Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from January 2006

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from January 2006

VA Lawyers in the News: January 9, 2006.(Megan P. Shearer, Anthony W. Basch, Matthew B. Chmiel, Megan B. Larkin joins Kaufman & Canoles)(Charles B. Lustig joins Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Giordano & Swain)(Heather S. Gillespie joins Spotts Fain)(Virginia)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Kaufman & Canoles has added four associates. Megan P. Shearer will practice in the firm's Norfolk office, focusing on medical malpractice defense. A graduate of the College of William & Mary,...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Disbarment - Income Tax A lawyer who filed income tax returns, but failed to pay income taxes, was not guilty of a "serious crime" within the meaning of Federal Rule of Disciplinary...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 9, 2006.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Hospital Construction - COPN - Standing A trial court did not err in ruling that Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia, a regional health planning agency that was a party to...

Floyd whistleblower reinstatement rejected by Roanoke federal district judge.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A Roanoke federal district judge has refused to enforce a Department of Labor order recommending reinstatement of the CFO of a Virginia bank holding company under the "whistleblower" provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley...

Fairfax Circuit judge rules DUI laws are constitutional.(driving under influence, Robert W. Wooldridge Jr.)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Fairfax Circuit Judge Robert W. Wooldridge Jr. ruled last Wednesday that legal presumptions in Virginia's drunken driving laws are constitutional. But Wooldridge said that conclusion can be reached only by...

Habeas petition may lead to exoneration of man convicted of murder and robbery in 2001.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper What the trial judge described as "startling" testimony by an investigator has led to the possible exoneration of a man convicted in October 2001 of a murder and robbery on the Eastern Shore in January 1988. The...

Ex-soccer star joins Vandeventer Black law firm's Richmond office.(Michelle Wycinsky)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Michelle "Missy" Wycinsky is accustomed to using her head. Just a few years ago, Wycinsky, 27, was playing professional soccer. She was lacing up her cleats for the San Diego Spirit, a team in the...

Virginia General Assembly bill would create fund for courts technology.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper When the General Assembly convenes in Richmond this Wednesday, one of many measures it will consider is a bill that would increase civil filing and processing fees to create a courts technology fund. Del. Vincent F....

Commentary: Invite emotions to sit at the negotiation table.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Louise Phipps Senft Dolan Media Newswires Mediation is frequently described as an opportunity for people to resolve conflicts. That is an apt description because in many ways it is an opportunity - in some ways a unique...

Retired Fauquier County General District Judge William W. Carson dies Sept. 29.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Retired Fauquier County General District Judge William W. Carson died Sept. 29 in Jacksonville, N.C. He was 91. A native of Nottoway County, Judge Carson earned his law degree from the University...

Retired tax attorney Harry B. Graves dies Oct. 12 in Richmond, VA.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Retired tax attorney Harry B. Graves died Oct. 12 in Richmond. He was 93. Mr. Graves earned four degrees from the University of Virginia: while finishing his Ph.D. in economics, he gained a law...

Longtime South Hill lawyer Frank D. Harris dies Oct. 8 at the age of 81.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Longtime South Hill lawyer Frank D. Harris died Oct. 8 at the age of 81. Born in Buckingham County, Mr. Harris served in the U.S. Army during World War II, seeing action in Europe and the...

Peninsula lawyer Theophlise Lee Twitty dies Nov. 3 at 54 years of age.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Peninsula lawyer Theophlise Lee Twitty died Nov. 3. He was 54. A native of Suffolk, Mr. Twitty, known to his friends as "T," graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1973; three years...

Retired Buchanan County General District Judge Pat B. Hale dies Nov. 5.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Retired Buchanan County General District Judge Pat B. Hale died Nov. 5. He was 78. A 1952 graduate of Emory & Henry College, he earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1955. ...

Richmond lawyer Joseph W. Kaestner dies of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 16.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Richmond lawyer Joseph W. Kaestner, who specialized in white-collar crime as a prosecutor and defense attorney for over 30 years, died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 16. He was 58. Mr. Kaestner...

