Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2008

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2008

Virginia Court of Appeals: Pilson v. Commonwealth.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Traffic Offenses - Driving After HO Order - Home Monitoring - Sheriff Authority A defendant sentenced to one year incarceration for driving as an habitual offender cannot overturn his mandatory minimum sentence...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: August 4, 2008.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez W. Reilly Marchant of Marchant, Honey & Baldwin LLP became the Richmond Bar Association's 124th president on June 1. Marchant earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in 1975 and received his law...

Virginia State Bar's Young Lawyers Conference does better with minorities.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia State Bar's young lawyers group does much better in terms of minority participation than the bar itself. Several members of the VSB Diversity Task force made that observation at the panel's July 28...

Virginia State Bar's diversity panel wants to boost lawyer involvement.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia State Bar's task force on diversity will focus on attracting more minorities to the profession and on encouraging more minorities to participate in bar activities once they become members of it. To...

Proposals to harmonize rules floated by Virginia panel.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper Differences in the rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals have tripped up many otherwise competent attorneys. One difference has been especially troubling. The court of appeals...

Steve Shannon running for Democrats' Virginia AG nod.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth A five-year veteran of the Virginia House of Delegates with experience as a prosecutor is campaigning for the 2009 Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general, bringing to four the number of contenders for the...

Prince William County judge sets aside $310K verdict.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper A Prince William County judge has set aside a $310,000 jury award for a couple who won a finding of constructive fraud by the contractor who installed a barrier exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) on their...

Med-mal cap fight on horizon for 2009 in Virginia.(medical malpractice insurance)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth Familiar battle lines between plaintiffs' lawyers and doctors will be forming soon over a possible increase in Virginia's $2 million cap on damages in medical malpractice cases. The arena has been quiet for nine...

Train in vain: Loss of patent documents leads to court ruling.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Here's a nightmare that would haunt any lawyer. But for a West Coast law firm, it was a scenario that was all too real. A courier, entrusted with a document that had to get there in time, fell asleep on a train,...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: Child suffers brain injury from bacterial infection.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 3 1/2-year-old child was brought to his pediatrician's office in August of 2002 with a 103-degree fever and a history of nausea, vomiting and fever for the past two days. The first pediatrician's...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: Electrician severely burned in flash at switchboard.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly The plaintiff was an electrician working on the installation of electrical switching equipment as part of the construction of the Middle River Regional Jail in Augusta County. The plaintiff inadvertently...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: Presence of embolism disputed in paralysis, nerve damage.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, a 66-year-old male, underwent a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure. After what appeared to be a normal procedure, plaintiff developed severe hypoxia and was transferred to ICU...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: Series of accidents complicates shoulder injury claim.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, Malisa Breeden, is a deputy sheriff with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department. On July 28, 2003, she was transporting an arrestee when the defendant rear-ended her marked police...

Verdicts & Settlements August 4, 2008: Negligent lack of consent alleged in rectal surgery.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was 43 years old when she went to the defendant gynecologist for the first time for an annual gynecological exam in October 2000. She had a history of multiple pelvic surgeries, including...

4th Circuit: Turner v. The City Council of Fredericksburg.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Rights - First Amendment - Legislative Prayer The Fredericksburg City Council's policy of using only nondenominational prayers to open council meetings did not violate the First Amendment rights of...

4th Circuit: Wilson v. Johnson.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Rights - Wrongful Incarceration - Served Sentence - Damages A Virginia inmate released from confinement who claims he was unconstitutionally imprisoned when correctional officials improperly extended the...

4th Circuit: Sartin v. Macik.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - N.C. Default Judgment - Collateral Estoppel - Bankruptcy Reversing a lower court on an unsettled question of North Carolina law, the 4th Circuit holds that North Carolina courts would not give...

4th Circuit: Nourison Rug Corp. v. Parvizian.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Amended Answer - Defense Of Release - Rug Debt Guaranty The 4th Circuit upholds a district court's refusal to allow a guarantor to amend his answer to a suit on a debt incurred in a rug...

