Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2004

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2004

Genealogist Needed For Picking Jury Pool.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Do you know who you're related to? If and when you're ever called for jury duty, figure it out before you report to the courthouse. Last Tuesday in Clarke County, a murder trial was going forward....

New Legal Ethics Opinion Addresses Heavy Load Of Virginia Prosecutor.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod A commonwealth's attorney who undertakes a case load that is so "overly large" that he is precluded from providing competent, diligent representation to his client--the commonwealth--may be violating the Rules of...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Prison Inmate Restraints - Excessive Force Although prison guards' initial five-point restraint of plaintiff inmate for slapping his food tray onto a guard may not have violated...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Brief- Printing Service - Attorney Liability Where defendant attorney engaged plaintiff business to print the necessary briefs for an appeal of a criminal case to the Virginia Court...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: Virginia pipe maker wins products defense verdict.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Products liability case alleging breach of implied warranty of merchantability and negligence. Plaintiff, Atmos Energy, alleged that steel pipe it purchased from defendant, Empire Pipe, and installed...

Later, Dudes...
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff In Newport News last month, the cops picked up a guy on drug charges, handcuffed him and deposited him in the back of a police cruiser. Pretty standard stuff. But there's a twist: The suspect...

Ceramic Thief Turns Out To Be Black Labrador.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Okay, this must be other shoe dropping week. Here's another update, this one on the "Crime Lab" item we featured last month. A black Labrador retriever was caught on videotape stealing small...

The Pig Has Landed On Virginia Barbeque In Stafford County.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff "Some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you," goes the old mountain saying. And when it's one of those latter days, you just throw in the towel, fold your tent, pack up your troubles in...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: Virginia jury awards $1.1M in head-on collision case.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was struck head-on by a visiting doctor from Australia. The accident occurred in Albemarle County, but the case was tried in the City of Richmond due to service on the Secretary of the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: Virginia auto negligence suit settles for $270K.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Mr. Cubbage, a pedestrian, was struck by a pickup truck operated by an employee of the defendant at a job site in Fairfax County on Aug. 16, 2000. The plaintiff, who was working at the time of his...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: Virginia med-mal case won on battery.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The 40-year-old male plaintiff sustained a shoulder injury at work and was to undergo shoulder surgery. The surgeon had requested that the anesthesiologist perform a regional block before the surgery...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: $1.5M recovered in Roanoke med-mal case.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff In August 2000, plaintiff was scheduled for lumbar laminectomy surgery. He was asked to fill out a form in which he was to list his current medications. He wrote "too many to note." He was told by the...

Investors May Recoup After Restaurant Failed, Rules Fairfax Circuit Judge.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Paul Fletcher The investors in a failed Tysons Corner restaurant can recover their investments, plus interest and attorneys' fees, from the restauranteur who led the restaurant venture, a Fairfax Circuit judge has ruled. The...

Will Mold Litigation Boom Come To Virginia?
August 2, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Lawyers have been hearing for years that mold will be the new asbestos, meaning that litigation over mold and its harmful effects could match the volume of suits filed over asbestos exposure. But so far the big...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Tenancy By Entirety - Condo Ownership - Daughter's Interest - Ch. 7 Even though the chapter 7 debtor's marital status was not recited in the deed to a condominium unit, which debtor...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Venue - Contract For Legal Services Where plaintiff lawyer moved from New Hampshire to Virginia, while continuing to provide legal services on a trademark infringement matter to...

Virginia man's birthday turns into jail time.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Coupla criminal stories from neighboring states. Set up a guard at the border to prevent trends from leaking across In Winfield, W.Va., a sheriff's deputy spots a car going 60 in a 35 mph zone. You...

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Funding for Legal Aid in Virginia.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod A circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state's only independent legal aid society against Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, the private organization which disburses public legal aid funds for the...

Supreme Court Of Virginia's Proposed New Rule Would Require Electronic Filing.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod The Supreme Court of Virginia is proposing rule changes that would require electronic filing for the first time. Petitions for rehearing before the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals would need to be electronically...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Evidence - Hearsay - Patent Infringement In this patent infringement litigation, the district court grants defendant company's motion in limine to exclude the Federal Trade...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 2, 2004.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Abduction - Malicious Wounding A defendant who bit off the tip of his estranged wife's finger, grabbed her to force her to return to her car, and then left in her car after she...

Verdicts & Settlements August 2, 2004: Wrongful death suit settles before trial.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The decedent, a male in his 60s, was admitted to the hospital for abdominal pain. A CT scan of his abdomen revealed a likely cancerous mass. His attending physician prescribed pain medication and...

Virginia juveniles crash parents' car into a home.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A Stafford County girl crashed her parents' car into a home during an early morning joyride with three other juveniles last week, police said. That's bad enough. But how old was the girl? 13. ...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Krista M. Mathis has joined the Richmond firm of Strother Law Offices PLC as an associate. Her practice will include land use and zoning, small business representation and family law. Mathis earned...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds sentencing guidelines.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins Federal district judges hearing criminal cases should use a dual-sentencing scheme when applying the federal sentencing guidelines, according to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Lower courts should...

