Less than a year after New Jersey established a sweeping new law that all but eliminated cash bail, the state has found itself facing a challenge familiar to others that have overhauled their bail systems: an energetic legal attack from the bail industry.

In June and July, two lawsuits were filed in Federal District Court in New Jersey challenging the statute, the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which took effect on Jan. 1. While the suits have taken different legal tacks, they do have something in common: one was filed by a large corporate bail underwriter and the other has received support and publicity from professional bail agents. Both parts of the bail industry have said that their profits have plummeted since the law took effect.

New Jersey is among a handful of states where courts and government officials have begun in recent years to modernize — and in some cases, abolish — the assignment of cash bail, which critics say discriminates against defendants, many of them black and Latino, who cannot afford to pay. The New Jersey law, which was designed to keep the poor from languishing in jail — especially for minor offenses — has put the state at the forefront of a growing national movement toward major change and was notable for having the support of its Republican governor, Chris Christie.

But the movement has occasioned resistance from the bail industry, which has launched an assertive effort to preserve the practice — and its own commercial interests. The Bail Bond Association of New Mexico, for instance, filed suit against the state on July 28, challenging a set of State Supreme Court rules governing bail that were passed just weeks before.