Published Articles

• Subrogating New Jersey Workers’ Compensation in Motor Vehicle Accidents: The interplay of the PIP and Verbal Threshold Schemes, Subrogator, Spring/Summer 2012, at 97;
• Insurance Companies are People, Too! Split-Limit Policies and an Insurer’s Direct Right of Recovery, Subrogator, Fall 2013, at 102.
• Arbitration Forums’ Decisions of Law Can Be Appealed to Courts! Let Arbitrators Decide Facts and Judges Decide Law, Subrogator, Fall 2018, at 62.
• A Hollow Victory for Religious Liberty, JURIST – Professional Commentary, December 15, 2020, https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/12/noah-gradofsky-religious-liberty/.

Academic Papers

These are papers I wrote during law school.

• State Action and the Badges of Slavery. This paper analyses congressional debate on the Thirteenth Amendment as well as congressional debate and legislation shortly after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and concludes that The Thirteenth Amendment was intended to protect a person from state action denying equal protection of the laws – an intent eventually codified in the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Refusal to Grant a Jewish Divorce as Infliction of Emotional Distress. In Jewish marital law, the husband possesses the sole discretion to initiate divorce. This paper proposes that a partial solution to the problem of refusal to grant a divorce may be found in tort law. Husbands or wives who vindictively refuse a Jewish divorce to their former spuse may be found liable for infliction of emotional distress. The author examines the validity of this argument both in terms of tort law and the constitutionality of applying tort law to a person’s refusal to engage in a religious divorce.
• Abortion and the Exceptions to the No Duty To Aid Rule. This paper explores the relationship between a pregnant woman’s right to bodily autonomy and the argument that a fetus has a right to life. Though the American law rarely charges a person with a positive duty to act on behalf of another right-holder, it is argued that the pregnant woman-fetus relationship fits into several well established exceptions to this rule. Some extensions of the duty to aid in a parental context are explored.
• Duress As a Defense to a Crime Against Humanity or War-Crimes Whose Underlying Offense is Murder Prosecutor v. Erdemovic A Questionable Direction for War-Crimes Jurisprudence. This paper reviews the decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Prosecutor v. Drazen Erdemovic, which found that duress could not be asserted as an affirmative defense to a Crime Against Humanity where the underlying offense of that crime was murder. The author argues that the decision of the ICTY was incorrect, on several grounds. The author also discusses some implications of the Erdemovic case on the future of international prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, and related offenses.

Resume

Download my attorney resume (pdf)

Professional Experience

Law Office of Jan Meyer and Associates, P.C., Teaneck, NJ
2002-Present
Senior Associate Attorney

• Concentration in insurance law and insurance subrogation.
• Extensive litigation and arbitration experience in a wide variety of claims including tort and contract claims.
• Authored guide to New York and New Jersey No-Fault subrogation for the firm website. Guides receive approximately 500 visits per week.
• Authored guide to New York and New Jersey liquor liability laws.

Ethan Jesse Sheffet, PC, South Plainfield, NJ
May -August 2001
Summer Intern

• Researched and wrote memoranda and motions on issues of litigation and contract negotiation .
• Drafted contract provisions .
• Interviewed prospective witnesses.
• Participated in settlement negotiations.

Prodigy Communications Corporation, White Plains, NY
June-September, 1999
Summer Associate

• Coordinated termination of customer contracts in connection with the discontinuance of an internet service.
• Conducted research comparing practices of internet service providers (ISP’s)
• Drafted answers to discovery requests.
• Researched issues of business, patent, and communication law.

Education

Rutgers University School of Law-Newark, Newark, NJ
1998-2002

• J.D., with honors May 2002
• G.P.A. 3.72 (top 10 %)
• Honors: Awarded three prizes for academic achievement.

Columbia University, New York, NY
1994-1998

• B.A., cum laude, Economics-Political Science, May 1998
• G.P.A. 3.54
• Joint program with the Jewish Theological Seminary

Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY
1994-1998

• B.A., with honors and distinction, Talmud, May 1998
• G.P.A 3.74
• Honors: Awarded four prizes for academic achievement.
• Joint program with Columbia University

Institute of Traditional Judaism, Teaneck, NJ
1998-2004

• Semikha (Rabbinic ordination) conferred May 2004

 

Other Information

Bar Admissions:   Admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

Published Opinion:  Drive N.J. Ins. Co. v. Gisis, 420 N.J. Super. 295 (2011).