Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from January 2008

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from January 2008

Virginia Lawyers in the News: January 7, 2008.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Jennifer L. Rawls has joined the Richmond office of McGuireWoods LLP as an associate in the firm's tax and employee benefits department. She was previously a law clerk at the Norfolk Circuit Court....

Richmond area mediation group expands focus to private clients.(MG Inc.)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff MG Inc., long a leading provider of court-referred mediation services in the Richmond area, is expanding its operation to focus on services for private clients as well. CMG, formerly known as...

Federal court nixes treble damages for sales rep's comments.(Margriet Steuer)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins A sales representative who allegedly bad-mouthed a competitor's product has dodged a treble-damage trademark claim in federal court. The sales rep for a medical device company won dismissal of the competitor's...

$150K awarded for distress in Fair Credit Act lawsuit.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel criticized an appellant for picking a figure out of the air in suggesting an appropriate amount to award for emotional distress in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case. But the...

Lawyer v. Lawyer.(Christopher S. Spencer; E. Duncan Getchell Jr.)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The only thing that is clear about the nastiest piece of litigation in the state with lawyers as parties is that somebody blew a deadline. Because of that blown deadline, Wintergreen Resort and its insurer lost...

Mental health, budget to dominate Virginia 2008 General Assembly.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The 2008 General Assembly is expected to be dominated by issues related to the budget submitted by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine that will carry the state through July 2010. The interplay between the House of Delegates,...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: January 7, 2008.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Declaratory Judgment - No Collection Action - Ch. 13 A bankruptcy court dismisses debtor's motion for declaratory judgment which attempts to prevent Citi Mortgage Inc. from taking...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 7, 2008.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Appeals - Mandate - Privacy Act - Attorney's Fees A district court erred when it awarded attorney's fees in this case under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. Sect. 552a(g)(4)(B), by...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 7, 2008.(Virginia)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Arbitration - Rapper's Fee Although rapper 50 Cent argues that he is entitled to keep the $150,000 he received in anticipation of a performance as a "kill fee" pursuant to a draft...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: January 7, 2007.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Fifth Amendment - Request For Counsel A burglary suspect who told police, "Nah, I want a lawyer, you know what I'm saying?" in response to their request to search his vehicle...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 7, 2008.(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Custody - UCCJEA - False Affidavits A Salem Circuit Court dismisses a wife's petition for custody of the parties' three children because the parties' divorce and custody...

Verdicts & Settlements January 7, 2008: Heart patient dies during stress test.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's decedent, age 42, went to his primary care physician for a refill of his diabetes prescription. During that visit, the decedent mentioned that he experienced chest tightness and pain on...

Verdicts & Settlements January 7, 2008: Gangrene develops after surgery to small toe.(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's leg was amputated below the knee after developing gangrene and infection following surgery to her small toe. She complained of a long standing callus and had sought palliative care, but...

Verdicts & Settlements January 7, 2008: Logs from truck release before plaintiff is clear.(Brief article)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was working with the defendant unloading logs at Augusta Lumber Yard. The defendant released the chains holding the logs on the logging truck before the plaintiff was clear from the truck and...

Charitable immunity argued at Supreme Court of Virginia.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The comments of several justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia no doubt pleased a group of plaintiffs' attorneys who traveled to Richmond to hear arguments on the contention of the University of Virginia Health...

SouthBanc Mortgage employment contract suit settled for $10.5M.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper SouthBanc Mortgage dickered for more than a year over an employment contract with Theresa L. Ritter, whom it had hired in June 2002 as vice president of production in its Herndon office. No agreement had been...

Arlington home buyers hit for lawyer's fees.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins Home buyers who say their Arlington residence is coming apart at the seams must pay sanctions for not disclosing the basis of their fraud claims against the sellers. Dragging their heels on discovery did not get...

'Virginia's largest verdicts of 2007' presented.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez There are 20 jury verdicts featured in the survey of "Virginia's Largest Verdicts of 2007." And that figure is far fewer than the number reported the previous year. In 2006, juries in Virginia handed down a...

Virginia Law Foundation to induct 21 new Fellows this week.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Virginia Law Foundation will induct 21 members of the Virginia State Bar into its 2008 Class of Fellows at a dinner meeting to be held on Jan. 17 in Williamsburg during the Virginia Bar...

Federal judge says real estate salesman was not an employee.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper A real estate salesman who represented Long and Foster Realty Inc. was an independent contractor and not an employee of the broker, a federal judge in Alexandria has ruled. That means that Long and Foster has no...

U.S. Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Death Sentence - N.C. Defendant A North Carolina death-row defendant who, with his uncle, handled firearms the night of a confrontation between the uncle and another...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Nonconvenient Forum - Contract Case In this case in which plaintiff Italian companies assert that defendant General Motors Corporation obtained access to plaintiffs'...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative FOIA - FDA Information A freelance writer for an Internet newsletter "FDA Review," which reports and analyzes health care products and marketing activities regulated by the U.S....