U.S. District Court: O'Shannessy v. Doll, Comm'r of Patents.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Intellectual Property - PTO Regs - Filing Date - Express Mail A plaintiff who used the Postal Service's Express Mail service to file a patent application for his Hand Tool Support invention is bound by the June...

U.S. District Court: Shaikh v. Loudoun County, Va.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment Discrimination - National Origin - Project Management Experience A Pakistani engineer who previously had managed large-scale projects and who reportedly had difficulty translating that experience into...

U.S. District Court: Howard Florey Institute v. Dudas.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Intellectual Property - Patent Application - Rules Waiver - Lost Package A patent applicant loses its challenge to the USPTO's denial of plaintiff's petitions to be spared the effect of a delay in filing its...

U.S. District Court: Corinthian Mortgage Corp. v. Choicepoint Precision Marketing LLC.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Contract - Mailing List - Confidentiality - Limitations - Good Faith Covenant A mortgage lender whose contract with a mailing list broker included confidentiality clauses, and who suspected a former vice...

U.S. District Court: Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Overstreet.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Insurance - Homeowner Policy - Duty To Defend - Sexual Molestation - Notice Of 'Occurrence' An Alexandria U.S. District Court says a couple has no coverage under a homeowners' policy against claims that their two...

U.S. District Court: ACMA USA Inc. V. Surefil LLC.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Discovery - General Objections In this lawsuit alleging breach of a contract for the sale of a 150 Mononbloc filler and capper machine to defendant Surefil, a Richmond U.S. District Court...

U.S. Dist. Court: Timmins, Acting Regional Director, 11th Region of the NLRB v. Narricot Industries.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Labor - Union Recognition Withdrawal - Employer Action - Injunction Although there was a substantial, employee-led effort to decertify the union at defendant's Boykins, Virginia, plant that manufactured seat belt...

U.S. District Court: Gibson v. U.S.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Habeas - Guilty Plea - Identity Theft A defendant who pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for using credit card numbers of patients at the doctor's office where she worked to place online...

U.S. District Court: AvalonBay Communities Inc. v. Willden.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Contract - Fraud - Engineering Services - Phony Invoices - RICO A nationwide real estate investment trust wins summary judgment in the Alexandria U.S. District Court on its fraud, business tort and RICO claims...

U.S. District Court: Goldstein, Trustee v. National Casualty Co.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Insurance - Bad Faith Claim - Trucker Negligence - Settlement Offer A Danville U.S. District Court says an insurance company might have been negligent in offering only $100,000 to settle an auto accident case in...

U.S. District Court: Monk v. Stuart M. Perry Inc.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment Discrimination - Title VII - Hostile Environment - Retaliation A female truck driver who earlier sued defendant employer for sexual harassment and discrimination in violation of Title VII cannot...

Va. Ct. of Appeals: Bd. of Supervisors of Culpeper Co., Va. v. State Building Code Technical Review.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Administrative - State Building Code - County Third-Party Inspectors - Certification A county board of supervisors can require that third-party building inspectors be qualified engineers or architects, and the...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Dickens v. Commonwealth.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Probation Violation - Sex Offender Registration - Affidavit Proof An affidavit demonstrating defendant failed to register as a violent sex offender supplied sufficient proof that he violated a...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Herbert Clements & Sons Inc. v. Harris.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Workers' Comp - Shoulder Condition - Prior Release - Causation The Court of Appeals affirms an award of benefits for right shoulder injury as related to a plumbing repair mechanic's original injury that occurred...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Kilby v. Commonwealth.
August 4, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Sexual Misconduct - Defendant's Grandchildren - Expert Witness The Court of Appeals affirms a defendant's 10 criminal convictions for inappropriate sexual misconduct towards his grandchildren, despite...

Virginia dispatcher pays for doubts about hit-and-run call.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth The family of a pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run accident has recovered $200,000 from a public safety dispatcher who ignored a call about the incident. The lawsuit arising from the 2001 death of Jody Swisher...

