and nurses who practice in New Jersey.
The scam is being perpetrated by people who are fraudulently portraying themselves as being from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners or the Board of Nursing. They are targeting doctors and nurses to try and obtain their personal information, such as financial accounts or social security numbers.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs is urging licensees to be cautious and on alert for healthcare targeted scams or unusual communications about their information such as fraudulent activity related to their practicing credentials, alleged disciplinary action, or criminal charges against them.
Here is the link to the State’s website: Scam Alert
If any doctor or nurse is contacted by someone claiming to be from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners or the Board of Nursing, he or she should be cautious about sharing any personal information in light of this Scam Alert. They should engage counsel to assist them in ascertaining whether the contact is bona fide or fraudulent. Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. has an extensive and well-established practice on behalf healthcare practitioners with the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners and the Board of Nursing and our attorneys are available to assist with assessing and verifying whether the contact is legitimate or not.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any communication that you have received from the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners or the Board of Nursing, please contact Craig A. Domalewski, Esq., at (908) 272-0200 or cdomalewski@dughihewit.com.
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The information is provided solely for information purposes. It should not be construed as legal advice on any specific matter and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based upon particular circumstances. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. is proud to announce that Judy L. Creelman has joined the firm. Ms. Creelman is a very experienced and highly accomplished attorney who focuses her practice on medical malpractice and nursing home cases.
Prior to joining Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C., Ms. Creelman served as litigation counsel for CNA Insurance Company. She has represented defendants in professional and commercial matters, including medical malpractice and nursing home cases, as well as in product liability, premises liability and general liability matters. Ms. Creelman prides herself on meeting the needs of her clients in every engagement and in leading them through the litigation process from the commencement of the lawsuit through trial or other resolution.
In addition to her full-time role as litigation counsel, Ms. Creelman has also been a court appointed arbitrator for more than 15 years, and has been involved in evaluating, assessing, and resolving numerous litigated personal injury cases. This experience as a third-party neutral has assisted her in providing advice to her clients on resolution strategies to obtain the best possible outcomes.
Ms. Creelman will provide added depth and experience to the firm’s already well-established medical malpractice, hospital liability and nursing home defense team. Ms. Creelman may be reached at (908) 272-0200 or jcreelman@dughihewit.com.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C., is proud to welcome Benjamin Forrest to the firm as an associate. Mr. Forrest, a former Essex County Assistant Prosecutor, joins the fast-growing Criminal Defense Group.
Mr. Forrest clerked for the Essex County Criminal Division Presiding Judge before becoming an Assistant Prosecutor, where he worked in the Juvenile Trial Division and Adult Trial Division. As an Assistant Prosecutor, he handled hundreds of cases ranging from Petty Disorderly Persons offenses to First Degree crimes and tried both bench and jury trials.
Mr. Forrest will also use his litigation experience to contribute to the firm’s Complex Civil Litigation, and Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Defense practice areas.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C., is proud to announce that Allison Holzman has joined the firm as a partner in the firm’s matrimonial department. Ms. Holzman has nearly 20 years of experience in matrimonial law and adds her extraordinary talent and deep experience to the firm’s well-established department of family law attorneys.
Ms. Holzman has earned a reputation as an outstanding family law attorney in New Jersey through her effective handling of complicated divorces, her commitment to ensuring positive outcomes are reached for all of her clients, and her passion for delivering individual attention to each client she represents. While she has primarily handled divorce and family law cases in Union County and Essex County, Ms. Holzman practices in all courts throughout the State of New Jersey. Ms. Holzman is a trained family law mediator and has received training in collaborative law, utilizing both tools to help guide her clients to achieve amicable solutions to their legal issues, although she will aggressively advocate on behalf of her clients if the other side is uncooperative.
In addition to her managing her active caseload, Ms. Holzman is a member of the state bar association and serves as a panelist in Essex County for the county Early Settlement Panel, as well as an alternate for the panel in Union County. She has also volunteered her time at the County College of Morris Women’s Clinic.
She has garnered numerous professional awards and recognition throughout her career. Ms. Holzman recently received a Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion Award in 2020, the Avvo Clients’ Choice Award in 2019, and has been recognized as a “New Jersey Super Lawyers – Rising Stars” by New Jersey Monthly Magazine on numerous occasions. Ms. Holzman was also previously named a “Top 10 Attorney Under 40” in Northern New Jersey by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys and “10 Best Under 40” by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys. She has also been named a “Top 100 Member” of the TheNationalAdvocates.org website.
With the addition of Ms. Holzman, Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski, P.C. has added significant depth to its already deeply talented matrimonial department which will ensure that the firm can continue to provide the highest level of legal service to its clients in need of representation on family law and divorce matters.
Ms. Holzman can be reached at aholzman@dughiewit.com or (908) 272-0200.
New Jersey’s highest court recently held that law enforcement authorities can compel defendants to turn over their phone passcodes in order for them to retrieve information from the device through a search warrant. In a 4-3 opinion, the majority of the Supreme Court of New Jersey agreed that production of cellphone passcodes is testimonial in nature, but then went on to apply the foregone conclusion exception to hold that the passcodes must be released in light of a search warrant for the phone. Justice LaVecchia authored a dissent that argued that the information is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because it is part of the defendant’s thoughts, which cannot and should not be compelled.
Brandon D. Minde, a partner and chair of the firm’s criminal defense practice group participated on the brief for amicus curiae New Jersey State Bar Association, which argued in support of the issues raised in the minority opinion against forced disclosure of “mental thoughts.” Minde, a former prosecutor, is certified by the NJ Supreme Court as a Criminal Trial Attorney and is chair of the NJSBA Criminal Law Section.
Minde was quoted in the NJ Star Ledger article on the case: “Brandon Minde, the chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section, said the organization agrees with the dissenting opinion and will continue to monitor how this decision affects privacy concerns for New Jersey residents. “In a world where right to privacy is constantly shrinking, our Constitutional rights must not,” Minde said.” https://www.nj.com/news/2020/08/defendants-can-be-forced-to-turn-over-phone-passcodes-njs-highest-court-rules.html
Minde was also quoted in the New Jersey Law Journal on the case: “The NJSBA agrees with the issues raised in the minority opinion related to the rapidly evolving nature of technology and the protection individuals should have of their ‘mental thoughts’ in the face of governmental compulsion in a criminal matter,” said Brandon Minde, chair of the NJSBA Criminal Law Section and chair of the criminal defense practice group at Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski in Cranford. In a world where the right to privacy is constantly shrinking, our Constitutional rights must not,” Minde said. “The NJSBA will continue to monitor the case and others that center on the issue of people being forced to disclose their ‘mental thoughts’. This is certainly an issue that will be raised again.” https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/2020/08/11/why-cellphone-passwords-per-divided-nj-high-court-are-not-contents-of-ones-mind/
If you were arrested, or receive a search warrant, or are the subject of a potential criminal investigation in New Jersey, you should be represented by an experienced criminal defense attorney in New Jersey. Please contact Brandon Minde at (908) 272-0200, if you have any questions about your rights in any criminal proceeding.
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The information is provided solely for information purposes. It should not be construed as legal advice on any specific matter and is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. The information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based upon particular circumstances. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