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Dentist License Revocation - Board's Late Answer Although the Board of Dentistry was one business day late in filing its response to the petition for appeal filed by a dentist...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Discovery Sanctions - Real Estate Contract In this litigation in which plaintiff buyers allege that defendants, the seller of an Arlington home and her broker/husband, knew that a...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Accounting firm sued over delay in stock redemption.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff Costa Brava, a hedge fund, invested heavily in 2004 and 2005 in the publicly traded preferred stock of Telos Corporation, an IT defense contractor. The preferred stock, created in 1989, had a...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Lender, leasing company defrauded in scheme.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff Banc of America Leasing & Capital ("BoA") entered into a financing agreement with ePlus Group, Inc. ("ePlus") in which BoA was to provide financing for a computer equipment lease between...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Cyclist suffers lacerations in collision with taxicab.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a triathlete, was cut off on his bicycle by a cab driver as the driver tried to turn into a handicap parking space in front of a construction zone. The collision shattered the glass in the...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Surgery performed before conservative treatment tried.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 47-year-old certified nursing assistant, was referred by her primary care physician to the defendant, a neurosurgeon, for suspected carpal tunnel syndrome or ulnar neuropathy. Plaintiff...

Verdicts & Settlements (January 14, 2008) Carpal tunnel surgery performed before conservative treatment tried.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was 27 years old when she was diagnosed with signet ring cell gastric (stomach) cancer in June 2003. Surgery was planned to remove 50 percent of her stomach. The defendant pathologist...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Failure to be deposed leads to finding of willfullness.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Decedent was making a left turn on a four-lane divided highway when she was struck by an oncoming dump truck carrying over 15 tons of asphalt. Witnesses said the dump truck owned by Branscome Paving...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Golfer ruptures tendon in fall on sprinkler cover.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff At the time of the accident, plaintiff was playing golf at the Penderbrook Golf Club in Fairfax County. He was at the 18th hole near the green and his golf ball was near the hole. As he approached his...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Elderly woman injured in fall at nursing home.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff An elderly woman fell at a healthcare facility because of a lack of intervention. Type of Action: Medical malpractice Injuries Alleged: Confidential Name of Case: Confidential Court:...

Verdicts & Settlements January 14, 2008: Erroneous tax advice results in late filing.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The estate, in reliance on advice of counsel, filed tax payments with the IRS late. When the IRS refused any excuse for late filing, it imposed penalties in excess of $100,000. The estate filed suit...

Virginia Supreme Court says association can't sell lots for failure to pay assessment.(Dogwood Valley Citizens Association Inc.)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper "Do it right in the beginning" seems to be the message in from the Supreme Court of Virginia about setting up a property owners' association. The court rejected last week the second effort of the Dogwood Valley...

Virginia General Assembly bill addresses mold in homes.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Paul Fletcher You're on your own. And look out. That would be the word to homebuyers when it comes to mold in the house they buy, if a bill introduced in the 2008 General Assembly becomes law. Under the Virginia...

Virginia's deferred judgment issue may be decided.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper Whether trial judges have the inherent authority to defer judgment in criminal cases may be decided sooner rather than later - or perhaps later rather than sooner. Three circumstances are in play: * The Supreme...

Supreme Court of Virginia says doctor can testify on post-operative care.(Dr. Robert C. Kime III)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper A neurologist who had not performed surgery in almost a decade was nevertheless qualified to testify on the standard of care for post-operative treatment of a discectomy, even though he could not testify on the standard...

Norfolk circuit judge says man's gift of stock to son was OK.(John C. Morrison; Aron Doxie)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins A father who signed over his stock in a demolition company to one of his sons made a gift of that stock even though the corporation had been terminated. Siblings of the stock recipient challenged the stock...

General Assembly says pre-fab home would become real estate.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Paul Fletcher Manufactured houses and house trailers would become real estate once their wheels are removed, under a bill pending before the General Assembly. House Bill 660 answers a case from Fairfax last fall in which a...

Virginia's repeal of driver fees gets caught in politics.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper All members of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee seemed to agree last week about the best response to the state's much-maligned civil remedial fees: repeal them as soon as possible and make refunds to those who...

Virginia Legal Obituaries: January 21, 2008.(Obituary)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Nelson T. Overton Retired Court of Appeals Judge Nelson T. Overton died Jan. 9 at his Hampton home. He was 79. He was the first judge on the intermediate appellate court from the Peninsula,...

U.S. Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Post- Conviction Motion - Successive Motion A defendant's 2001 pro se motion seeking discovery cannot be counted as his first petition for post-conviction relief under 28 U.S.C. Sect....