William S. Banks, who practiced real estate law in Alexandria for many years, dies Nov. 26.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
January 9, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff William S. Banks, who practiced real estate law in Alexandria for many years, died Nov. 26 in Richmond. He was 93. A native of Gordonsville, he graduated from the University of Virginia in 1936. In...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Plaintiff receives $1.37M for brain injury from injection.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff suffered a toxic brain injury following the injection of contrast media and antibiotic into the spinal canal during a discogram procedure of the cervical spine. The defendant denied injecting...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Failed sterilization case settled for $100K.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 23-year-old woman underwent a failed sterilization procedure using a Filshie clamp. A gynecological surgeon placed a Filshie clamp on a ligament near the fallopian tube rather than on the fallopian...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Death cases following industrial accident settled.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The two decedents were killed in an industrial accident that occurred while they were performing repair services at a manufacturing plant. The decedents were employees of an independent contractor...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Workplace fight prompts suit, countersuit.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff McConnell and Baldwin were employed by GE for over 18 years. They did not get along. On Sept 16, 2004, McConnell teased Baldwin about taking a urine test on two occasions. Baldwin did not like...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Culpeper County wreck mediated for $800K.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, Hodge, was struck on the head by the defendant in Culpeper County at a combined speed of approximately 90 miles per hour. Plaintiff, an independent truck driver, was air-lifted to Inova...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Death case against nursing home, others settled.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 75-year-old woman with diabetes was hospitalized with a fractured hip on Oct. 1, 2001, and underwent surgery to repair the hip. She developed a decubitus ulcer on her sacrum, as well as both heels...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Failure-to-diagnose cancer case settled for $1M.(Estate of Doe vs. Smith M.D.)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Patient, age 29, presented to defendant family practitioner with insidious onset of knee pain. The knee pain became debilitating back pain which defendant treated for a year as a back sprain and ignored...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Woman wins $100K verdict against her UM carrier.(Uninsured motorist insurance)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On June 10, 2002, Mrs. Marie Cooper was riding as a passenger with her husband in her husband's 1997 Buick four-door sedan, when she was struck from behind by a Ford sedan, driven by Marc-Andre Duhaime....

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Prosecutor prevails in defamation case.(Ziglar v. Media Six, Inc. and Charles Roark)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A local tabloid newspaper published a letter from a convicted drug dealer who was charged with murder arising out of a robbery. In that letter, the convict stated that the commonwealth's attorney who...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Man settles civil sexual assault case.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Sexual relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff began when the defendant was 22 years old and the plaintiff was 12. A child was conceived by the parties when the defendant was 23 and the...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Back-pain case after rear-ender nets $18K.(Epps v. Garnett)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was the driver of a vehicle that was stopped while waiting to exit a gas station. Defendant rear-ended plaintiff from within the gas station. There was minor property damage, and no...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Case of death of minor is mediated for $625,000.(Minor v. Younger)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Defendant, 17, had obtained his driver's license 30 days prior to the accident and his parents gave him a BMW 525 to drive. On Aug. 2, 2004, on a rainy night, defendant picked up plaintiff, 16, who rode...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Felon wins back-injury suit.(Arbitelle v. The Estate of Benno Boerchers)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff is a four-time convicted felon, but had recently married and obtained a job as an apprentice plumber. He had lost his job due to his back injury. Type of Action: Auto accident - civil...

Statute trumps rule on night time search.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A federal law that authorizes service of a search warrant for drugs "at any time of the day or night" trumps a rule of court that requires service of search warrants in the daytime unless a judge "for good cause...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Spine injury from wreck settled for $250K.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff sustained a lumbar spine injury in a motor vehicle accident in which there was minimal property damage. He was struck from the rear by a passenger car being operated by the defendant while...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Company wins in sex-discrim case brought by sales rep.(Surbey v. Stryker Sales Corp.)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a female sales representative working on commission selling medical equipment. The defendant was her former employer. In the complaint, the plaintiff alleged that her sales quotas...

Del. Albo, Sen. Stolle want to end court-appointed pay caps.(David B. Albo)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The chairmen of the General Assembly's Courts of Justice Committees have introduced bills in their respective houses that would eliminate the caps on the pay of attorneys appointed to represent indigent criminal...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Case offers lesson on investigating all sources of coverage.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Individual driver in this case was driving a privately owned vehicle at 7:00 in the morning. The carrier for that vehicle offered their policy limits of $100,000.00. Counsel did some independent...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Doc wins fraud suit brought after breast reduction surgery.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Aug. 6, 2002, plaintiff underwent breast reduction surgery at a local hospital. The surgery was performed by the defendant. On Jan. 24, 2003, plaintiff underwent a post-breast reduction revision...

