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Blank Rome Attorneys Secure $1.18M Business Dispute Counterclaim after 20 Days in Virtual Trial

New Jersey Law Journal

A New Jersey judge awarded a man $1.18 million in his counterclaim against his former employer following a 20-day trial that spanned four months during the early days of pandemic shutdowns.

Judge Kathi F. Fiamingo of the New Jersey Superior Court issued the 69-page order Dec. 3 in the case, which wrapped up trial in November 2020. In it, she included a footnote noting the extended timeline.

“The trial took place over 20 days during a 4-month period with 13 witnesses and 191 documents identified, 152 of which were admitted into evidence,” she wrote. “The court takes this opportunity to thank counsel for their professionalism, courtesies and willingness to engage in a process which has now become commonplace in the courts but which, at the time, was a new procedure for the parties.”

Daniel Rhynhart, an attorney with the Blank Rome team representing defendants Joseph Lang and Nation One Mortgage Corp., said that the trial took place when now-familiar virtual proceedings were still novel. He said the process was slowed a bit as people familiarized themselves with the technology and took advantage of the opportunity the new platform provided to bring in more witnesses.

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Working with Rhynhart to defend Lang and Nation One were Blank Rome attorneys Courtney O’Brien and Stephen Orlofsky.

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"Blank Rome Attorneys Secure $1.18M Business Dispute Counterclaim after 20 Days in Virtual Trial," by Aleeza Furman was published in the New Jersey Law Journal and reprinted in The Legal Intelligencer on December 10, 2021.