Denis McLaughlin

Professor Denis F. McLaughlin

Professor of Law

  • Degrees:

  • J.D., B.A., Villanova University
  • Contact:

  • [email protected]
  • Tel: 973-642-8824
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Courses:

  • Evidence, Civil Procedure, Remedies, Professional Responsibility, Civil Trial Practice

Professor Denis F. McLaughlin specializes in Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Litigation Advocacy and is the Founding Director of the Denis F. McLaughlin Advanced Trial Advocacy Workshop endowed by the Law Firm of O’Toole Scrivo. He is also the Director of the Judicial Externship Program.

Professor McLaughlin currently teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, and Advanced Trial Advocacy. He has also taught Remedies, Professional Responsibility, New Jersey Practice, and in the Civil Litigation Clinic.

Professor McLaughlin has been honored as “Professor of the Year” by the Student Bar Association six times, most recently in 2018. In 2009, he was named the William E. Garland Fellow and was awarded the McQuaid Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service to the University. In 2005, he was awarded the Miriam T. Rooney Award for Distinguished Service to the Law School, and in 2006, the graduating class honored Professor McLaughlin by selecting him as the Keynote Commencement Speaker.

Professor McLaughlin is the co-author of multiple editions of “Civil Procedure - Cases, Text, Notes, and Problems” (Carolina Academic Press), and from 2004 to 2016 was the author and co-author of the "Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law," which reviewed 120 of the year's New Jersey Supreme Court and Appellate Division opinions.  He has written numerous articles on civil practice and procedure and his law review article on the Federal Supplemental Jurisdiction Statute has been cited in 48 judicial opinions, including nine Federal Courts of Appeals and two State Supreme Court opinions.

From 2004 to 2016, Professor McLaughlin was a lecturer on New Jersey Civil Case Law for the New Jersey Law Journal's Continuing Legal Education Program and the New Jersey Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, a lecturer on New Jersey Civil Procedure for the BAR/BRI bar review course, and a trainer for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. Since 2008, he has served as a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on the Rules of Evidence and served as a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Special Civil Part Practice Committee from 1996-2008.

Following graduation from Villanova Law School, Professor McLaughlin served as law clerk to the Honorable Donald W. Van Artsdalen of the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA from 1973-75 and from 1976-1986, he served as a staff and supervising attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Morris County, New Jersey.

Professor McLaughlin has taught at Seton Hall since 1984, joining the full time faculty in 1987. Professor McLaughlin received his B.A. magna cum laude and his J.D. Order of the Coif from Villanova University where he was Case and Comment Editor of the Law Review and recipient of the Dougherty Fellowship, a three-year full tuition and room and board scholarship.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

LAW REVIEW ARTICLES

The Redefining of Professional Ethics in New Jersey Under Chief Justice Wilentz: A Legacy of Reform, 7 Seton Hall Constitutional Law Journal 351 (1997) (with Professor Michael Ambrosio)

On Becoming A Lawyer, 26 Seton Hall Law Review 505 (1996)

The Federal Supplemental Jurisdiction Statute: A Constitutional and Statutory Analysis, 24 Arizona State University Law Journal 849-993 (1992)

The Use of Expert Witnesses in Establishing Liability in Legal Malpractice Cases, 61 Temple University Law Review 1351 (1988) (with Professor Michael Ambrosio)

Railway Labor Act - "Every Reasonable Effort" Requirement of Railway Labor Act, Section 2, First, Held to be Judicially Enforceable, 17 Vill. L. Rev. 766-781 (1972)

OTHER JOURNAL ARTICLES

New Federal Rule Amendments Resolve Court Split on Expert Witness Discovery-Summary Judgment Rule Substantially Revised, 203 N.J. Law Journal 242 (2011)

U.S. Supreme Court Splintered Decision on Stream-of-Commerce Personal Jurisdiction Leaves Law Unsettled, 206 N.J. Law Journal 218 (2011)

N.J. Supreme Court Adopts Broadest View of Stream-of-Commerce Personal Jurisdiction, 201 N.J. Law Journal 975 (2010)

The New "Restyled" Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: A Review of the Restyled Rules and Other New Civil and Evidence Rule Amendments, 190 N.J. Law Journal 1150 (2007)

Diversity Actions: Law's Lapse Expands Supplemental Jurisdiction: The Supreme Court's Decision in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc., 15 N.J. Lawyer 143 (2006)

E-Discovery Was Not the Only Rule Change: A Review of the New Federal E-Discovery, Evidence and Other Civil and Appellate Rule Changes, 186 N.J. Law Journal 1106 (2006)

Circuit Split on Federal Question Jurisdiction Resolved: Supreme Court Overrules Third Circuit View in Grable & Sons Metal Products, Inc. v. Darue Engineering & Manufacturing, 181 N.J. Law Journal 737 (2005)

Federal Discovery Amendments Generate National Debate, 162 N.J. Law Journal 1128 (2000)

Rule Changes Pending in Congress: The Shape of Things to Come?, 143 N.J. Law Journal 683 (1996)

The Budget Isn't the Only Game in Town: Congress and Courts Keep Changing the Rules, 143 N.J. Law Journal 551 (1996)

Controversial Rule 11 is Substantially Revised, 3 N.J. Lawyer 168 (1994)

New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: A Guide For Lawyers, Part One, 3 N.J. Lawyer 49 (1994)

New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: A Guide For Lawyers, Part Two, 3 N.J. Lawyer 89 (1994)

Civil Procedure Rule Changes on the Books, 130 N.J. Law Journal 90 (1992)

Federal Courts Commence Civil Practice Changes, 127 N.J. Law Journal 463 (1991)

CASE BOOKS

Civil Procedure - Cases, Text, Notes, and Problems, Carolina Academic Press (4th Ed. 2021) (with Professors Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten)

Civil Procedure - Cases, Text, Notes, and Problems, Carolina Academic Press (3rd Ed. 2013) (with Professors Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten)

Civil Procedure - Cases, Text, Notes, and Problems, Carolina Academic Press (2d Ed. 2008) (with Professors Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten)

Civil Procedure - Cases, Text, Notes, and Problems, Carolina Academic Press (2007) (with Professors Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten)

Cases, Text, and Problems on Civil Procedure, Wm. Hein & Co., Inc. (2d. Ed. 2002) (with Professors Larry Teply and Ralph Whitten)

LAW MANUALS

2016 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2016)

2015 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2015)

2014 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2014)

2013 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2013)

2012 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2012)

2011 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2011)

2010 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2010)

2009 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2009)

2008 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2008) (with Paula Franzese)

2007 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2007) (with Paula Franzese)

2006 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2006) (with Paula Franzese)

2005 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2005) (with Professors Paula Franzese and Ronald Riccio)

2004 Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, N.J. Law Journal (2004) (with Professors Paula Franzese and Ronald Riccio)

PRESENTATIONS

Full list of presentations available in Curriculum Vitae

Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, Lecturer, N.J. Law Journal Continuing Legal Education Program (2016) (Multiple state-wide lecture presentations annually between 2004 - 2016)

Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, Lecturer, N.J. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, Trenton, N.J. (2016) (Presentations annually between 2007 - 2016)

Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, Lecturer, Office of the Governor’s Counsel, Trenton, N.J. (2016) (Presentations annually between 2007 - 2016)

Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, Lecturer, N.J. Office of Legislative Services, Trenton, N.J. (2014) (Presentations annually between 2013 - 2014)

Annual Review of New Jersey Civil Case Law, Lecturer, N.J. Judicial College (2013)