Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2007

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2007

How to ... Choose a private banker.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Dolan Media Newswires Managing a small fortune can be an enormous job. A private bank can assist you with your banking and investing needs, giving you expert advice along with excellent one-on-one service. ...

Virginia plaintiff wins punitive damages without evidence the employer acted with malice.(Juanita Carden)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A Title VII plaintiff won punitive damages even though she conceded to a Roanoke County Circuit Court that she had no evidence the employer, a Salem food distributor, acted with malice. The plaintiff, Juanita...

Virginia judge finds civil remedial fees for traffic misdemeanors and felonies unconstitutional.(Archer L. Yeatts III)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A Henrico County General District judge has ruled that the civil remedial fees for traffic misdemeanors and felonies violate the equal protection clauses of the Virginia and United States Constitutions. The fees,...

University of Virginia law professor is being cited by such publications as The New York Times.(Brandon L. Garrett)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Few law review articles get attention from the mainstream media even after they're formally published. But one by University of Virginia law professor Brandon L. Garrett is being cited by such publications as The...

Virginia jury rules plaintiff can collect under uninsured motorist.(Deon Couplin)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A plaintiff can collect under the uninsured motorist provisions of his automobile liability policy even though the defendant ambulance driver has partial immunity from suit. Fairfax Circuit Judge Arthur B. Vieregg...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 6, 2007.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Utility Regulation - Telecomm Competition - Incentive Rate A district court erred in reversing the North Carolina Utilities Commission's determination under the federal...

U.S. Eastern District Court Case Summaries: August 6, 2007.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act - USS Cole Attack - Sudanese Liability In this case of first impression in the 4th Circuit under the "terrorism exception" to the Foreign...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 6, 2007.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Photo Display IDs - Identity Of Shooter - Murder Of Husband The Court of Appeals affirms the first-degree murder conviction of Piper Rountree for shooting her former husband,...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 6, 2007.
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Probation Revocation Hearing - Sex Offender Registration A circuit court could consider at defendant's probation revocation hearing a state police affidavit indicating defendant failed...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Va. jury rules for defense in pituitary gland tumor case.(Virginia)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant is a pulmonologist group that was sued for the actions of its employee physician. A co-defendant primary care physician settled out of this case prior to trial. The plaintiff was...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Leg injury results in $490K settlement in Virginia court.(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A resident at an assisted living facility sustained a fall while being helped into the shower by the facility's staff. Plaintiff claimed the assisted living facility failed to exercise proper fall...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Va. jury returns $125K verdict for pedestrian ankle injury.(Susan P. Wilkins of Virginia)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Susan P. Wilkins, a 49-year-old pedestrian, was walking on the grass in front of a paved residential parking area on Dec. 20, 2005, when the defendant failed to put his vehicle in park after he stopped....

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Va. jury returns survivorship, wrongful death verdicts.(Piney Forest Nursing Home, Virginia)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff alleged that multiple acts of negligence at Piney Forest Nursing Home caused or contributed to pressure sores, poor hygiene, inadequate pain control, malnutrition, dehydration and eventual...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Virginia apartment house fall settles by mediation.(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's decedent, age 49, came home to her third-floor condominium on New Year's Eve 2004. The exterior steps of her building were made of salt-treated pine and were open to weather. She walked up...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Va. court rules trucker is not liable for U-turn.(George R. Herren of Virginia)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On April 8, 2003, at approximately 7:00 a.m., George R. Herren, owner of Ben Herren Enterprises Inc., and an employee of defendant Prudhoe Bay Freight Lines, was hauling a landfill tipper on a flatbed...

Verdicts & Settlements August 6, 2007: Settlement reached in child's fall suit in Virginia.(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's 3-year-old daughter sustained a subdural hematoma requiring surgery when she fell from a wall adjacent to a seating area in the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach. Although the wall was not...