Norfolk Circuit Court jury awards passenger $10.2M for second brain injury.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper By October 2003, Lynn Zoll had become something of a spokesperson for brain injury survivors. She had suffered a brain injury when she fell on a patch of ice in February 1987. Zoll was on her way to a brain injury...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Pregnant woman suffers back, neck injuries in crash.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $80,000 Verdict On May 10, 2005, Aaron Cramer's vehicle ran a red light in Chesterfield County and collided with plaintiff Heather Krauss's vehicle. Damages to Krauss's car were significant. Cramer died a...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Renter moves in before owner buys tenant policy.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Defense Verdict Plaintiff purchased a property to fix up and flip in Charlottesville. While the property was under construction, plaintiff contacted Nuckols Insurance to purchase a builder's risk policy to...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Payment higher than limits because of bad faith claim.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $117,949 Verdict Plaintiff, a Henrico County elementary school teacher, was southbound on Pouncey Tract Road when he saw traffic in front of him coming to a stop. According to plaintiff's testimony, he...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Operator killed when aerial boom tips over.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $2,162,000 Settlement Patrick Ott was an experienced mechanic employed by a heavy equipment rental company. A boom-supported aerial lift had been returned from the field the day before, and Ott was assigned...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Negligence per se, res ipsa are issues in electrical shock.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $1,000,000 Settlement Plaintiff was a 47-year-old pilot for a commercial airline who spent the night at a hotel after flying a Boeing 737 to a Virginia international airport on June 30, 2005. Before leaving...

Verdicts & Settlements August 11, 2008: Contributory negligence alleged in tractor-trailer crash.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Defense verdict Plaintiff claimed significant ongoing neck, back and leg pain from a collision with the defendant's tractor-trailer, which occurred with such force that the tractor-trailer's headlight was...

4th Circuit Court of Appeals: S.C. Dep't of Disabilities & Special Needs v. Hoover Universal Inc.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Diversity Jurisdiction - 'Citizen' Agency - Products Liability The 4th Circuit reluctantly gives products liability plaintiffs another bite at the apple; after a South Carolina federal district...

4th Circuit Court of Appeals: Welch v. Chao.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Corporate - Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Whistleblower - Bank Accountant The 4th Circuit upholds a Southwest Virginia bank's refusal to reinstate a CFO who claimed his retaliatory firing after he had complained about bank...

4th Circuit Court of Appeals: CACI Premier Technology Inc. v. Rhodes.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Rights - First Amendment - Defamation - Talk Show Host The 4th Circuit upholds a federal district court's dismissal of a government contractor's defamation case against Randi Rhodes, a talk-show radio host on...

U.S. District Court: Commonwealth of Va., Va. Office for Protection & Advocacy v. Reinhard.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Administrative - Agency Records - State Hospital - Federal Statute A Richmond U.S. District Court will not dismiss a suit filed by the Virginia Office for Protection & Advocacy seeking records related to three...

U.S. District Court in Richmond: U.S. v. Lesane.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Indictment Delay - Plea Negotiations A Richmond U.S. District Court rejects a drug defendant's claim that his case should have been dismissed under 18 U.S.C. s. 1362 because the government could not...

U.S. District Court in Richmond: Kradi v. Chertoff, Sec'y of DHS.(Department of Homeland Security)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Immigration - Naturalization Application - FBI Background Check A legal permanent resident who has passed his English proficiency and U.S. history examinations and is frustrated by a nearly four-year delay in...

U.S. District Court in Richmond: Adolf Jewelers Inc. v. Jewelers Mutual Ins. Co.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Insurance - Policy Coverage - Jewelry Store Embezzlement An insurance carrier for a jewelry store wins the Richmond U.S. District Court's dismissal of the store's claim that the carrier breached its insurance...

U.S. District Court in Abingdon: Grose v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment - Life Insurance - ERISA - AD&D An ERISA claims fiduciary did not abuse its discretion in denying the survivors of an employee who died in a motorcycle crash group accidental death and dismemberment...

U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg: U.S. v. Ford.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Traffic Stop - Marijuana In Car - Miranda Warnings A Harrisonburg U.S. District Court need not suppress defendant's admission that he had smoked marijuana and the drugs found in his vehicle...

U.S. District Court in Roanoke: U.S. v. Johnson.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Warrant Affidavit - Good Faith Exception - CI Corroboration A Roanoke U.S. District Court applies the good-faith exception to uphold a search based on a warrant, supported in part by a confidential...

