Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2006

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2006

The hidden malpractice traps within law firms.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones There are a number of all-too-well-known malpractice and grievance traps: conflicts of interest, missed deadlines, lack of competency, confidentiality/fiduciary breaches, clerical errors, failure to document...

Electronic filing is well-established in the Western District of Virginia federal courts.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper E-filing, viewed with trepidation by many lawyers in the Western District of Virginia when judges forced it on them in late 2004, is well-established and popular in federal courts there. It's many months away in the...

Virginia jury returns $10.4M verdict in asbestos case.(Garlock Sealing Technologies, John Crane Inc., Johns Manville Corp.)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A Newport News Circuit Court jury has returned a $10.4 million verdict for the family of a man who alleged that he had contracted mesothelioma while installing asbestos gaskets and packing in the engine rooms of ships...

President Bush nominates U.S. Magistrate Judge O'Grady for a judgeship in Virginia Eastern District.(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher President Bush has nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge Liam O'Grady for a U.S. District judgeship in Virginia's Eastern District. If approved by the Senate, O'Grady would succeed Judge Claude M. Hilton, who took...

Personal injury lawyers are clueless about how the Colossus system works.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh & Alan Cooper Even though insurance companies have been driving down settlement values for minor auto cases for years with the help of Colossus, many personal injury lawyers are still largely clueless about how the...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court case summaries: August 7, 2006.(Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbH sues Aventis Pharma Deutschland Gmbh)(debtor's real estate bankruptcy claim)(Peyton v. Robinson)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Filing Fee Waiver - Income Comparison - Ch. 7 In considering debtors' application for waiver of the filing fee pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sect. 1930(f), the court will use the net...

U.S. Court of Appeals case summaries: August 7, 2006.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Excessive Force - Shooting During Arrest - Mistaken Identity A defendant FBI agent who was part of a team attempting to arrest an armed and dangerous suspect, but who mistakenly...

U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia case summaries: August 7, 2006.(Airlines Reporting Corp. v. McBride Tours and Travel Inc)(DiFelice v. US. Airways Inc.)(Samsung Electronics Co. v. Rambus Inc.)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Arbitration - Arbitrability - Specific Clauses A national clearinghouse used by travel agents for documents to issue airline tickets need not arbitrate its fee dispute with defendant...

U.S. Western District Court of Virginia case summaries: August 7, 2006.(Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sues J.A. Fielden Co.)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Parking Lot - Slope Erosion - Express Warranty Under Virginia law, a complaint that alleges an express warranty, rather than just the legal bases upon which a warranty may have been...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: August 7, 2006.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Motor Vehicle Transaction Recovery Fund - Single Payment A couple who won a circuit court judgment against a car dealership for fraud during their purchase of a 1993 Toyota Camry...

Virginia Circuit Court of Appeals case summaries: August 7, 2006.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Jurisdiction - Va. Long- Arm Statute - Plea In Bar - Waiver A defendant in this suit alleging failure to pay for a commercial car wash part has waived her objection to the...

Verdicts & settlements August 7, 2006: failure to catch deteriorating condition settles for $675K.(Roe v. Dr. Loe and anonymous hospital)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The decedent presented to the defendant hospital in respiratory distress with an elevated heart rate in the afternoon of April 1, 1999. She was admitted through the emergency department and transferred...

Verdicts & settlements August 7, 2006: Virginia court rules for doctor in med-mal suit.(Medical Associates of Central Virginia sued for medical malpractice)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff George May, a 72-year-old male, was referred to Cardiology Associates by his family practitioner, for complaints of chest pain and tightness in December 1998. A cardiologist evaluated Mr. May on Jan. 4,...

Verdicts & settlements August 7, 2006: New York court awards family 200K for Sea-Doo collision.(Harper, administrator of the estate of stephanie boyd hillis, deceased v. pappas)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent died at Smith Mountain Lake on July 6, 2004, when a Sea-Doo personal watercraft was struck by a 42-foot speedboat operated by a New York resident. The deceased was survived by...

