Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2009

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2009

Virginia Lawyers in the News: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Two associates in the Northern Virginia office of Holland & Knight have been elevated to partnership. Brandon Elledge, a member of the firm's litigation section, concentrates his practice on employment-related...

Receiver is winding up disbarred Woodbridge lawyer's practice.(Virginia)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth The attorney appointed to wind up the practice of disbarred lawyer Stephen T. Conrad says he soon will submit a proposal for distributing the assets of the law office. Richard S. Mendelson, the receiver for Conrad's...

Measures would set term limits for Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Several bills before the 2009 General Assembly would trim the power of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Two measures - one in the House of Delegates and one in the Senate - would set term limits on the...

Judge Alper among five to be interviewed for Virginia Court of Appeals slot.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Arlington Circuit Judge Joanne F. Alper is one of five candidates the House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees will interview on Feb. 4 for the Virginia Court of Appeals vacancy created by the retirement of Judge...

Patients' comp? Virginia bill would create fund, becomes talking point in med-mal debate.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth A bill before the Virginia General Assembly would create a patients' compensation fund - paid for by health care providers - to pay for judgments in excess of the medical malpractice cap. Senate Bill 1389 was...

Virginia Court of Appeals: Commonwealth v. Lasley.(parking lot searches)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Parking lot - Weapons Frisk On appeal by the commonwealth, the Court of Appeals reverses an order suppressing hydrocodone pills discovered in defendant's pocket the night he was arrested, after...

Greensville County Circuit Court: Carter v. Brooks.(claims of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty)(Virginia)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Real Estate - Fraud - Fiduciary Duty Breach - Deed Signature - Res Judicata A 73-year-old infirm, nearly blind widow who alleges her son tricked her into signing a deed conveying her real estate to him, that she...

Prince William Circuit Court: In re Estate of Dennis Freeland Edwards.(right of the adoptive child to inherit)
February 2, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Wills & Trusts - Heirs - Adopted Child - Choice Of Law A decedent's biological daughter who was adopted in Pennsylvania at age two by her stepfather can inherit from her biological father, who died intestate, a...

Supreme Court of Virginia bills clear subcommittee.
February 3, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A legislative subcommittee approved bills last night that would have the General Assembly take over the judicial performance evaluation program and limit the tenure of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia...

Virginia Court of Appeals disbars lawyer for ignoring orders.
February 3, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia Court of Appeals today fined a Suffolk lawyer $1,000 and disbarred her indefinitely from practicing before the court because she repeatedly ignored the court's orders. The difficulties of Anne Marston...

Virginia Indigent Defense Commission has standards, no complaints of violations.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, the group that oversees public defenders and court-appointed attorneys in Virginia, has standards of practice that lawyers must follow. The commission has a complaint system...

Appellate courts site in Virigina offers handy services.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher Here's one you should have bookmarked on your computer: the Web site for Virginia's Judicial System (http://www.courts.state. va.us/main.htm). The site offers a host of valuable features and services. This piece...

All six up for appeals seat in Virginia make it through committee.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees briefly interviewed six candidates Wednesday for a vacancy on the Virginia Court of Appeals and certified all six for consideration by the House and Senate. Some...

UIM measure in Virginia pulled; Albo issues warning.(underinsured motorist insurance, Courts committee chairman Del. David B. Albo)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth An effort to speed up settlement of underinsured motorist claims died last week in the House Courts of Justice Committee. A bill before the 2009 Assembly would have set up a mechanism to resolve cases in which a primary...

Thomas, Keenan express interest in 4th Circuit seat.(lawyer John Charles Thomas, Justice Barbara Milano Keenan)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A current and former member of the Supreme Court of Virginia have told the Virginia State Bar that they are interested in a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. John Charles Thomas, now a senior partner...

New Va. Bar Association head John Epps: group will widen its appeal.(Interview)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper John D. Epps, the new president of the Virginia Bar Association, is a fourth generation lawyer. His father was Augustus C. Epps, senior partner at what was Christian, Barton, Brent, Epps & Chappell before it became...

New tactic successful in Chesterfield County Circuit Court.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Plaintiffs' lawyers hope that a recent ruling will help turn the tide against a series of decisions that has hampered their efforts to win punitive damages from drunken drivers. The Jan. 13 ruling by Chesterfield...

Norfolk U.S. District Court: Humphrey v. Resmae Mtge. Corp.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Real Estate - Mortgage Default - TILA - RESPA - Limitations A Norfolk U.S. District Court magistrate judge recommends dismissal of this pro se suit filed by homeowners against defendant Professional Foreclosure...