U.S. District Court: Cooper v. Worsham.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Rights - Traffic Stop - Rear-View Mirror - Excessive Force A police officer could stop defendant's vehicle for having an object hanging from the rear-view mirror, in violation of Va. Code s. 46.2-1054's...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Anderson v. Commonwealth.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Robbery Conspiracy - Violence Or Intimidation An employee of a Dick's sporting goods store cannot be convicted of robbery, because his coconspirator's use of an air gun was not directed at the store...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Middlebrooks v. Commonwealth.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Consensual Encounter - Calling Drug Dog Police who initially saw defendant urinating near a car during the early morning hours at a known drug-dealing location in Virginia Beach violated...

Prince William County Circuit Court: Couch v. Manassas Autocars Inc.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Consumer Protection - VCPA - Attorney's Fees On remand of this automobile purchase case from the Virginia Supreme Court for an award of attorney's fees on appeal, a Prince William County Circuit Court awards...

Fairfax Circuit Court: Commonwealth v. Ahmad.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Second-Degree Murder - Infant Death - Mother's Arrest - Brady Violation A Fairfax Circuit Court holds that under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the commonwealth should have disclosed to defendant...

Fairfax Circuit Court: Gelles Racing Inc. v. Ferris.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Contract - Race Car Lease - Unpaid Rent - Crash Damage A race car company wins damages for unpaid rent and crash damage to the Pro Formula BMW race car it rented to defendants for a summer 2007 racing series, and the...

Fairfax Circuit Court: Rosenburgs v. Ohlsons.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Real Estate - Contract - Fraud - Water Damage Concealment Home buyers who allege defendant sellers actively concealed water damage to the property also can sue defendant real estate agent; a Fairfax Circuit Court...

Fairfax Circuit Court: ManTech International Corp. v. Analex Corp.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment - Contract - Noncompete - Government Contractor A Fairfax Circuit Court says a government contractor's noncompetition and nonsolicitation clauses are unenforceable against a former employer because they do...

Fairfax Circuit Court: Poullath v. Rzasa.
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - GDC Dismissal - 'Without Prejudice' - No Final Order A general district court's dismissal without prejudice of a plaintiff's auto accident p.i. case was not a final, appealable order under Va. Code...

Smyth County Circuit Court: Commonwealth v. Stallard.(Brief article)
August 11, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Preliminary Hearing - Disorderly Conduct A Smyth County Circuit Court dismisses charges against a defendant who was denied a preliminary hearing, relying on the decision appellate decision in Wright v....

Virginia Lawyers in the News: August 18, 2008.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Jeanne E. Floyd has joined the law firm of Troutman Sanders LLP as an associate in its compensation and employee benefits practice group in Richmond. Floyd was previously an associate with Williams Mullen. Her...

Arbitration clause catches nonsignatories, rules Fairfax Circuit Court judge.(Randy I. Bellows)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper A government contractor and its corporate officers can force arbitration of claims under a government subcontract, even though some of the corporate defendants did not sign the contract. Fairfax Circuit Judge Randy...

Richmond's new federal courthouse opens next month.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Proponents of downtown Richmond development had hoped that the new federal courthouse on East Broad Street would be, as one put it, a world-class architectural statement. The building, which fills the block...

Noncompete lawsuit can go forward, rules U.S. District Court judge.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth An insurance company is the hands-down winner in a preliminary challenge to its noncompete agreement with a regional manager, as a federal judge turned away every defense offered by the former manager. The Aug. 11...

Former prosecution may have prompted attack on Richmond criminal defense lawyer.(Charles Cosby)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez A Richmond criminal defense lawyer is lucky to have survived a particularly vicious client attack. I could have bitten the bullet, said Charles Cosby, recalling the incident at the Powhatan Correctional Center some...

When clients attack.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth It's a tense situation confronted by every criminal defense lawyer. The client is not the most stable individual in the community. He or she may have been charged with shocking acts of violence. There may be a life...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Physician fails to diagnose woman's abdominal tumor.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $700,000 Settlement The plaintiff is a widowed Somalian female, age 58, mother of eight. She presented to the defendant health care provider March 21, 2005, complaining of abdominal pain in the left lower...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: ATV passenger injured in collision with car.(all-terrain vehicle)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $200,000 Settlement On July 4, 2007, the 17-year-old plaintiff was a passenger on a Yamaha all-terrain vehicle operated by her boyfriend, the defendant, who was driving the ATV in an easterly direction on St....

