PinilisHalpern, LLP

10/26/2025

Gabriel Halpern settled an auto accident case involving a police vehicle responding to an alleged emergency.

Social Security has declared her to be permanently disabled, court papers say.

02/12/2021

Congratulations to PinilisHalpern partner William J. Pinilis on his appointment as Morristown Municipal Court Judge.

02/12/2021

On Thursday, February 11, 2021, Gabriel Halpern obtained a verdict in the amount of $4.3 million against the City of Newark on behalf of his client United Services, Inc. ("USI"). The matter involved a longstanding dispute over Newark's contracting process. The Court had issued a preliminary injunction against Newark in March 2019. Newark violated that injunction by locking USI out of the buildings in March 2020. The judgment stems from that lockout and the violation of the preliminary injunction.

05/16/2020

Gabe Halpern and his wife Shari volunteered their time and plane to fly a mission for Angel Flight East delivering much needed PPE from Philadelphia to Dayton, Ohio to be used at a Community Wellness Center. Face shields were donated by Project Face Shields.

11/24/2019

Gabe Halpern settled an automobile accident claim for $250,000 (the limits of the insurance policy) for a passenger in a vehicle in which the driver failed to stop and yield to oncoming traffic. The case is still pending against the driver of the second vehicle.

11/21/2019

Gabe Halpern appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court to argue about the applicability of the Predatory Towing Act to police tows.

01/21/2019

$6 Million Settlement Resolves Litigation Over Triple-Fatal Route 9 Wreck
A $6 Million global settlement was reached on Dec. 7, 2018, in three Middlesex County suits stemming from a motor vehicle accident that killed three…
By Charles Toutant and David Gialanella | January 21, 2019 at 08:00 AM
shutterstock
A $6 Million global settlement was reached on Dec. 7, 2018, in three Middlesex County suits stemming from a motor vehicle accident that killed three people. The caption is Estate of Kleiman v. Estate of Fairchild.
According to lawyers involved in the litigation, William Fairchild was driving south on Route 9 in Old Bridge on March 5, 2016, when his Ford Escape crossed the grassy center median and collided head on with a northbound Honda Accord driven by Hope Wells, 37. Fairchild, Wells and a passenger in Wells’ vehicle, Charles Kleiman, 62, were all killed in the crash. Kleiman’s mother, Lillian Kleiman, 86, and his wife, Dorothy Slattery, 62, who were also in the Honda, were seriously injured.

Fairchild, 45, was employed by Mountain Millwork of Bayville, which owned the vehicle he was driving. An autopsy revealed Fairchild had ma*****na and tramadol, a narcotic pain reliever, in his system at the time of the crash, said Gabriel Halpern of Pinilis Halpern in Morristown, who represented Lillian Kleiman.
Slattery, Lillian Kleiman, and the estates of Wells and of Charles Kleiman, filed suits against Fairchild and Mountain Millwork.

Lillian Kleiman sustained a collapsed lung and fractures of the spine, ribs and legs. She was hospitalized and in a rehabilitation center for six months after the crash, and died two years later, according to Halpern.

Slattery sustained fractures of the left arm, spinal fractures and broken ribs. She had four surgical procedures in the weeks after the crash, according to Andrew Calcagno of Calcagno & Associates in Cranford, who along with Glenn Farrell of the same firm represented Slattery and the estate of Charles Kleiman.

Mountain Millwork didn’t dispute liability and tendered its $1 million underlying policy and a $5 million umbrella policy with Selective Insurance, according to Calcagno.

The three suits were settled during mediation on Dec. 7, 2018, with Jack Lintner, a former presiding Appellate Division judge now with Norris McLaughlin.

Under the settlement, Slattery and the estate of Charles Kleiman jointly received $4.2 million; the estate of Wells received $1 million; and Kleiman received $800,000, according to Calcagno.

Halpern confirmed the settlement.

The lawyer for Wells’ estate, Douglas Burns of Kraemer Burns in Springfield; and Louis DeMille Jr. of Zirulnik, Sherlock & DeMille in Hamilton, who represented Mountain Millwork and the Estate of Fairchild, did not return calls about the case.

— Charles Toutant

12/10/2018

Recent Results:

$800,000 settlement of automobile accident which resulted in multiple fractures to 88 year old woman.

$750,000 settlement of architectural malpractice case including delays in preparation of plans for two separate developments.

04/21/2017

An appellate ruling has placed a hold on Newark's bidding processes for janitorial services.

01/29/2017

On Friday January 27, I appeared in the United States District Court in Maryland to oppose a motion for summary judgment in a trademark infringement case. We also argued a motion on whether to exclude an expert witness from testifying. We argued the case for almost four hours. The Judge has not yet ruled on the motions.

01/29/2017

The New Jersey Appellate Division granted an interlocutory appeal and issued an injunction against the CIty of Newark on behalf of our client. Our client claims that is was the successful bidder on a contract issued by the CIty. The CIty rejected all the bids and went back out to seek alternative proposals. The trial judge initially granted a temporary restraining order but then dissolved those restraints. The Appellate Division agreed to hear our appeal and pending that determination is not allowing Newark to award the contract to anyone else.