Walter M. Luers, Esq
Walter is an attorney licensed to practice law in New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1996 and from Fordham University in 1999. Since 2007, Walter has concentrated on matters pertaining to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and the Open Public Meetings Act (“OPMA”). He advises and successfully represents individuals and corporations in lawsuits and administrative actions against public agencies that have violated these laws. In 2010, Walter was recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of ten “Lawyers of the Year” for his work in OPRA. Walter regularly speaks to community groups around the State about OPMA and OPRA and has been the president of NJFOG (New Jersey Foundation for Open Government) since June 2011.
Walter Luers Across YouTube:
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NOTE: These videos were produced by various entities for various purposes. Apologies for sound and image quality on behalf of the videographers.
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Walter Luers in the News:
"Public officials dining together looks bad, but isn't necessarily illegal, attorney says" Excerpt:
If they're not discussing public business, the requirements of the act aren't triggered," Luers said. "You're inviting accusations. You're inviting speculation....."Is it good optics? No, it's not good optics," Luers said. "What you're doing might be technically legal, but it won't look good." "Ewing man alleges council violated Sunshine Law, files complaint" Excerpt:
Walter Luers, president of the New Jersey Foundation of Open Government, said it's not fair to the public to have a variable start time."All the cases and the laws say ... you have to act in favor of transparency and openness and it's a little bit of a dirty trick to tell the public, 'The meeting is going to start at 7:30 p.m. but it might start earlier, we're not sure,'" he said. Luers said that changing the time is a violation of the law. |
"Editorial: OPRA is not working the way the Legislature intended" Excerpt:
This newspaper agrees with Walter Luers, president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, who was interviewed by McDonald, that most of the problems with obtaining public records would be solved by providing the information online - in the Journal's case, public salaries. "Video released of police fatally shooting man in Perth Amboy" Excerpt:
Attorney Walter Luers of Clinton sued the prosecutor for the video's release earlier this year on behalf of John P. Schmidt of Gloucester, who Luers says has an interest in open government. Carey released the video to Luers last week. |
"Do municipal Facebook pages and comments count as public records?" Excerpt:
"It's one thing to have arguments over whether emails sent on a township server are public records or that data that is stored by township servers are public records but are messages sent via messenger open to public records?" said Walter Luers, president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government "Are the Facebook photos public records? It sounds like a quagmire to me. "Is Princeton Closed Session Notice Specific Enough? NJ Expert Says No" cerpt:
Walter Luers, the top lawyer in the state for Open Government issues and the head of the new Jersey Foundation for Open Government, looked at the Princeton Coucil agenda for tonight, Sept. 28, and said Princeton's resolution falls short. |