Richmond U.S. District Court: Hartnett v. School Board of Brunswick County.(award of back pay and attorney's fees)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Employment Discrimination - Title VII - Back Pay - Attorney's Fees A plaintiff who won a jury award of $200,000 on her Title VII claim against defendant school board also is awarded back pay of $34,167 and...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Culkin, Adm'r v. CNH America LLC.(products liability suit)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Removal Jurisdiction - Remand - Complete Diversity A $2M products liability suit filed by plaintiff estate is remanded to state court, as the Alexandria U.S. District Court declines to apply...

Verdicts & Settlements February 9, 2009: Surgery postponed after patient's condition deteriorates.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly On Nov. 8, 2005 a 56-year-old female went to the emergency department at Obici Hospital in Suffolk with a three-day history of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and constipation. Emergency department...

Verdicts & Settlements February 9, 2009: Patient dies after stress test for possible heart problems.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant cardiologist saw the plaintiff's decedent on three occasions for complaints of chest pain. The first visit took place on Dec. 11, 2003. At that time, decedent complained of morning chest...

Verdicts & Settlements February 9, 2009: Failure to detect broken neck a key issue in med-mal case.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's decedent was a 79-year-old man who had been having recent bouts of confusion. On Aug. 30, 2005, decedent apparently passed out on an escalator at the Pentagon Metro station and struck the...

Richmond U.S. District Court: Viasystems Technologies Corp. LLC v. Forest City Commercial Develop.(liability for remediation of groundwater contamination)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Environmental - Groundwater Contamination - Indemnification A Richmond U.S. District Court interprets contract language in a 1996 agreement and its 2006 amendment that allocate liability for remediation of...

Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court: U.S. ex rel Herndon v. Appalachian Regional Community Head Start.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Contract - Government Contract - False Claims Act - Head Start Program A former official with the Norton Head Start program can sue the program under the federal False Claims Act for allegedly discharging him...

Abingdon U.S. District Court: U.S. v. Jones.(self-incriminating statements)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Miranda Warnings - Custody - Use Immunity A drug defendant who offered through his former lawyer to assist the state, but who had no formal use immunity agreement and only his lawyer's prior experience...

Abingdon U.S. District Court: U.S. v. Skeens.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Sentencing - Firearm Possession - Collector An Abingdon U.S. District Court overrules defendant's objection to a presentence investigation report's recommended base offense level, in which defendant...

Charlottesville U.S. District Court: Merricks v. Monaco Coach Corp.(breach of implied warranties)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Consumer Protection - RV - Warranty Claims - Limitations A couple's claims against defendant manufacturer of their recreational vehicle for breach of implied warranties may go forward, a Charlottesville U.S....

Lynchburg U.S. District Court: RMA Lumber Inc. v. Pioneer Machinery LLC.(products liability action and punitive damages claim)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Products Liability - Fraud - Misrepresentations - Grinder - Warranty A Lynchburg U.S. District Court refuses to dismiss a lumber company's products liability action, including a punitive damages claim, against...

Lynchburg U.S. District Court: U.S. v. Savoy Senior Housing Corp. v. TRBC Ministries LLC.(liability for any violation of the Clean Water Act)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Environmental - Clean Water Act - Fill Material - Wetlands A Lynchburg U.S. District Court denies the motion for summary judgment filed by third-party defendant TRBC Ministries LLC on a complaint seeking to hold...

Roanoke U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Singer Asset Finance Co. v. Mullins.(lender's motion for specific performance)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Bankruptcy - Stay - Specific Performance - Payment By Non-Debtor A Roanoke U.S. Bankruptcy Court denies a lender's motion for specific performance of an alleged agreement by debtor reached by the parties in open...

Roanoke U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Jessee, Trustee v. Johnson.(counterclaim request for declaration of a deed of trust)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Bankruptcy - Real Estate - Deed Description - Bona Fide Purchaser A Roanoke U.S. Bankruptcy Court says a creditor has stated a counterclaim request for a declaration that a deed of trust encumbers two parcels...

Va. Court of Appeals: Bell v. Commonwealth.(evidence admissibility under the inevitable discovery doctrine)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Search & Seizure - Traffic Stop - Illegal Muffler - Inevitable Discovery Even assuming a police officer violated defendant's Fourth Amendment rights by searching the contents of a cigarette box the officer saw...

