Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2003

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2003

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: August 4, 2003.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Jurisdiction - Federal Question - Physician Staff Privileges A federal district court has no federal question jurisdiction over plaintiff physician's suit challenging the...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 4, 2003.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Aggravated Malicious Wounding - Permanent Injury - Scope Of Cross- Exam Although defendant contends a robbery victim who suffered facial scarring and numbness did not suffer permanent...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: August 4, 2003.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Mark A. Opper has joined the Richmond office of McGuireWoods LLP as an associate in the tax and employee benefits department. Focusing on business taxation, Opper will counsel businesses and business...

Husband's Affairs 'Cruel,' Can Affect Property Award, Rules Virginia Court Of Appeals.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A husband's multiple adulterous affairs, in which he allegedly had unprotected sex, constituted "cruelty" justifying a divorce for the wife, the Virginia Court of Appeals held in an unpublished opinion released last...

High Schoolers Gain Exposure To Law At National Mock Trial Competition.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Matthew Philips For many teenagers, the summer months are usually marked by lazy days spent hanging around the neighborhood pool, riding around with friends, gulping down plenty of Slurpees and maybe cutting a few lawns to earn...

Roanoke Lawyer Phillip V. Anderson Files For Virginia State Bar Race.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Roanoke lawyer Phillip V. Anderson has filed a petition to run for president-elect of the Virginia State Bar next spring. If elected, Anderson would serve as president-elect beginning next June,...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Vance Hartke.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher Vance Hartke, who served as a U.S. senator from Indiana for 18 years and practiced law in Falls Church after his 1976 defeat for reelection, died July 27 of heart failure. He was 84. Sen. Hartke was an old-school...

ALPS Gains Business After Demise Of ANLIR.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The demise of American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal has generated phenomenal business for the Virginia State Bar's endorsed carrier of legal liability insurance. Attorneys Liability Protection Society-A Risk...

Defamation Claim Is Not Preempted By Fair Credit Act, Rules Federal Judge In Richmond.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A consumer who says a bank provided false information related to his credit report can sue the bank for defamation, a federal judge in Richmond has ruled. Although the bank argued that the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 4, 2003.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Lawyer's Arrest - Lack Of Probable Cause - Qualified Immunity A police officer who arrested a lawyer who was attempting to assist his client, a neighbor being arrested in his own...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 4, 2003.
August 4, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Intellectual Property Patent Infringement - Claim Construction In this patent infringement litigation, the district court rejects plaintiff company's motion to reconsider the court's earlier...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2003: Motorist Suffers Chronic Pain After Collision.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 45-year-old career house painter on the Eastern Shore, was traveling north on Route 13. He slowed to make a left turn when...

Brain-Rehab Claim in Virginia Circuit Court Settles For $6.5M.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Matthew A. Phillips A 57-year-old state employee whose vehicle was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer has mediated her claim for anoxic brain injury, and obtained a structured settlement with a current value of $6.5 million. ...

Virginia Job Site Safety Suit Too Late.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins When an employer challenges an occupational safety violation charged by Virginia's Department of Labor & Industry, both sides know that the matter ultimately may wind up in court. But how long the department has...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2003: Passenger Injured In Accident At Intersection.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle involved in an intersection accident. He alleged that the defendant had failed to yield the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 11, 2003.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Hydroelectric Power - Rate Schedule - Flood Control Act The 4th Circuit reverses a district court judgment setting aside defendant utility's rate schedule for the sale of...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 11, 2003.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Limitations - Pyramidal Skylight - Guaranty In this suit involving alleged defects in a skylight at the Williamsburg/Newport News airport, in which plaintiff general contractor claims...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 11, 2003.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Marijuana Possession - Drug Importation - Constructive Possession Although defendant, who was arrested after a traffic stop for unapproved window-tinting, told the officer, who smelled...

Colleges On Notice After Suicide Case Settlement In Virginia.
August 11, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck The settlement of a negligence suit brought by the family of a Ferrum College student who committed suicide is a wake-up call to universities throughout the country, say lawyers close to the case. The suit...

Loudon County Halts Online Land Records Access.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Nine days after he launched online access to Loudoun County's land records - a service much anticipated by real estate professionals in the area - the county's circuit court clerk has pulled the plug at the request of...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 11, 2003.
August 11, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Labor Department - Premises Inspection - Citation - Delayed Bill Of Complaint Where the Commissioner of Labor inspected and discovered violations on respondent employer's...

