Newark is home to about 281,000 residents and it is the biggest city in the state of New Jersey.  Newark is one of the most densely populated cities in the nation, with only Jersey City being more crowded.  Newark lies in Essex County, just west of Manhattan and north of Staten Island.

In the 1970s, Harper’s Magazine named Newark one of the worst U.S. cities in which to live.  Yet, a revitalization effort, largely concentrated in the downtown area, has been underway since the 1990s.  In 1997 the New Jersey Performing Arts Center was built, and over the following years, a flurry of construction, including Riverfront Stadium, the Prudential Center, and the AirTrain Newark, has helped to revive the city.  Since the year 2000, Newark’s population has increased and the crime rate has fallen. 

Newark’s economy was originally manufacturing-based.  Newark’s proximity to Newark Bay has also made it a strategic port location over the years and it remains one of the world’s busiest ports today.  Currently, Newark is also a major headquarters for the insurance industry, and is home to major companies such as Prudential Financial and Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Newark residents recently settled a class action lawsuit against Redflex Traffic Systems over the company’s red light cameras, which are used to catch motorists that run red lights. Since Newark’s yellow light timing was not officially certified at the time that the red light tickets were issued, the plaintiffs asserted that the tickets were issued illegally and sued Redflex Traffic Systems for its role in ensuring that they received the illegally-issued tickets. Although the total settlement amount was millions of dollars, each plaintiff only got less than $15.

Over 2,300 Newark lawyers are currently practicing law, and they specialize in many areas, including employment discrimination law, personal injury law, and family law.  How should someone confronted with a legal problem select the most appropriate Newark lawyer for his or her case?  LegalMatch.com’s online intake process makes this decision easy:  simply describe your case, and let a LegalMatch representative match you with a pre-screened Newark lawyer.  Before speaking with a Newark lawyer, you may find it helpful to read about your legal issue in LegalMatch’s Library.

The following resources may also help you better understand Newark’s legal processes and procedures:

• Essex County Bar Association
• New Jersey Courts Online:  Essex County
• Lawyer Referral Services in Essex County, NJ
• New Jersey Law Network
• Seton Hall Law Library