Va. Legal Community Obituaries: August 13, 2007.(Virginia)(Obituary)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff David Brown David Brown, a retired Washington County General District Court Judge, died May 30 at his home in Abingdon. He was 77. Judge Brown was a native of the Southwest Virginia town of...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 13, 2007.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Ineffective Assistance - Weapon Charge - Justification Defense A defendant convicted of possession of a weapon as a convicted felon wins post-conviction relief based on his lawyer...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 13, 2007.(eastern Virginia)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Consumer Protection Lemon Law - VCPA - RV A couple who purchased a 2005 Mandalay model recreational vehicle with a three-year "bumper to bumper" warranty can sue Four Winds International, who...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 13, 2007.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Felon In Possession - Predicate Conviction Evidence A defendant's conviction of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon is affirmed, despite his claim that the trial court erred...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 13, 2007.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Medical Malpractice Discovery - Witness Designation Impatient with game-playing on both sides of a med-mal case, a Norfolk Circuit judge grants a motion to strike the testimony of two...

Verdicts & Settlements August 13, 2007: Trucker suffers amputation, shoulder injuries in crash.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a 29-year-old tractor-trailer driver who had recently started a new job making day trips from a local industrial plant to shipping ports within a day's drive of the plant. Defendant...

Verdicts & Settlements August 13, 2007: Obese diabetic dies after coronary blockage diagnosis.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff brought a wrongful death action against defendant cardiologist and his practice alleging that on Dec. 6, 2002, the defendant was negligent in not referring plaintiff's decedent to a...

Digital dirt-digging.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Kimberly Atkins, Dolan Media Newswires Company recruiters have a number of tools aimed at finding the perfect candidate, including Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo!, and employers are increasingly using these options to...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: August 13, 2007.
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff David N. Anthony has joined the Richmond office of Troutman Sanders LLP as a partner in its consumer law and complex litigation practice groups. He will represent clients in cases involving commercial...

Roanoke Bar Association elects officers and directors for 2007-2008.(Brief article)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Roanoke Bar Association elected officers and directors for the 2007-2008 year at its annual meeting in June. They are: * George A. McLean Jr. - President * Mark K. Cathey - President-Elect...

Oliver Hill: Civil rights attorney.(Obituary)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper When Oliver W. Hill Sr. graduated from the Howard University law school in 1933, racial segregation was so entrenched that no one thought seriously of tackling it head on. But Charles H. Houston, the dean of the law...

1st Circuit's ruling on 'fees' issue is expected this week.(United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The first circuit court ruling on the constitutionality of Virginia's civil remedial fees is expected this week from Henrico Judge L.A. Harris Jr. Harris questioned defense attorney Craig S. Cooley closely last...

Spousal support award needs writing, Va. Court of Appeals tells divorce lawyers.(Virginia Court of Appeals)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins Get it in writing, the Virginia Court of Appeals is telling divorce lawyers seeking spousal support awards. Three times in the past six weeks, the appellate court has reversed spousal support decisions because...

'Noisy' conduct? U.S. District judge in Norfolk takes aim at Alcoholic Beverage Control reg.(U.S. District Judge Walter D. Kelley Jr., alcoholic beverage control regulations)
August 13, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has acknowledged that a state law aimed at "noisy, lewd or disorderly conduct" on the premises of its licensees violates the U.S. Constitution. But Kevin E....

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 20, 2007.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Spousal Support - Imputed Income - Rental Income Where wife requested support, permanent and pendente lite, in her initial bill of complaint, the trial court did not err in...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 20, 2007.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Child Sexual Abuse - Founded Complaint A circuit court dismisses a father's appeal of a determination by the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services that appellant was...

Verdicts & Settlements August 20, 2007: Fall on ice results in elbow fracture, dislocation.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Dec. 29, 2003, the plaintiff slipped and fell with her body landing full-force on her left elbow, fracturing her ulna and dislocating her radial head (a Monteggia fracture). She was transported to...

Verdicts & Settlements August 20, 2007: Rear-ender causes soft-tissue injuries.(Brief article)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was involved in a two-vehicle wreck on Oct. 8, 2003, at the intersection of Routes 301 and 206 in King George County. She stopped her 2001 Mitsubishi automobile at a red light and was...

Verdicts & Settlements August 20, 2007: Soccer player injured by bungee cord.(Brief article)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 13-year-old female, was injured while removing a soccer training ball from a storage bin in her garage. The training device was a soccer ball with a high energy storing cord (bungee)...

Marketing assistants - a rainmaker's greatest tool.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Mark Powers Dolan Media Newswires One question I constantly grapple with is this: how can good lawyers, whose days are filled with constant interruptions, difficult staffing issues and demanding clients, become great marketers? ...