Virginia Lawyers In The News Profile: Dale Durrer.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Culpeper County has a new assistant commonwealth's attorney, Dale Durrer, who previously worked as a criminal defense lawyer. When he's not working as lawyer, Durrer can be found studying kung fu....

Virginia Lawyers In The News: August 18, 2003.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Prolegia, a provider of lawyers professional malpractice insurance, has opened its new regional office in Richmond at 2812 Emerywood Parkway, Suite 201. Among the 17 employees staffing the office are...

Assumption Of Risk Not Part Of Ski Resort Case, Rules Nelson County Circuit Court.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase A ski resort where a skier was injured when she was hit by a chair lift is not entitled to a jury instruction on the assumption of risk doctrine, a Nelson County Circuit judge has ruled. The case is the second this...

Supreme Court Of Virginia Gives Guidance To GALs With Guidelines.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Lawyers who serve as guardians ad litem for children will have more guidance -- especially in child custody and visitation cases -- from the Supreme Court of Virginia's new GAL standards, which go into effect Sept. 1....

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Employee Starts Competing Advertising, PR Firm.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Employment Other Useful Information -- The plaintiffs were affiliated advertising, public relations and printing companies who had employed the defendant for 14 years. The...

Commentary: Getting the last laugh.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff To get the attention of the press, savvy marketing types adopt ever more creative tactics to promote their products. They know that it takes something special to stand out in the slew of promotional...

Commentary: Dirty laundry.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff To be sure, anyone who has followed the case digests in this newspaper from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals knows that the judges on that court have their differences of opinion. But at least...

4th Circuit Rules Woman Gets Instruction On 'Mixed Motive'.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A female manager who sued her employer, a consumer loan company, for repeatedly passing her over for promotion can retry her Title VII sex discrimination case because a federal district judge in Lynchburg refused to...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 18, 2003.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Commodity Futures Trading - Reparation Action Although an investor who filed two separate reparations actions against respondent investment company with the Commodity Futures...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Motorist Suffers Chronic Pain Following Accident.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 45-year-old career house painter on the Eastern Shore, was traveling north on Route 13. He slowed to make a left turn when...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Suit Alleges Failure To Disclose Side Effects Of Trazodone.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 53-year-old man on disability retirement due to severe depression, had been treated by the defendant, a...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 18, 2003.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Motion To Disqualify - Prior Representation - Conflict Of Interest In this auto accident p.i. case, although plaintiff's law firm represented the defendant in suing for injuries...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Sterilization Of Injection Site - Staph Infection - Surgery.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff alleged that the defendant doctor failed to properly sterilize the injection site, including failure to swab skin...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Car Hit By Van - Herniated Lumbar Disc.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 47-year-old man, was injured when the vehicle he was driving was struck in the driver's side by a van operated by the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Negligent Use Of Hemostatic Agents.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 53-year-old female, underwent an April 2002 thorocotmy for the removal of a cancerous tumor in the upper lobe of...

Odd Crime Wave Alert.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Speaking of the Midwest, there is a wave of odd alleged crimes being committed across that region, and we bring this to your attention because the wave is making its way right into Virginia. Let's...

Previous Representation Didn't Disqualify Lawyer, Rules Chesterfield Circuit Judge.
August 18, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck The lawyer for a car-crash plaintiff should not be disqualified even though his law firm represented the defendant in two previous personal-injury lawsuits in 1996 and 1997, a Chesterfield circuit judge has ruled....

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 18, 2003.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Building Code Violations - Appeals Where appellant property owners obtained building and zoning permits to construct a two-family dwelling on a lot in King George County, but...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Suit Claims Negligent Supervision Of Trooper.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Tort / Negligence Other Useful Information -- The defendant had been a trooper since 1984 and met the plaintiff while waited on him at a restaurant. Thereafter, the defendant,...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2003: Collision Aggravates Pre-Existing Cervical Disk Injury.
August 18, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 48-year-old man, was stopped at a traffic light in downtown Norfolk when he was rear-ended by the defendant, who claimed to...