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 21, 2008.(Virgina)(Case overview)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Capital Murder - Habeas Relief - Double Jeopardy A Virginia death-row inmate is not entitled to habeas relief on the claim that his second trial on a capital murder charge, based on...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Credit Card Fraud - Construction Business A subcontractor who had a business credit card belonging to the contractor who hired him, with the contractor cardholder's permission to use...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate Stock Gift - Terminated Corporation In this contest between siblings over ownership of 100 shares of stock of their deceased father's demolition business, the son to whom the father...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2008: Motorist suffers injuries to hip in rear-end collision.(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Claimant was waiting to make a left turn into a gas station on a two-lane road with his left turn signal on when the potential defendant crashed into the rear of claimant's Volvo sedan. The potential...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2008: Distracted driver rear-ends pickup in Dinwiddie.(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Nov. 11, 2004, plaintiff was driving his pickup truck northbound on Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie County. Defendant, who was driving a box truck, was also northbound on Interstate 85 when he ran into...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2008: Intersection crash causes severe left wrist injuries.(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was traveling west on Midlothian Turnpike in the left lane and approaching the intersection of Salisbury Drive, with the right of way. The defendant was traveling east on Midlothian Turnpike,...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2008: Development of disc injuries contested in Rockingham.(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was involved in a rear end collision on Dec. 26, 2004. Five days after the accident the plaintiff began seeking medical treatment. Radio-graphic studies confirmed herniated discs at...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2008: Breast implants damaged in Interstate 95 crash.(Brief article)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff slowed for traffic in her 2000 Ford truck on southbound Interstate-95 before the defendant, who was driving a 1999 Freightliner Classic tractor trailer at 50 mph, rear-ended another vehicle...

Charlottesville federal court to decide if Wintergreen homes agreement violates antitrust.(Mountain Area Realty Inc.; Wintergreen Partners Inc.)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Deborah Elkins A fight between two realty companies over the right to sell Wintergreen resort properties has hit Charlottesville federal court. The plaintiff, Mountain Area Realty Inc., says that Wintergreen Partners Inc.'s...

Two Virginia judges in trouble for gaining new term.(Charles D. Griffith Jr. and John M. Farmer)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper Two incumbent judges--Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles D. Griffith Jr. and John M. Farmer, a juvenile and domestic relations district judge in far Southwest Virginia--appear to face difficulty in getting reelected. ...

Va. Supreme Court Justice Lawrence L. Koontz: In a brief tell the story in the case.(Virginia)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Paul Fletcher Your appeal has been granted by the Supreme Court of Virginia. When you sit down to write the brief for the court, tell the story in the case. Give some thought to and explain why the case is before the high...

Virginia's State Corp. Commission to decide who will get the funds of Reciprocal of America?
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The State Corporation Commission heard arguments last week on whether policyholders of risk retention groups of lawyers and doctors should have priority claims on the assets of Reciprocal of America....

Virginia Assembly debates policy concerns in termination of parental rights.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Alan Cooper The goal is to get children in foster care adopted and in permanent homes. Before that can be done, the rights of the child's natural parents have to be terminated, so bills were introduced in the General Assembly...

U.S. Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Above- Guidelines Sentence - Notice A 480-month sentence for a church van driver convicted of receiving child pornography is vacated because the district court did not...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Personal Jurisdiction - N.C. Lawyer - Legal Malpractice Plaintiff Virginia residents who hired defendant North Carolina attorney to represent them in an action filed in North...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: January 28, 2008.(Virginia)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - Rule 56 Affidavits Defendant university wins attorney's fees under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 based on its motion alleging plaintiff's counsel in this employment discrimination...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Beer Franchise Act - Distributorship Termination - Notice A circuit court decision upholding the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board's holding that allowed Breckenridge Brewery of...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: January 28, 2008.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Real Estate Foreclosure Sale - Accounting - 'Balance Due' In this case arising from a foreclosure sale by substitute trustees of property encumbered by a deed of trust, a commissioner of...

Verdicts & Settlements January 28, 2008: Woman, mother-in-law injured in collision on U.S. 220.(Betty J. Leitch; Nancy C. Creech)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On June 7, 2004, Betty J. Leitch was driving a pickup truck in Botetourt County on U.S. 220. Nancy C. Creech, her mother-in-law, was a passenger. A U.S. Postal Service delivery automobile came from...

Verdicts & Settlements January 28, 2008: Mediation used to decide apportionment of insurance.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's decedent, Ashley Myers, an 18-year-old high school senior, was killed instantly when the vehicle in which she was a passenger was rear-ended by a tractor trailer on Interstate 66 in the...

Verdicts & Settlements January 28, 2008: Brain damage caused by surgery on wrong artery.(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff had a left carotid endarterectomy (surgical procedure to remove plaque) in 1997. Periodic ultrasound duplex examinations were conducted on a yearly basis thereafter. In 2005, she reported some...

Verdicts & Settlements January 28, 2008: Woman suffers shoulder injuries nine years apart.(Brief article)
January 28, 2008... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This case was tried on admitted liability after the defendant pleaded guilty to reckless driving in traffic court. The defense claimed that all the plaintiff's injuries were caused by a previous auto...