Heher v. Smith, Stratton, Wise, Heher and Brennan

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

STEIN, J.

In Weiss v. Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey, 143 N.J. 420, 672 A.2d 1132 (1995), also decided today, we considered the appropriate standard of judicial review of private-sector arbitration awards involving the validity of law-firm agreement termination provisions in the context of Rule 5.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCS). The primary issue in this appeal is the collateral question whether an arbitration provision of a law firm agreement is enforceable if the dispute in question implicates the clear mandate of public policy…