Verdicts and Settlements January 16, 2006: Jury finds for doctor in failure-to-diagnose cancer case.(Holmes v. Doe Radiology Group)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent was a 56-year-old woman with a history of urinary dysfunction who presented to the emergency room with complaints of back and flank pain. The emergency physician ordered a...

Virginia court reporters again seeking licensure.(Virginia Court Reporters Association)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Brent Baldwin and Paul Fletcher Leaders of the Virginia Court Reporters Association are at the General Assembly for the second straight year, asking for a system of licensure for Virginia court reporters. Last year, the VCRA's...

Brit dad gets second chance to take twins back to UK.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A father trying to get his twins returned from Virginia to the United Kingdom does not have to show "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the children were "habitually resident" in the United Kingdom, the 4th U.S. Circuit...

IRS to perform more audits in new year.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson This article originally appeared in Lawyers Weekly USA, another Dolan Media publication. In an effort to boost compliance with tax laws and regulations, the IRS recently announced that it would increase the...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Arbitration - Panel - Single Arbitrator - Commercial Dispute Where the parties entered into a "Definitive Settlement Agreement" to resolve years-long litigation arising from their...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(employment discriminationc case)(traffic accident and negligence case )
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination Title VII - Sex - Hotel Cost- Cutting A woman whose position as hotel assistant general manager was created at her request so that she would have the chance to move...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Rape - Jury Instruction - Alternative Theories At defendant's trial for the rape of a woman who was discovered unconscious by police, any assumed error by the trial court in combining...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 16, 2006.(mechanics' liens case)(breach of contract case)(child custody case)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Appeals Bond - Mechanic's Lien - Jurisdiction A construction company that has appealed this court's decree invalidating its mechanic's lien may not now return to the circuit...

Virginia Law Foundation to induct 18 at Thursday dinner.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Virginia Law Foundation will induct 18 members of the Virginia State Bar into its 2006 Class of Fellows at a dinner meeting this Thursday in Williamsburg. The guest speaker for the occasion...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Pain management doc prevails in med-mal suit.(medical malpractice)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Jan. 11, 2004, a 78-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Room of Winchester Medical Center with extreme back pain. She was assessed with kyphosis, scoliosis, severe osteoporosis, possible...

Verdicts & Settlements January 16, 2006: Disabled police officer gains benefits.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Claimant was a former police officer who sustained permanent disability to his lower back. Claimant was unable to return to his former line of employment. Type of Action: Social Security disability...

In latest cases, Supreme Court of Virginia gives, takes away.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia gives and the court takes away. And we're not talking chump change. The phrase "Reversed and final judgment" at the end of opinions issued on Jan. 13 reinstated $4 million of a...

Petty, Beales join the contest for two VA Appeals Court seats.(William G. Petty, Randolph A. Beales)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney William G. Petty and former Virginia Attorney General Randolph A. Beales have entered the contest for two vacancies on the Virginia Court of Appeals. Petty and Beales, who served as...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 23, 2006.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Eighth Amendment - Private Prison - Medical Care - Bivens The 4th Circuit declines to extend a cause of action under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: January 23, 2006.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice - Wrongful Incarceration - New Evidence A plaintiff who was wrongfully incarcerated for murder and related charges for 11 years, and who was compensated for the...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 23, 2006.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Road Contract - Surety Takeover - Claim Denial A surety that was required to take over road construction projects in Chesterfield and York Counties, and that then sought...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 23, 2006.(legal malpractice, breach of contract)(consequential damages)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice - Limitations - Oral Contract Although defendant law firm may have continued to bill a client for conversations on a particular project, and a defendant was named...

Commentary: Trends 2006: Issues to watch in the year ahead.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher, Deborah Elkins and Alan Cooper Every year about this time we take on the task of looking through a glass, darkly, to figure out what to expect in the coming year or to anticipate trends. For any identified trends that...

Supreme Court of VA allows med-mal claim for independent medical examination.(medical malpractice, Virginia)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A personal-injury plaintiff who alleges a doctor verbally abused her during an independent medical examination can sue that doctor for medical malpractice. The Supreme Court of Virginia has recognized a new tort...

On third try, family of woman shot by cops wins $1.5M in Richmond Circuit Court.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Not only did a sharply divided Supreme Court of Virginia give Petersburg lawyer Charles H. Cuthbert Jr. a third opportunity to win a case for the two children of a woman accidentally killed by Richmond police in...

Richmond-based law firm McGuireWoods merges with tech firm in Chicago.(Gordon and Glickson)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper McGuireWoods LLP is merging with Chicago's Gordon & Glickson, the technology law boutique that advised the Virginia Information Technologies Agency on outsourcing the state's information technology efforts. The...

