NJ Court Curbs Crackdown on Lawyers Acting as Debt Adjusters (2)

New Jersey legislators can’t limit and penalize lawyers’ unlicensed consumer debt adjustment work, a state appellate court ruled Friday in a decision backing the State Bar.

In New Jersey, only nonprofits are permitted to perform debt adjustment services. However, attorneys can’t be limited by these state debt collection regulations on the work they do for legal clients, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division said.

“Substantive law, which can be enacted by the other branches of government, defines rights and duties, whereas procedures and practices furnish the mechanisms through which such rights and duties are enforced in the courts,” Judge ...