Pub. 17 2018-2019 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 4 , 2 0 1 8 28 new jersey auto retailer What You Don’t Know, CAN Hurt You NJ CAR Helps Guide Dealers Through The Legal & Regulatory Maze BY ANTHONY ANASTASIO, ESQ., DIRECTOR OF LEGAL & REGULATORY AFFAIRS America is drowning in new laws and regulations. Indeed, the complexity of today’s legal and regulatory landscape is astonishing. And given the apparent societal preferences of younger generations, you can expect this landscape to become more challenging to traverse in the years to come. Decisions re- garding business conduct that were traditionally left to an own- er’s discretion are increasingly being controlled by politicians, regulators, and by extension, plaintiffs’ lawyers. For instance, new laws passed by the Murphy Administration have allowed public interference with the employer-employee relationship in ways that were previously unthinkable. Because of this trend, compliance costs for businesses that seek to “do the right thing” are rising at an exponential rate. Small businesses with 50 or less employees, like many NJ CAR dealer members, are hard-pressed to shoulder these costs while remaining competitive in today’s unforgiving Internet market- place. Nevertheless, a “fly by the seat of your pants” approach to compliance presents significant risks for new car dealers, who have significant capital invested in their enterprises. Waiting for litigation before assessing compliance is simply not a viable strategy in an environment in which plaintiffs’ attorneys, armed with consumer-friendly laws and enabled by plaintiff-friendly judges and juries, can turn out your lights with a single class action lawsuit. In this regard, NJ CAR offers a valuable service: It provides authoritative compliance guidance to its members through a variety of mediums. First, NJ CAR’s Newsletter has func- tioned as New Jersey’s new car dealers’ definitive source for consistent legal and regulatory updates and guidance for many decades. NJ CAR’s website, www.njcar.org, contains an archive of the Coalition’s past Newsletters, along with other electronic legal and regulatory reference materials. NJ CAR also produces print publications such as its Legal and Regula- tory Compliance Series, which serves as a valuable reference guide for dealers when encountering the most common com- pliance issues. Significant legal and regulatory developments also prompt NJ CAR to occasionally provide targeted bulletins and alerts to its members. These materials provide more detailed explanations for dealer principals and managers of affected departments. For extremely sensitive developments, NJ CAR MAZE  continued on page 29