Virginia lawyer Richard E. Railey dies at 82.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Courtland lawyer Richard E. Railey died July 31 at his summer residence in Nags Head, N.C. He was 82. A native of Northhampton County, N.C., he earned his undergraduate degree from the University...

Charlottesville trial lawyer Bruce D. Rasmussen Dies at 57.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Bruce D. Rasmussen, a renowned Charlottesville trial lawyer, died July 31 at his Ivy home from lung cancer. He was 57. At his time of death, Mr. Rasmussen was president of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association;...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Telecommunications Act - Local Telephone Competition In this litigation arising from the regulatory scheme created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 110 Stat. 56, which was...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Government - Miller Act - Payment Bond Where the U.S. Navy hired a contractor to repair and improve a structure on Wallops Island, Virginia, and plaintiff contractor entered into a...

Trend Alert: Garden thieves are on the prowl in Virginia.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Back in the days of Frontier America, the lowest of the low were the varmints who stole your horse or ran off with a few head of cattle. It was summary justice then. Hang them from the highest tree. ...

New rule proposes lawyers who advertise would have to provide copies to Virginia State Bar.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Lawyers and law firms who advertise on television or radio would be required to provide a video or audio copy of the ad to the Virginia State Bar within 30 days of its airing, under a proposed new rule. The...

Longtime Virginia lawyer Levin Franklin Davis dies at 79.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Longtime Accomac lawyer Levin Franklin Davis died June 17. He was 79. A native of Painter, he graduated from the University of Virginia and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Double Jeopardy - Marijuana Delivery - Prison Inmate Where defendant pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana in violation of Va. Code Sect. 18.2-250.1, her...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: Railroad employee hurt in Augusta yard settles for $310K.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a two-year conductor on the railroad hurt in the Augusta, Ga., yard. Plaintiff was switching cars and hurt his left leg while "pulling a pin," which is part of the automatic coupler...

Virginia judge rules home buyer is entitled to specific performance.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod A Fairfax Circuit judge has ruled that a buyer is entitled to specific performance on a contract for the sale of a home where the seller did not provide a termite inspection report allowing the buyer to secure financing...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: Counterclaim in Virginia nets $12K in mediation.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Pursuant to a construction contract, defendant sub-contractor sued plaintiff general contractor in general district court for the city of Richmond for $12,000 related to the general contractor's...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: Head-on collision produces $1.1M verdict in Virginia court.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was struck head-on by a visiting doctor from Australia. The accident occurred in Albemarle County, but the case was tried in the City of Richmond due to service on the Secretary of the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: Wrongful death suit nets defense verdict in Virginia court.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant psychiatrist had treated the decedent for approximately a year for mental health issues. During the course of treatment, the decedent began to seek treatment for chronic pain. The...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: Virginia court jury returns $3M med-mal verdict.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A mother presented to obstetrics group with a history of slight shoulder dystocia in her first delivery. That baby weighed more than eight pounds at preterm (34 weeks) delivery. During this pregnancy...

Verdicts & Settlements August 9, 2004: False cancer diagnosis suit settles for $250K in Virginia.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 51-year-old military spouse sought treatment at Portsmouth Naval Hospital for a persistent cough. Chest x-ray and CT scan showed a mass in right middle lung lobe. A needle biopsy reported as positive...

Virginia Circuit Court rules Christmas tree farms are not required to pay overtime.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Christmas tree farms do not have to pay their workers overtime because they are involved in agriculture, not forestry, according to a 4th Circuit opinion handed down last week. A federal judge in...

Virginia Court Reporters Association pushes for certification for court reporters.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin The Virginia Court Reporters Association is continuing its push for a mandatory certification or licensing scheme for court reporters. And it is seeking to collect examples of unscrupulous or bad behavior by court...

Virginia lawyer Ingram Thomas Benson dies at 88.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Ingram Thomas Benson, an Arlington lawyer who specialized in pension planning, died July 29 in Richmond. He was 88. Mr. Benson, who went by Tom, was a native of North Dakota and earned a chemistry...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Coal Act - Retiree Health Benefits The Commissioner of Social Security erred in assigning plaintiff, Harman Mining Corporation, liability for miners formerly employed by a...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions Under Va. Statute - Foreclosure Sale Where plaintiffs brought a legal malpractice action against a law firm engaged to conduct a real estate foreclosure sale for them, and...

Virginia attorney is selected as new part-time Federal Magistrate Judge.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Veteran Staunton attorney James Welsh has been selected by a panel of federal judges to serve as the new U.S. Magistrate Judge for the upper Shenandoah Valley. The part-time position was created to help deal with...

Virginia federal judge rules carrier need not pay where insured was driving drunk.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Paul Fletcher Where a driver was killed in a one-car wreck in which he was driving drunk, his insurance company is not required to pay accidental death or dismemberment benefits to his beneficiaries, a federal judge in Alexandria...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Detention - Alleged Enemy Combatant - Government Decision On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the 4th Circuit remands to the district court this case in which it earlier decided...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Va. Long- Arm Statute Where a Norfolk, Va. asset management company wants to sue a California company for trade secret misappropriation and breach of...

