The division, which acts as the state government's law firm on most matters, handled 935 civil cases involving the state as either plaintiff or defendant that were settled or adjudicated last year, according to records obtained by The Star-Ledger through the Open Public Records Act.

The division staff of attorneys -- down to 530 after 110 positions were eliminated because of budget cuts -- won the state about $161.2 million, a 60 percent increase compared with the amount recovered in 2005, when the division secured $98.9 million.

Its losses nearly tripled, to $69.5 million, compared with 2005. That year, according to the records, the state paid out $26.2 million on tort claims, employment claims, NJ Transit lawsuits and tax litigation.

"I'm certainly pleased that the Division of Law under the leadership of the attorney general is doing a better job on civil claims," said Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"As for the payouts ... what it really calls into question is whether or not the division is doing a good enough job advising all of the departments and agencies on what is proper conduct," he said. "The best way to not have payouts is to not cause harm."

Division of Law Director Robert J. Gilson said he believes the attorneys have done a good job, despite the layoffs that began last April, handling the legal work generated by the 16 state departments and more than 400 state agencies. Gilson took over the division in November after serving as a partner in the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland and Perretti.

"We feel we are addressing the needs of the state," Gilson said, noting the division has 28 different sections to litigate about 40,000 active cases and to provide legal advice. "We are down in numbers (of attorneys) but we don't feel that has reflected on the quality and quantity of the work being done," he said.

Gilson's chief of staff, Peter Traum, pointed to two securities cases last year, in which attorneys put in "an awful lot of work," that paid off to the tune of $119 million.

The first involved a $69 million judgment obtained by the Bureau of Securities against the founder of Wellesley Services LLC for defrauding hundreds of investors over an eight-year period. The second involved a $50 million settlement negotiated with AOL Time Warner by the Division of Investments Pension Security Fraud Recoveries.

Still, Traum was quick to point out a year-to-year snapshot of outcomes in civil litigation can be misleading because cases take years of work to complete.

"It's not that simple," Traum said. "In many cases, that's just how they fell."

In 2006, for instance the state settled 11 cases by agreeing to pay at least $1 million, compared with only four million-plus settlements in 2005, the records show. Those 11 cases cost the state $46.2 million while the four settlements in 2005 tallied $5.7 million.

The largest settlement last year was $12.5 million, which went to three children and a young man who were starved for years by their adoptive parents after being placed in the home by the Division of Youth and Family Services. The abuse was uncovered in 2003, but it took three more years to conclude the civil suit.

Other notable cases included:

A $7.5 million settlement for the estate of 7-year-old Faheem Williams, who was found dead in January 2003 in the basement of a Newark home, and his two siblings after the DYFS overlooked complaints of abuse. The case prompted sweeping changes in the state's child welfare system.

A $6.3 million jury verdict for a child who was diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome after being placed in a foster home in 1999 by the DYFS.

A $4 million settlement for Edward Arena, who was injured July 4, 2004, when an NJ Transit bus rear-ended his vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike. An economics expert valued his lost wages at $3.5 million.

At the same time, Traum said, just looking at the payouts fails to account for an attorney's ability to whittle down the settlement in a sure loser.

"Sometimes even when there is a payout, we may view it as a win because we brought the claim down substantially," he said. Two lawsuits brought by the American Trucking Association are a good example, he said.

The association sued when the Department of Environmental Protection instituted fees more than a decade ago on truckers who transport hazardous waste. It filed a second lawsuit when the DEP demanded a registration fee to pay for police background checks on hazardous and solid waste businesses.

The state settled the cases last year for $8.25 million, but Traum said it was a win as "the state's exposure was $25 million."

Newark Star Ledger, NJ

Mexico's largest leftist party vowed Monday to defend a landmark Mexico City abortion law with street protests and political pressure in the face of attempts by the conservative federal government to overturn it in court.