Rappahannock County Circuit Court: Penza v. Penza.(marital debt)(Virginia)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Domestic Relations - Equitable Distribution - Marital Debt - Rental Income Although a husband claims he owes debts of an IRS lien of $40,000 and $59,624 to his father, husband has failed to provide documentation...

Prince William Circuit Court: Avery-Craft v. Kang.(lawyer fraud)(Virginia)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Negligence - P.I. Settlement - Lawyer Fraud Although a lawyer, Stephen Conrad, defrauded his p.i. client by absconding with the money paid by the carrier to settle the client's auto-accident case, a Prince...

House panel OKs bills affecting the judiciary in Virginia.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A legislative subcommittee approved bills Wednesday night that would have the General Assembly take over the judicial performance evaluation program and limit the tenure of a chief justice of the Supreme Court of...

4th Circuit: Rein v. U.S. PTO.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Administrative - FOIA - PTO Documents - Litigation Research In this suit by a lawyer and by Hunton & Williams law firm seeking documents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and the Department of Commerce related...

4th Circuit: Schaffer v. Weast.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Rights - Schools - IDEA - ADHD Student Maryland parents whose son suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and an auditory processing disorder are not entitled to reimbursement of their...

Commentary: trends: what the year ahead holds.(Virginia)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher, Deborah Elkins and Sarah Rodriguez It's time to take a look at the year ahead and opine on the trends we'll be watching and reporting in this newspaper. That's always a dicey exercise. As for 2009, good luck, you...

Large field seeks federal judgeships on 4th Circuit and U.S. District Court in Richmond.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper February 19 and 20 are going to be loooong days for judicial nominating committees. The committees of several bar groups plan to interview candidates those days for vacancies on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Former PD Boatwright dead at 56.
February 11, 2009... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Former Richmond public defender John B. Boatwright III died this past Monday after an illness. He was 56. Mr. Boatwright was a 1981 graduate of the University of Virginia law school. He worked in private...

Supreme Court of Virginia bypasses polygraph test issue.(Virginia)
February 13, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The other evidence that Dwight Kelly Smith remains a sexually violent predator was so clear that it didn't have to rule on whether the trial judge considered his failure to take a polygraph test, the Supreme Court of...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez New Associations The Arlington law firm of Bean, Kinney & Korman has hired two new attorneys: Timothy R. Hughes as of counsel and Michael Abejuela as an associate. Andrew B. Pittman has joined the Virginia...

U.S. District Court judge rules plaintiff's own UIM carrier must cover coverage 'gap'.(underinsured motorist)
February 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth A driver who injured a pedestrian had a minimum-limits insurance policy with $25,000 in coverage. He was covered by his dad's umbrella policy, but it could not be tapped unless there was a claim worth more than...

Bill passes to transfer judicial evaluations to the Virginia General Assembly.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The proposal that would transfer administration of the judicial performance evaluation program from the Supreme Court of Virginia to the General Assembly barely cleared the House on a 49-48 vote last week. The vote...

32 seek federal seats in Virginia.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A current and a former member of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Trial court judges. Appellate specialists. Litigators of all descriptions. Law professors. Former U.S. Supreme Court clerks. Thirty-two in all say...

Experts' testimony barred in Norfolk federal court brain-injury case.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth While traumatic brain injury cases have been responsible for some of Virginia's largest verdicts in recent years, a just-ended TBI case in Norfolk federal court brought several defense victories, including limits on...

Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. is elected to Virginia Court of Appeals.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The General Assembly elected Prince William County Circuit Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. to the Virginia Court of Appeals last week. The legislature also elected three pro tempore appointments by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine:...

Richmond lawyers getting comfortable with courtroom technology.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Lawyers who practice in the Richmond federal courts are getting comfortable with the advanced courtroom technology now available in the new federal courthouse. The document cameras and video screens already are...

Verdicts and Settlements February 16, 2009: Richmond motel settles for $1.4M in personal injury case.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Oct. 25, 2004, plaintiff was among a group of three employees of a North Carolina-based roofing company set to begin a construction project the following morning just north of Richmond. The...

Verdicts and Settlements February 16, 2009: Va. jury rules for defense in med-mal case.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly The plaintiff, a married man in his mid-fifties, went to the emergency department of a community hospital by ambulance after he was shocked by a 220-volt volt current when changing a fuse in a dryer at a...