Verdicts & settlements August 7, 2006: deputy's claim following wreck is mediated.(Moore v. Caldwell)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a deputy en route to a call with lights and siren activated. Defendant Caldwell crossed the double yellow lines as he came around a bend and collided with the police cruiser driven by...

Verdicts & settlements August 7, 2006: Virginia harassment case is dismissed.(Briggs v. Waters and City of Portsmouth)(Brief article)
August 7, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff claimed she was subjected to sexually explicit comments, flirtatious conduct, attempts to date her. She claimed she was charged with obstruction of justice at the instruction of sheriff. This...

Computers and other advances make it hard for forensic experts to determine the validity of document.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Caryn Tamber Gideon Epstein has pored over some of the most famous documents of the past few decades. He analyzed the writing of an old German man who drowned in Brazil in 1979, confirming that the man was the infamous Nazi,...

A Virginia 'Civil union' case may lead to U.S. Supreme Court.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The attorney for a Virginia woman contends that the conflict between the laws and public policy of Virginia and Vermont on civil unions--and a conflict between two federal laws--will inevit-ably put the parental rights...

Virginia utility wins $5M in power plant suit.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A construction contract's allocation of the risk of unforeseen site conditions was the key in a $5.1 million judgment for Old Dominion Electric Cooperative in its dispute with the company it hired to engineer, procure...

Virginia legal malpractice suit requires expert witness to make the plaintiff client's case.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A lawyer's failure to file suit before the statute runs sounds like a slam-dunk for the next lawyer to take the case - the one who sues for legal malpractice. But the case won't prove itself. Even a missed...

Virginia woman files discrimination claim against day spa.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The $295 "Miracle Morning" that Seandria Denny bought for her mother at the Tysons Corner Red Door Salon and Spa turned out to be well short of miraculous. So far short, in fact, that it wound up in federal court,...

U.S. Court of Appeals case summaries: August 14, 2006.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative FTC - 'Fencing- In' Order - Direct-Response Advertiser Based on petitioner Telebrands' nationwide marketing of the "Ab Force," an electronic muscle stimulation abdominal belt...

U.S. Virginia Eastern District Court case summaries: August 14, 2006.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Letter Of Intent - Executory Contract A district court affirms a bankruptcy court holding that a 2003 Letter of Intent from appellant is not an executory contract subject to the...

U.S. Virginia Western District Court case summaries: August 14, 2006.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Oil Company Debtor - Fuel Supply - Tax & Fee - Preferential Transfers Where a convenience store debtor arranged for delivery of its gasoline and diesel fuel through a related entity...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: August 14, 2006.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal B&E - Property Damage - Spousal Communication Privilege A trial judge did not err in ruling that defendant's statements to his wife, who had a protective order against him during...

Virginia Circuit Court case summaries: August 14, 2006.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract License Agreement - Arbitration A circuit judge holds that the owner of Dominic of New York restaurants cannot be required to arbitrate its claims against one of its franchisors, even...

Verdicts & settlements August 14, 2006: Virginia jury awards plaintiff $20K for auto crash injuries.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Jan. 9, 2005, defendant made a left turn in front of plaintiff at the intersection of Broad and Harrison in the city of Richmond. There was significant damage to both vehicles but no photographs were...

Verdicts & settlements August 14, 2006: Virginia court dismisses bankruptcy petition.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Jan. 31, 2005, a Culpeper jury returned a $50.25 million verdict against James Earl Bradley for sexually assulting a 14-year-old girl who was babysitting for a child of Bradley's in June 2002. The...

Verdicts & settlements August 14, 2006: Virginia court awards $400K to defendant in auto accident.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was rear-ended by defendant. Defendant admitted liability and case was tried on damages only. Jury was impaneled and one juror then decided she would have a problem sitting. Counsel agreed...

Verdicts & settlements August 14, 2006: Virginia jury rules in favor of doctor in med-mail suit.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This was a medical malpractice action in which plaintiff alleged that a physician was negligent in the performance of an occipital nerve block on plaintiff in May 2000. Plaintiff presented to the...

Condoning expense report abuse can lead to bigger problems.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Tracy L. Coenen The dreaded expense reports. Employees hate preparing them. Companies hate reviewing them. They seem to be painful for everyone involved, yet companies can't get away from them all together. You're asking...