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: 80-year-old pedestrian killed in mall garage.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $100,000 Settlement The decedent was walking in the parking garage of Ballston Common Mall in Arlington on Jan. 5, 2007, when she was struck by a Lexus SUV driven by the defendant. Defendant worked in the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Warehouse worker found to be statutory employee.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Defense Verdict Plaintiff was loading coffee into a tractor-trailer at a warehouse in Chesapeake. The defendant tractor-trailer driver stated that he was told that he was good to go and pulled away from the...

Verdicts & Settlements August 18, 2008: Visiting girl bitten in home of neighbor.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly $125,000 Settlement Mary Adkins was visiting a next door neighbor on Aug. 15, 2007, when she was attacked by the neighbor's dog. Adkins, who was in the neighbor's house, was 12 years old at the time of her...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Mansfield v. Anesthesia Associates Ltd.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment Discrimination - Practice Contract Termination - Sexual Harassment Complaint An African-American anesthesiologist who is suing his former practice, its chair and Inova Hospital, for his termination on a...

Norfolk U.S. District Court: Galustian v. Peter.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Forum Non Conveniens - Iraqi Defamation Action On reconsideration, a Norfolk U.S. District Court dismisses on forum non conveniens grounds a defamation action filed by a UK citizen who runs an Iraqi...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Transamerica Occidental Life Ins. Co. v. Maree.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Insurance - Life Insurance Benefits - Competing Claims A couple's divorce settlement agreement that said that wife had an insurable interest in husband's life and husband could keep his existing life insurance policy...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Wright v. SunTrust Bank.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Consumer Protection - Car Loan Preapproval - Fair Credit Reporting - ECOA An Alexandria U.S. District Court says a buyer who obtained preapproval from his bank to finance purchase of a 2008 BMW has no claim against...

Roanoke U.S. District Court: Combined Insurance Co. of America v. Wiest.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment - Insurance Regional Manager - Nonsolicitation - Proprietary Information A Roanoke U.S. District Court says an insurance company can pursue both contract and tort claims against its former regional manager...

Charlottesville U.S. District Court: Andrews v. Newman.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Real Estate - Nuisance - Gasoline Spill Landowners whose well water is being monitored by the Department of Environmental Quality after a 2002 spill of 8,000 gallons of gasoline from a Sheetz Inc. tanker truck have...

Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court: Maggard v. A&L RV Sales.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Consumer Protection - 'Lemon Law' - RV Motor Home A buyer's breach of warranty claim under Virginia's Lemon Law alleging defects in its Four Winds motor home can go forward against defendant manufacturer because the...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Foster v. Foster.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Domestic Relations - Custody - UCCJEA - 'Home State' Jurisdiction A circuit court did not err in ruling that it was not an inconvenient forum under the Uniform Child Custody & Jurisdiction Enforcement Act to...

Commentary: Protecting client assets when a bank fails.
August 18, 2008... Byline: David A. Oblon Did you see any law firm managing partners among the nervous depositors in line at IndyMac bank on July 11? After U.S. Senator Charles Schumer publicly mused about what would happen if IndyMac depositors suddenly...

Finding a storybook end for two Virginia Beach cases involving K-9 collars.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper When the cops have called out the drug dogs, a lawyer's choice of defense can make all the difference, as demonstrated by two recent Virginia Beach cases involving K-9 collars. The circumstances of the charges again...

Virginia prosector attending bar meeting takes his own bite out of crime.(Ray Morrogh)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... Byline: Peter Vieth A routine bar meeting at the beach this summer gave one Virginia prosecutor the chance to take his own bite out of crime. Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh was down in Virginia Beach for the annual...

4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Farrior.
August 18, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Traffic Stop - Consensual Search - Drug Dog The 4th Circuit says Pulaski police did not violate defendant's Fourth Amendment rights when an officer returned defendant's license and registration and...