On this date in 1990, the Supreme Court decided Scafidi v. Seiler, 119 N.J. 93 (1990), a medical malpractice case. The key fact question there was, according to Justice Stein’s opinion for the Court, “whether the defendant’s failure properly to treat and arrest Jamie Scafidi’s early labor proximately caused the premature birth and death of her infant child.” At trial, plaintiffs (the two parents) sought a jury charge on causation that incorporated the “increased risk” standard of Evers v. Dollinger, 95 N.J. 399 (1984). The trial judge declined to do...

Acoli v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). A 2-1 Appellate Division decision, discussed here, upheld the New Jersey State Parole Board’s decision to deny parole to Sundiata Acoli, who “committed a horrific crime” in “his role in the murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster and the wounding of State Trooper James Harper in 1973 (the words of Justice Albin, the author of today’s majority opinion). Acoli was part of the Black Liberation Army, and one of the others involved in the murder was Joanne Chesimard, later known as Assata Shakur, who is...

DiFiore v. Pezic, 472 N.J. Super. 100 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion by Judge Sabatino exhaustively explored, in three consolidated cases, the issue of “when, if ever, a plaintiff with alleged cognitive limitations, psychological impairments, or language barriers can be accompanied by a third party to a defense medical examination (“DME”), or require that the examination be video or audio recorded in order to preserve objective evidence of what occurred during the examination.” The court was asked to revisit its opinion in B.D. v. Carley, 307 N.J. Super. 259 (App....