New case on relation back used right away.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A federal judge in Abingdon took barely two weeks to apply an en banc ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the relation-back provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c). At...

Completing the circle at the Virginia Holocaust Museum.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper After more than 10 years of work, the Virginia Holocaust Museum, with a focus on the travails of the Ipp family, seemed almost complete, right down to a replica of the synagogue in Kovno, Lithuana, where the family...

Henrico County Circuit judge upholds 'fees'.(Henrico County Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr., road users fees)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Challengers to Virginia's civil remedial fees are 3 and 0 in general district courts but 0 for 1 in circuit court, with the two remaining general district wins likely to be heard by circuit judges by the end of the...

Virginia-based law firms fare well on a list of 'best firms for women'.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Two Virginia-based law firms were among the 50 across the nation named "Best Law Firms for Women" by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. Hunton & Williams and McGuireWoods, both with home offices in...

Lead counsel can escape a sanction under Rule 11, rules Richmond federal district judge.(U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A supervising lawyer who reasonably relied on the attorney he supervised to perform a task - in this case, to accurately represent two witnesses' deposition testimony - has escaped a sanction under Rule 11(c), a...

Va. Legal Community Obituaries: August 20, 2007.(Virginia)(Obituary)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Herman T. Benn Herman T. Benn, a Suffolk attorney and civil rights advocate, died on June 29. He was 95. Mr. Benn, the first black member of the Virginia Bar Association, won his most notable...

Virginia General District Courts Case Summaries: August 20, 2007.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - Warrant In Debt - Contract Claim In this general district court litigation that began with the filing of a warrant in debt and continued with defendant in that action...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 20, 2007.
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Personal Jurisdiction - Corporate Officer - Fiduciary Breach A lock company with offices in Richmond can sue its former corporate officer, a resident of California, for breach...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: August 20, 2007.(Virginia)
August 20, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Relation Back - Limitations - Jail Suicide In this 42 U.S.C. Sect. 1983 action arising out of a jail suicide, the district court holds that under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c),...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 27, 2007.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative FDA Certification - Mammography - Sanctions A physician and his practice are subject to monetary sanctions imposed by the Food and Drug Administration for allowing a statutorily...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: August 27, 2007.(United States District Court of Virginia)
August 27, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Personal Jurisdiction - Business Tort Claims A Virginia-based consulting company with two branch offices in India cannot sue two defendants, a Colorado corporation and an Indian...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: August 27, 2007.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights First Amendment - School Ban On Reporter A reporter barred from entering school property because he wrote articles critical of the school administration has stated a First...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 27, 2007.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Child Neglect - Founded Disposition The Court of Appeal rejects a day care worker's challenge to a Child Protective Services founded disposition of level one physical neglect...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: August 27, 2007.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure P.I. Suit - No Service - Refiled Suit - Limitations A general district court had authority to dismiss an auto-accident p.i. suit after the return date passed with no service on...

Newport News circuit judge rules lawyer has duty to keep case on docket.(Judge H. Vincent Conway Jr.)
August 27, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Newport News circuit judge has ruled that an attorney has an obligation to take affirmative action to keep a general district court civil case on the docket if he fails to get service on the defendant. Judge H. Vincent...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: August 27, 2007.
August 27, 2007... Byline: VALW Staff Christopher A. Jones has joined the Falls Church office of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston as a partner in the firm's bankruptcy section. Jones previously worked for LeClair Ryan in Richmond. His practice focuses on...

Wise County, Norfolk wrapping up projects to move fines from paper to electronic format.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper When someone asks to see a file in the office of the Wise County Clerk of Court, the response might be, "Paper or electronic?" Clerk J. Jack Kennedy's staff has just finished making digital copies of the court's civil...

Fugitive father forfeits custody appeal, rules Virginia Court of Appeals.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A father has forfeited his right to appeal custody rulings by refusing to comply with court orders to return the child to his mother. In a first-impression decision, the Virginia Court of Appeals applied the...

Northern Virginia condo buyers, facing slower market, stuck with investments.
August 27, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Some condominium purchasers in Northern Virginia, especially those who bought the condos as investments, are trying to get out of their contracts by contending that they violate the federal Interstate Land Sales Full...