New attorney online rating site could jeopardize his or her professional or personal image.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Gladys McKie The court of public opinion has a new venue on the Internet and it's your reputation that is on trial. Now lawyers have the dubious honor of having their professional capabilities critiqued on the new website,...

Virginia attorney personnel and management changes.(Nelson and Korth PLC appoints Tamara L. Tucker)(Virginia State Bar elects George A. Somerville)(McGuire Woods L.L.P. appoints Terrence M. Bagley, Nancy R. Little)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Charlottesville firm of Nelson & Korth PLC has announced that Tamara L. Tucker, formerly of LeClair Ryan, has joined the firm as a member and the firm will practice under the name Nelson & Tucker...

Virginia court awards $3.5M for brain damage after gastric bypass.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Two of the country's most prominent gastric-bypass surgeons had different theories about what caused the brain damage of a Fredericksburg area woman. Dr. Philip Schauer, president of the American Society for...

Virginia Supreme Court suspends and fines Roanoke lawyer D. Stan Barnhill.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Vir-ginia has suspended Roanoke lawyer D. Stan Barnhill from practicing before the court for a year and fined him $1,000 for filing an intemperate petition for a rehearing. Barnhill represented...

A Virginia elder law attorney says seniors should live together rather than getting married.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher Elder law attorney Stephen J. Silverberg has a standard piece of advice for older clients considering marriage: "Don't do it." While Silverberg, who practices on Long Island, N.Y., says the line is his...

Fair Debt claim prompts sanctions of $16,000 in Virginia.(Kristie Guidry's check bounces)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A bounced check for $62.50 has led to an award of $16,000 in sanctions for frivolous claims filed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in what a judge called a "fracas, indeed litigation war." Kristie...

Lewis receives 2006 DeMallie CLE award of the Virginia Bar Association.(Glenn C. Lewis)(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Glenn C. Lewis received the Ninth Annual Gardener G. DeMallie Jr. Continuing Legal Education Award at the summer meeting of the Virginia Bar Association at The Homestead last month. The award was...

U.S. Court of Appeals case summaries: August 21, 2006.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Black Lung Benefits - Limitations - Diagnosis Notice In this black lung case, the Benefits Review Board erred in upholding an administrative law judge's decision that the...

U.S. Eastern Virginia District Court case summaries: August 21, 2006.(U.S. v. Rosen)(Guidry v. Clare )
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - Frivolous FDCPA Claims A cheerleading program that attempted to collect $62.50 from a mother who tried to pay her daughter's program fee with a bad check is entitled to...

U.S. Western Virgina District Court case summaries: August 21, 2006.(U.S. v. Wyatt )
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Meth Manufacture - Guideline Range A 25- year-old defendant who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine is sentenced...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: August 21, 2006.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Appeals - Pretrial Appeal - Collateral Estoppel The appellate court dismisses the commonwealth's "pretrial appeal" filed under Va. Code Sect. 19.2-398(A)(1)(ii), in which the...

Virginia Circuit Court case summaries: August 21, 2006.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Home Construction - Arbitration A circuit court declines to set aside an arbitrator's award of $240,000 in damages and $1,875 in costs to a couple who contracted with defendant...

Verdicts & settlements August 21, 2006: Virginia heart doctor prevails in med-mal claim.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent was a 42-year-old diabetic who suffered from various complications of that disease, including the amputations of several digits. Less than a week after being discharged from...

Verdicts & settlements August 21, 2006: contested-liability wreck in Ohio mediates for $700K.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Decedent's vehicle was struck from the rear by a tractor-trailer near an on ramp to I-70 near St. Clairsville, Ohio. The tractor-trailer driver was also killed in the crash. The crash involved five...

Verdicts & settlements August 21, 2006: Virginia dog case settles for $225K.(Jane Doe )(Brief article)
August 21, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The 82-year-old plaintiff was walking in the street in front of her daughter's home in Virginia Beach when she was allegedly knocked to the ground by a neighbor's mastiff. Plaintiff testified that the...

