The New Jersey Supreme Court has approved the appointment of Stefani C Schwartz to its Committee on Model Civil Jury Charges.

Glenn A. Grant, Acting Administrative Director of the Courts, announced the appointment on Aug. 22. It is effective as of Sept. 1 and extends until Aug. 31, 2018.

Schwartz is a partner with Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso in Whippany, NJ, where she heads the Labor and Employment Law Group. She is regularly asked to speak at seminars and conferences throughout the state on topics such as sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, employment policies and handbooks, and employment law.

Guidance for Jurors

The Committee on Model Civil Jury Charges prepares and updates model civil jury charges to help trial judges accurately instruct juries and enhance their comprehension of the law. The panel is made up of judges and lawyers from across the state, and it is a standing committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

"The New Jersey Supreme Court does not sanction or approve the Model Civil Jury Charges before publication by the Model Civil Jury Charge Committee, although the Supreme Court may, and frequently does, comment on the sufficiency of a charge in the context of a particular case," according to the description of the committee by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

"The Model Civil Jury Charges are a framework for building a set of jury instructions. Each case turns on unique facts and trial courts and litigants must tailor the Model Civil Jury Charges to conform to the facts and circumstances of the case being tried. The Committee attempts to keep the Model Civil Jury Charges current with the state of the law," the AOC said.

The committee "reminds trial judges and litigants that the Model Civil Jury Charges are merely the starting point of the process of constructing an appropriate charge that adequately explains the law to the jury in the context of the material facts of the case being tried," the AOC continued.

About Stefani C Schwartz 

Schwartz has extensive experience representing private companies in all aspects of employment law, including compliance, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful-termination matters. She has represented hundreds of clients in state and federal court, during arbitration proceedings and before administrative agencies.

About Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso 

The Whippany, NJ-based law firm provides full-service representation, from litigating matters for Fortune 500 companies to negotiating complex employment agreements to assisting startups. Its areas of concentration include employment, business strategies, transactions, litigation, real estate and construction. The firm also has offices in Mount Laurel, NJ, and New York City.