The Democratic Revolution Party, which holds power in the capital, called its supporters to block federal government offices later this week in defense of the law, which legalized abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Elsewhere in Mexico, abortion is only allowed in cases of rape, when the mother's life is in danger or if the fetus has severe fetal defects.

On Friday, the federal Attorney General's Office and National Human Right's Commission filed legal challenges with the Supreme Court, arguing the Mexico City law violates a constitutional clause that guarantees the right to life and that city lawmakers cannot legally approve measures related to health.

"It's a political maneuver to satisfy a certain public opinion over this law," said Mexico City's leftist mayor, Marcelo Ebrard. "But legally, it's got no base."

The law's approval by Mexico City's assembly was bitterly opposed by conservative politicians and the Roman Catholic Church. Mexican bishops even argued that lawmakers who voted for the bill were excommunicating themselves from the church.

About 90 percent of Mexicans say they are Roman Catholic, and President Felipe Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party, has spoken out publicly against abortion.

The abortion law is part of a package of socially liberal measures being passed by Mexico City's leftist assembly. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved gay civil unions, and they are debating a bill on euthanasia.

The only other Latin American countries that allow abortion are Cuba and Guyana.

Balletta and one of her daughter, Marina, were taken out the bedroom windows by authorities, but the police could not get to the other child, Talia Balletta. The victim had second- and third-degree burns over half her body and died several weeks later.

A Providence County Grand Jury indicted Balletta on eight counts, including one count each of murder, first degree arson and assault with the intent to commit murder, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of resisting arrest.

Prosecutors said Balletta assaulted two State Police troopers and a Providence Police officer as she resisted arrest, waving a knife at two and a broken shard of glass at the other.

Balletta showed signs of mental illness for at least a year before the fire, and "was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her behavior" because of her mental illness, psychiatrist Dr. Joseph V. Penn told the court during the trial.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday in an op-ed published in the Sunday Times that the country has chosen to protect the civil liberties of foreign nationals over national security and therefore could not blame the government for last week's reported disappearance of three terror suspects. Pointing to a series of court rulings favoring foreign suspects, he wrote:

Over the past five or six years, we have decided as a country that except in the most limited of ways, the threat to our public safety does not justify changing radically the legal basis on which we confront this extremism.

Their right to traditional civil liberties comes first. I believe this is a dangerous misjudgment. This extremism, operating the world over, is not like anything we have faced before. It needs to be confronted with every means at our disposal. Tougher laws in themselves help, but just as crucial is the signal they send out: that Britain is an inhospitable place to practise this extremism.

The three terror suspects who disappeared had been subject to control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and are believed to have been planning attacks on British or US troops. UK Home Secretary John Reid said judges and critics of the government were responsible for the lack of tougher rules to prevent disappearances and said he would introduce new anti-terror measures before he steps down from his post in June.

The injured client typically knows how prepared his lawyer is in handling his accident case. Does the lawyer know who he is when a client calls about his accident case? Does the lawyer come to a deposition having already interviewed the witnesses and with a written list of questions or topics to be covered? Has the injury attorney consulted with the expert witnesses such as doctors before trial? The answers to these sorts of questions show the person who is hurt in an automobile accident case that the lawyer representing him is prepared.

If you are not satisfied with the way your lawyer is preparing your injury case, you should ask for a sit down conference with them to figure out if they are the right person for the job. You always have an absolute right to change attorneys. The worst thing that could happen if you change attorneys is that the first attorney may ask for some compensation for his time spent on the matter. However, in Virginia (VA) the fired attorney is not entitled to ask for his percentage fee in the contract, under our Virginia (VA) ethics rules. Although I do not recommend changing attorneys unless absolutely necessary, if you get the sense that your attorney is not prepared or is not communicating appropriately with you about your lawsuit, then you should feel free to contact other injury attorneys to discuss the matter. If you call me about your desire to change lawyers, I will usually first recommend that you try to get straight with the old lawyer. However, if you do want to change I usually suggest that do so as soon as possible before your injury case has been moved forward in a way that may be hard for a better lawyer to undo.