Two VA judges reprimanded by Judicial Inquiry and Review Comm. won't seek another term.(Virginia judges A. Elisabeth Oxenham and B. Bryan Milbourne to step down)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Two juvenile and domestic relations district court judges who had been reprimanded by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission have decided not to seek reelection by the General Assembly to a third term. Judge A....

Supreme Court of Virginia rules Fairfax judge can't bar death penalty consideration.
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled Thursday that a Fairfax judge lacked the discretion to decide that prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against a Vietnamese national. Circuit Judge Leslie M. Alden held...

Supreme Court of VA rules venue in Richmond improper for suit over Powhatan fight.(Virginia)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The test for venue is the business activity of the defendant, not the business activity of a closely held corporation that the defendant controls, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled. The issue arose from the...

CareFirst loses challenge to Virginia doctors' use of 'First Care' mark.(CareFirst of Maryland Inc. )
January 23, 2006... Byline: Ann W. Parks (This story originally ran in The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD, another Dolan Media publication.) Eleven Virginia physicians operating under the name "First Care" will not have to surrender their trademark in favor...

VA General Assembly wants to know why med-mal insurance so costly.(Virginia, medical malpractice)
January 23, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A legislative subcommittee wants to know why it apparently costs so much to provide medical malpractice coverage of more than $1 million when the number of settlements and awards in that range is so small. Members...

U.S. Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 30, 2006.(whistleblower case)(Knox v. U.S. Department of labor)(bankruptcy case)(Jacksonville Airport Inc. v. Michkeldel Inc)(employment discrimination case )(Baqir v. Principi )
January 30, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Clean Air Act - Whistleblower - Asbestos - Protected Activity A National Park Service employee who served as safety officer for a job corps center in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.,...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 30, 2006.(negligence case)(disability rights case)(Crumel v. Hampton University)(employment contract case)(Huizenga v. American Int'l Auto. Dealers Ass'n)
January 30, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Negligence - Unseaworthiness - Deckhand Injury The owner of a vessel wins exoneration for liability for injuries and related damages sustained by claimant in a shipboard incident for...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: January 30, 2006.(Virginia )
January 30, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal RICO - Guardians Ad Litem - Incarcerated Felons In this action involving prosecution of multiple defendants for bribery and bid-rigging in award of public contracts to repair flood...

VA Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 30, 2006.(Virginia )(child molestation case)(domestic relations case)(Johnson v. County of Chesterfield Dep't of Social Services)(workers' compensation case )(Stillwell v. Lewis Tree Service Inc)
January 30, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Corrections Employee - Reinstatement - Back Pay Because a circuit court order requiring reinstatement of a fired correctional officer has been reversed by this appellate court,...

VA Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 30, 2006.(domestic relations case)(Yarnoff v. Yarnoff)(negligence case)(Sensenbrenner v. Rust, Orling & Neale, Architects Inc)(sexual harassment case)(Doe v. Paradigm Mgmt. Co)
January 30, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Sanctions - Intervention - Easement A circuit court denies a trustee's motion to reconsider a sanction entered against a defendant trustee who intervened in this proceeding...

Commentary: Opposing counsel is a jerk: So what do you do?
January 30, 2006... Byline: Neil W. Hamilton (The following article was originally published in the Minnesota Lawyer, Minneapolis, MN. another Dolan Media publication). Reflect for a moment on the proportion of jerk lawyers in your practice area. Professor...

At play in the fields of the law.("The Home Serenity and Tranquility Act")
January 30, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins "The Home Serenity and Tranquility Act." We know what you're thinking. Any legislator who can ensure serenity and tranquility in the home deserves our support. But Del. Robert D. Hull, D-Falls Church, is...

Three incumbent judges not elected to new terms by VA General Assembly.(John C. Quigley Jr., Judge William C., William C. Andrews III)(Virginia)
January 30, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Three incumbents were not among 59 judges elected to new terms last week by the General Assembly. And former Attorney General Judith Williams Jagdmann, who left office earlier this month, won a seat on the State...

Retired VA Judge John D. Butzner dies at 88.(Obituary)
January 30, 2006... Byline: Brent Baldwin Retired Judge John D. Butzner, who served on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from 1967 to 2000, died Jan. 20. He was 88. A native of Pennsylvania, Judge Butzner served in the U.S. Air Force Weather Service...