Garden State · legal brief
Law, pressed like a hydrangea.
New Jersey only. Cute on purpose. A brief you can actually read, grown in Farmingdale by Bonnie B. Henderson, Esq.
New this week: lactation at work, how a TRO becomes an FRO, and New Jersey’s equal-pay statute — plus the Garden State series on maternity pay, job protection, pregnancy discrimination, and the right to choose.
❀ 🌿 ❀
Wander the briefsFrom the garden
I lost my milk because there was no safe place to pump
First-child pumping, no safe space, supply gone. NJ LAD plus DCR’s December 2024 guidance: break time and a room that is not a toilet stall. Federal PUMP for one year. The milk does not wait for DCR.
How a New Jersey TRO becomes an FRO
Prevention of Domestic Violence Act: TRO when Superior is closed, FRO hearing in about ten days, predicate act plus need for protection. A map, not a playbook. Call 911 first.
New Jersey’s equal-pay law is not a vibe
Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act: substantially similar work, all protected classes, no cutting someone else to “equalize,” a six-year lookback in current DCR materials, and you may discuss pay.
NJ maternity leave: job protection is not the same as a paycheck
FMLA and NJFLA are unpaid protection. TDI and FLI are cash. Official 2026 numbers, stacking, and the July 17 job-protection page — without invented employer-size folklore.
How to actually get paid for NJ maternity leave
Apply at myleavebenefits.nj.gov, watch for the debit card, wait for the FL2 if you were on state TDI, and ask HR before you file a private-plan claim with the State.
Pregnancy discrimination in NJ is not a personality conflict
LAD plus the 2014 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act plus 2018 breastfeeding protections. DCR’s December 2024 guidance: water, rest, light duty, and a lactation room that is not a toilet stall.
Where a New Jersey mom actually files the complaint
DOL for TDI/FLI, DCR for LAD and NJFLA, USDOL and EEOC for the federal layer, Board of Medical Examiners for care. Email Bonnie for a referral. No firm names.
When a woman’s pain is waved off in New Jersey
Not every dismissed complaint is malpractice. Duty, breach, causation, damages, Affidavit of Merit, and a two-year statute — with a feminist frame that does not invent cases.
New Jersey already wrote the right to choose into statute
P.L. 2021, c. 375 codifies the State constitutional right to contraception, to terminate, or to carry to term. Dobbs did not ban abortion here. Minors can consent.
Adoption is a choice. It is not instead of the abortion statute.
Safe Haven: unharmed infant under 30 days at a 24/7 hospital, police, fire, or rescue squad. Adoption is real. It does not legally replace P.L. 2021, c. 375.
Can a New Jersey lawyer use AI without getting in trouble?
The Rules of Professional Conduct did not take a vacation when chatbots arrived. Here is what the New Jersey Supreme Court has actually said about lawyers and generative AI.
Do not put the client in a public chatbot
RPC 1.6 does not pause when you open a chat window. New Jersey’s AI notices tell you to pick a confidentiality rule and then actually follow it.
If the chatbot invented the citation, you still signed the brief
New Jersey’s AI notices require human review and official-source verification of every AI-assisted citation. RPC 3.3 does not care that the robot sounded sure.
Changing your name in New Jersey as an adult
A high-level walk through the adult name-change process in New Jersey: official packet CN 10551, the hearing, the agencies afterward, and a $5 companion that is still on the way.
Can you sue your landlord in NJ small claims?
Small claims in New Jersey is a money court. It is not eviction court. Here is how tenant money claims of $5,000 or less actually fit, and where the official forms live.
Starting an LLC in New Jersey, without the fog
A plain-English walk through forming a domestic New Jersey LLC: the name, the registered agent, the Certificate of Formation, NJ-REG, and what a $49 packet can (and cannot) do.
How to read a New Jersey court form without panicking
A gentle field guide to captions, CN numbers, identifiers you should not volunteer, and the difference between an instruction sheet and the page you actually file.
Welcome to The Garden Brief
A cozy New Jersey law nook, not a marble lobby. Who Bonnie is, what you will find here, what you will not, and why a plum belongs on a legal blog.