Law firms explore contingent fees in patent cases.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A growing number of law firms have considered sharing the risk of patent litigation by taking cases on a contingent fee basis. Although contingent fees may represent only a tiny fraction of a law firm's billing,...

Virginia law firms hire associates.(Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LLP appoints Bryan G. Bosta, David N. Cohan and James J. O'Keeffe)(Matt Murcko appointed at Troutman Sanders LLP)(Sands Anderson Marks & Miller appoints Michael T. Marr and C. Anthony Needham II)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Roanoke-based firm of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LLP has added three associates: Bryan G. Bosta joins the firm after a clerkship with a Virginia circuit court judge. He will practice in the...

University of Virginia Health Services Foundation is under scrutiny.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Charlottesville Circuit Judge Edward L. Hogshire asked an attorney for the University of Virginia Health Services Foundation whether the primary purpose of the foundation was to pay physicians rather than to support...

Virginia court rules driver can be convicted of leaving a scene even if not legally responsible.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A driver can be convicted of felony leaving the scene of an accident even if he was not legally responsible for causing the crash and remained at the scene and rendered assistance after the wreck, the Virginia Court of...

Virginia law may strengthen legal framework to impose civil liability for dog bites on dog owners.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins Most lawyers will have a dog-bite case at least once in their legal careers. Even if you do no personal injury work, you may have another kind of client, or a friend, neighbor or employee, who has had an...

Virginia woman wins $551K for assault by her ex-husband.(Deborah Martin v. Ernest J. Lofgren)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper "This marriage fortunately was brief," wrote the Fairfax County Circuit judge who handled the divorce of Deborah Martin and Ernest J. Lofgren. In fact, litigation over the relationship has gone on longer than the...

Virginia Circuit Judge Randall G. Johnson dies.(Obituary)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Gov. Timothy M. Kaine looked out over a gathering of more than 800 people in Virginia Union University's Coburn Hall that included former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree...

U.S. Court of Appeals case summaries: August 28, 2006.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Illegal Drug Prescriptions - Pain Management - Jury Instructions A doctor's conviction for illegal prescriptions of narcotic pain medications such as oxycontin, dilaudid and methadone...

U.S. Virginia Western District Court case summaries: August 28, 2006.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Attorney's Lien - P.I. Settlement A lawyer who placed an attorney's lien on former clients' funds received in settlement of a personal injury claim on which the lawyer earlier had...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: August 28, 2006.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Traffic Stop - Cocaine - Constructive Possession Where police stopped a vehicle in the early-morning hours because its rear license plate was not illuminated, and discovered a "hard...

Virginia Circuit Court case summaries: August 28, 2006.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Default Judgment - Restaurant Supply Contract An individual who guaranteed payment on a contract for restaurant supplies cannot set aside the default judgment against him and the...

Verdicts & settlements August 28, 2006: Virginia woman's suit for possible forged documents succeeds.(Jim Walter Homes Inc. sued by Linda Jones)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Aug. 29, 2003, the plaintiff, Linda Jones, and defendant, Jim Walter Homes Inc., entered into a construction and purchase and sale agreement for a home in Culpeper County, and most of the closing...

Verdicts & settlements August 28, 2006: Virginia family recovers $650K for house-sinking damages.(Balzano v. First American Title Ins. Co.)(Brief article)(Case overview)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Balzano family purchased a home in Arlington. After signing title and moving in, they discovered a large clay pipe under the house that was causing settlement. Arlington County denied ownership,...

Verdicts & settlements August 28, 2006: Virginia jury awards $80K to girl scarred in car wreck.(LaKeisha Allen)(Brief article)(Case overview)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff LaKeisha was an 11-year-old passenger in a single vehicle collision. Her right forehead was gouged and the skull bone was slightly visible. No loss of consciousness. She was taken by ambulance to the...

Verdicts & settlements August 28, 2006: Virginia jury rules for software company in contract dispute.(Brief article)(Case overview)
August 28, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Millennium Enterprises was hired by Millbrook to assist in upgrading risk analysis and data collection software for the insurance industry. Millennium designed and helped to implement the software. The...