Pulling The Plug On On-Line Land Records?
August 25, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Fairfax real estate lawyer Thomas F. Digges remembers the first night he had Internet access to the county's land records. It was about 8 p.m., and he was in his office working on a closing. A question of title came...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Norfolk lawyer Marina Liacouras Phillips has been elected chair of the Board of Governors of the Environmental Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. Phillips is a partner in the Norfolk office of...

Virginia Legal Obituaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Robert J. Macbeth Jr. Robert Joseph Macbeth Jr., a former deputy commissioner of the Industrial Commission, died July 31 of liver cancer. He was 54. A native of Richmond, he grew up in...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Voluntary Payments - Exemption Claims - Ch. 7 Where the chapter 7 debtors in these two consolidated cases, prior to filing their petitions, voluntarily paid certain of their...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights First Amendment - Establishment Clause - Prayer - College Meal In this suit involving a successful challenge by plaintiff cadets to the constitutionality of a prayer offered before...

Separate Accounts Keep T By E Protection, Rules Alexandria Bankruptcy Judge.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins Even though a separated couple had the proceeds from the sale of their marital home in separate escrow accounts, the sale proceeds still could not be reached by the wife's creditors, an Alexandria bankruptcy judge...

Raleigh's Duncan sworn in as judge for 4th Circuit.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Raleigh lawyer Allyson Duncan was sworn in Aug. 15 as a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, becoming the first North Carolinian on the court since 1999. Duncan, 51, is the first black...

VTLA, VADA And Doctors Craft Mediation Alternative.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase In what they call an "extraordinary joint effort," Virginia's leading associations of plaintiffs' attorneys, defense attorneys and physicians have teamed up to offer a mediation alternative for resolving cases against...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Embezzlement - Real Property - Car Lift A defendant's conviction of misdemeanor embezzlement in violation of Va. Code Sects. 18.2-111 and -96 is affirmed despite his claim that the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: $900K Awarded In Suit Over Myomectomy.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a 38-year-old female wished to preserve fertility while having uterine fibroids removed. The physician from George...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: Statute Of Limitations Bars Suit Over Accident.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Type of Injuries -- Fractured foot and various Other Useful Information --The plaintiff sued the driver of a tractor-trailer that was involved in an accident, as...

Virginia's ex-crime statutes under fire.
August 25, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck A lawyer representing a 29-year-old man charged with having "carnal knowledge" of a minor contends that the law discriminates on the basis of age. The statute, Virginia Code Sect. 18.2-63, provides for...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: Defense Verdict In Suit Over Fall On Beer At Restaurant.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a lawyer, was celebrating her engagement and a new job with three friends at a neighborhood restaurant. While dancing, she...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: $250K For Broken Ankle In Auto Accident.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- Liability was admitted at trial. The plaintiff's prognosis was excellent following the first level ankle fusion. Type of Injuries --...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: $200K In Suit Over Surgery To Remove 'Cancerous' Lesion.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was a 46-year-old patient of the defendant dermatologist with a long history of seborrhea keratosis. She appeared in...

Verdicts & Settlements August 25, 2003: Nearly $1M Awarded For Failure To Diagnose Disease.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The case involved the failure to diagnose, monitor and treat the plaintiff's decedent for coronary artery disease over a period of...

Stafford lawyer to defend world water skiing title.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Matthew Philips It's 7 a.m. on a Tuesday in July. The air is thick and still and the loudest noise is that of the Rappahannock River gently lapping at the wooden pilings of the City Dock near Fredericksburg. A light mist rises...

Personal Bankruptcies Up 12 Percent In Virginia.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Personal bankruptcy filings in Virginia rose by 12 percent over last year, according to a just-released analysis of figures from the Administrative Office of the Courts. In Virginia's Eastern and...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate Franchise - Motorcycle Dealerships - Commerce Clause Upon receipt of an opinion of the Supreme Court of Virginia in response to certified questions relating to the Motorcycle Dealer...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 25, 2003.
August 25, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Adultery - Fifth Amendment - Waste A third party to a divorce action, the husband's alleged paramour, does not have an unlimited ability to invoke a Fifth Amendment...

Snatched Employee Costs Manufacturer $412,000.
August 25, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck A Henrico County jury has hit a building-products manufacturer with a $412,000 verdict for hiring a new employee away from the company that sold the manufacturer's products. The sales company had established a...