Howard Mankoff

We were granted summary judgment in a case involving a dispute between a religious denomination (our client), and one of its local churches. The client invoked its judicial process, allowing it to assume control of a local church due to declining membership. The pastor of the local church refused to vacate the parsonage. The local church asserted the denomination lacked the authority to assume control over it and argued that it was never actually part of the larger denomination.

Our client represented a plaintiff in a personal injury action. The personal injury plaintiff had signed a lien letter, agreeing to repay her physical therapist from the proceeds of the personal injury claim. After the case settled, our client reimbursed the physical therapist for less than the amount billed by the therapist, who filed the ethics complaint. We successfully argued that our client was representing the best interests of his client, who claimed the bills were excessive. By doing so, the attorney increased the recovery for his client.

We successfully represented an attorney who was sued by a former client after representing that client in a personal injury action. The plaintiff alleged the attorney failed to file suit within the time allowed by the Statute of Limitations. We argued in our summary judgment motion that the attorney sent two letters to the plaintiff, advising that the attorney would not file suit and further informing the plaintiff when the Statute of Limitations would expire.

Our defense team was successful before the New Jersey Appellate Division. The plaintiff is a former employee of a non-profit agency that provides services to disabled individuals. She filed suit against her former employer and its manager, alleging gender discrimination and retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. As discovery progressed, thousands of pages of discovery were exchanged, which demonstrated that legitimate, long-standing performance deficiencies were the actual basis for her termination.

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of a dentist who sold her practice in an employment and contract claim. The plaintiff, also a dentist, was employed by our client. He claimed his contract automatically renewed, and that he was entitled to two years of pay. The plaintiff also claimed he was entitled to be compensated because our client allegedly prevented him from taking records of patients he was treating.