In Accountemps Division of Robert Half, Inc. v. Birch Tree Group, Ltd., 115 N.J. 614, 560 A.2d 663 (1989), the Supreme Court departed from federal case law construing a prior version of the Act as inapplicable to out-of-state agencies, Robert T. Winzinger, Inc. v. Mgmt. Recruiters of Bucks County, Inc., 841 F.2d 497 (3d Cir.1988), and held that the Act applied to all out-of-state agencies doing business in New Jersey. Accountemps, supra, 115 N.J. at 621-23, 560 A.2d 663. However, in applying that holding to plaintiff, a licensed Pennsylvania agency which sought to recover damages for unpaid fees from a New Jersey client, the Court held that it would be inequitable under the unique circumstances of that case to apply the Act retrospectively to plaintiff because the decision embodied a new principle of law and enforcement of the requirement in that instance would cause unreasonable surprise and prejudice to plaintiff. Accountemps, 115 N.J. at 627-28, 560A.2d 663. The Act has been applicable to in-state agencies since its inception in 1951, id., 115 N.J. at 619, 560 A.2d 663, and to out-of-state agencies since 1989, id., 115 N.J. at 623, 560 A.2d 663; P.L. 1989, c. 331, 4.