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules drug plea bargain can be enforced.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod A defendant can enforce his plea bargain on a drug conspiracy charge because he was misled by the district court and the prosecutor about his right to challenge the drug weight attributed to him, the 4th U.S. Circuit...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Va. Death Penalty A capital murder defendant sentenced to death for the rape, forcible sodomy and murder of a woman, is not entitled to a writ of habeas corpus based...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medicaid Long- Term Care - Transfer Of Home Although an elderly couple's daughter provided documentation of the money she had spent to assist her parents since they transferred...

Virginia federal bankruptcy judge rules debtor can pay 'reasonable' college costs for adult child.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins A couple who filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition will not have their case dismissed because they continue to support their 19-year-old daughter's college expenses, a Roanoke federal bankruptcy judge has ruled. ...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Child Abuse - Infant's Broken Ribs Where a four-month-old infant who suffered multiple broken ribs was determined to suffer from osteogenesis imperfecta, or "brittle bone"...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Administrative - Appeals - Final Order The Supreme Court grants a motion to dismiss filed by the deputy receiver of Reciprocal of American and The Reciprocal Group. This...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Commissioner Report - Evidence Before Chancellor Forgery Accusation Where the parties' divorce case was referred to a commissioner in chancery under Fairfax County Circuit...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Discovery - Privilege - Common Interest Rule - Workers' Comp Payments In this litigation arising from placement of Reciprocal of America in receivership, and in which certain...

Virginia Circuit Court rules nursing home claim not subject to arbitration.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins A son who is suing a nursing home for his mother's wrongful death does not have to arbitrate his claim under an arbitration clause in the contract providing for the mother's care, a Roanoke County Circuit judge has...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions Under Rule 11 - RICO & TILA Claims Where plaintiff debtor brought frivolous RICO and antitrust claims related to defendant's efforts to collect a debt, the district court...

Virginia Court of Appeals rules 'Caretaker' exception and lets cops enter home without a warrant.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins Police who arrived at a suspect's home while investigating an hours-old speedway burglary could legally enter the home without a warrant, the Virginia Court of Appeals held last week. When police arrived at the...

Virginia family law practitioners say parents' bad habits can prompt court restrictions.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod The smoking restrictions recently imposed on a Caroline County woman by a Juvenile and Domestic Relations judge are unusual, but not at all unheard of in custody disputes, according to family law practitioners in...

American Bar Association President Robert J. Grey launches jury initiative.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Two weeks into his term as president of the American Bar Association, Richmond lawyer Robert J. Grey is devoting his tenure to "creating better justice through better juries" through the American Jury Initiative. ...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights EAJA - Attorney's Fees - Condemnation Challenge Where petitioner successfully challenged a condemnation action brought by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a Virginia county...

Virginia Bar groups offer young lawyers a way to grow in the legal profession.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Young lawyers are often bonded by similar concerns. There is the challenge of balancing the professional demands of their new careers with personal concerns such as families and relationships. There is also a...

Virginia Supreme Court's Robert N. Baldwin to retire after 30 years.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod Robert N. Baldwin can recall long ago telling three Virginia Supreme Court justices during a job interview that if they hired him for the position of assistant executive secretary to the court, he would be committed to...

Virginia Circuit judge rules foreclosure on condo must be set aside.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins A condominium owner whose unit was sold for unpaid condo fees can set aside the foreclosure sale because the sellers did not follow the proper procedures for a nonjudicial foreclosure sale under the Virginia...

Verdicts & Settlements August 30, 2004: Va. jury rules for defense in med-mal cancer case.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Dale Carwile was 53 years old when she was admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital with complaints of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea on March 19, 2002. Her emesis was green and black in color. Initial...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Tenancy By Entirety - 'Strong- Arm' Clause A district court did not err in upholding a bankruptcy court order overruling the Chapter 7 trustee's objection to an exemption, in which...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Res Judicata - Malicious Wounding By Mob - Assault & Battery Where defendant was one of several persons charged with various crimes, including malicious wounding by mob, and one of his...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Child Support - Son's Majority - High- School Student A father who argued that his divorce decree allowed him to stop paying child support when his son turned 18 is found to...

Verdicts & Settlements August 30, 2004: Virginia jury awards $63K for slip and fall.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This premises liability action involved a slip and fall on the front steps of defendant's home. Plaintiff's theory was that the painted wooden porch was unreasonably slippery due to the defendant's...

Virginia State Bar Council seeks to ease law firm reporting.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Law firms would not be required to file every personnel change within 30 days, under a proposal before the Virginia State Bar Council. The VSB Council will be considering a proposal that would loosen current...

Virginia Circuit judge rules lost signature card is needed to show bank account was 'P.O.D.'.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod Where a signature card showing that a bank account was a "payable on death" account was lost, and there was no other competent or admissible testimony on the issue, the daughter of the account holder must repay the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 30, 2004: Virginia court jury awards half million in car accident case.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendants admitted liability for the rear-end collision occurring on Aug. 15, 2001. The parties entered into a written stipulation that the plaintiff missed work from Sept. 12, 2001, until Nov. 9,...