Verdicts and Settlements February 16, 2009: Virginia jury awards $475K for hurricane damage.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly The home of Sandra Grant was damaged by wind and rain in Hurricane Isabel in September 2003. When she made a claim with her insurer, Augusta Mutual Insurance Company, she was advised to wait for an adjuster....

Northern Virginia builder wins on CGL mold claim before 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.(commercial general liability)
February 18, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins The spread of mold in a townhouse project is an occurrence that triggers coverage by a Northern Virginia builder's CGL policy, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in a decision reversing a denial of relief to...

Washington lobbyist, New York Times settle $27M lawsuit.
February 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher and Alan Cooper Vicki Iseman, the Washington lobbyist who filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, has settled her claim against the newspaper. No money was involved, but the Times must...

Va. House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees want Hassell to appear before them.(Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr.)
February 21, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees voted yesterday to send an ultimatum to Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr.: withdraw the order limiting dissemination of judicial performance evaluation reports or...

Sites for Circuit Courts in Virginia vary by jurisdiction.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez You probably know by now that the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Appeals Court Web sites offer a host of valuable resources for trial lawyers. But as the Feb. 9 Web Hits column mentioned, there is no...

Web sites: silver screen edition.(greatest legal movies)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher The Academy Awards were handed out last night, long after this issue went to bed. But here's a look at Web sites that are dedicated to movies about lawyers. And there is a tie to the Oscars: To Kill a Mockingbird, the...

Bus driver who lost a leg in collision in Virginia settles claim for $5 million.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A bus driver who lost a leg in a collision in Northern Virginia has settled his lawsuit for $5 million. Terry Shoemaker, 56, was driving 48 high school seniors from Berkley, W.Va., in a motor coach to Disney World...

Three GOP candidates for Virginia AG spar in Roanoke.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Each of the three lawyers vying for the GOP nomination for attorney general hopes to persuade fellow Republicans he can be the most electable while remaining the most conservative. The terms of the contest emerged...

Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. off the hook in patent dispute.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper This story starts out with a correction tape dispenser - one of those devices that releases a small piece of opaque tape that whites out errors on a document. This device was developed by a Japanese company that...

Virginia Court of Appeals rules purse was not a 'tool'.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins A woman's handbag may be part of an outfit in the fashion pages, but not in a court of law. The en banc Virginia Court of Appeals, in a three-way opinion in Edwards v. Commonwealth (VLW 009-7-070), rejected...

Virginia State Bar to resume posting all discipline.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia State Bar will resume posting all attorney disciplinary actions on its Web site. The postings will include those which may be appealed by the respondent lawyer. Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell...

Virginia fair trial project to close.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia Fair Trial Project, the criminal defense coalition formed to level the criminal justice playing field, will close its doors at the end of the month. Jack Harris, executive director of the Virginia Trial...

Pay freeze: Virginia law firms hold line on expenses in tough economy.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth and Caryn Tamber Law firm associates can plan on the same household budgets this year - Virginia law firms are holding the line on associate salaries, according to law school placement officials. The trend is...

Newspaper defamation award vacated by 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins The Vicki Iseman suit was not the only defamation case in the news in recent days. On Friday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a jury award to a Korean businessman who said he was defamed by...

Supreme Court of Virginia: commutation authority of York County Circuit Court disputed.
February 24, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper York County Circuit Judge N. Prentis Smiley lacked any authority to commute the death sentence of capital murder defendant Daryl Renard Atkins to life in prison, an attorney told the Supreme Court of Virginia today....

Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association make federal court endorsements.
February 25, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia Bar Association and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association have both recommended Sen. John S. Edwards and Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of...

Virginia bar groups endorse candidates for federal posts.
February 26, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Five bar groups have weighed in so far with recommendations for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and an open district court seat in the Eastern District. Here they are, names only. You can check...

Virginia Supreme Court rules on alibi, immunity.(court instructions on presumption of innocence)
February 27, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper After acknowledging today that it had pretty much made a mess of the alibi defense in earlier cases, the Supreme Court established clear rules for when judges must instruct on it in Cooper v. Commonwealth. The issue...

House Courts of Justice Committee certifies judges.(Virginia)
February 27, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The House Courts of Justice Committee finally got to see this afternoon the judicial performance evaluations of the first five judges to go through the process and quickly certified them to the full House, which is...

Virginia General Assembly elects judges.
February 28, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The reappointment or election of 24 judges and two members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission was the last business of the 2009 General Assembly tonight. Both houses adjourned for the year about 8:45 p.m....