Pannucci v. Edgewood Park Senior Housing- Phase 1, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). As Judge Ostrer explained in his opinion for the Appellate Division today, the “settled doctrine of res ipsa loquitur,” which means “the thing speaks for itself,” allows a jury “to infer a defendant’s negligence, enabling a plaintiff to make a prima facie case.” To trigger the doctrine, a plaintiff must show that “first, the accident was one that ‘ordinarily bespeaks negligence,’ that is, someone’s negligence more likely than not...

State v. Greene, 242 N.J. 530 (2020). Until today, the Supreme Court “has not had occasion to squarely address a prosecutor’s opening statement that detailed evidence of a defendant’s guilt that never materialized because the anticipated witness refused to testify.” So wrote Justice Albin in the Court’s unanimous opinion today. The context was as follows. Two defendants, Greene and Lewis, were prosecuted for murder after they allegedly shot someone while trying to steal drugs from him. Greene’s grandmother, Ethel Smith, gave a recorded statement to police....

In re Adoption of a Child by C.J., 463 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 2020). This opinion, issued today,must have been a very distasteful opinion for Judge Koblitz to write. As will be seen, the bottom line is “to be continued,” so quoting the first paragraph of the opinion in full and inviting readers to look at the rest of the decision for the unfortunate details suffices for today: “We write to emphasize that an attorney has an obligation to inform the court if he or she is not able to handle an assigned matter professionally due to a lack of expertise and inability to...