Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from July 2004

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from July 2004

Va. Court of Appeals Rules No Notice to Guardian Won't Bar Mom's Appeal.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod Even though the mother in a grandparent visitation case failed to give notice of her appeal to her child's guardian ad litem, she can proceed with the appeal, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled. In letting the...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Virginia jury awards auto accident plaintiff $90K.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This case stems from an automobile accident that occurred on Dec. 25, 2001, in Bluefield. The plaintiff, William Remines, was originally charged with this accident and subsequently acquitted in the...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Virginia slip and fall case settles for $180K.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff sustained multiple orthopedic injuries, including a knee injury requiring three surgeries, as the result of a slip and fall on ice in the contractor's entrance to the Lowe's store in...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: July 12, 2004.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Norfolk lawyer Timothy M. McConville, who practices in the labor & employment section at Willcox & Savage, was recently elected Chairman of the National Institute for Labor Relations Research (NILLR),...

Va. Legislature May Meet To Fix 'Day Of Rest' Error.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin Gov. Mark R. Warner is expected to call a special session of the General Assembly for the single purpose of fixing an error created this past spring. At presstime, Warner had been consulting with leaders from both...

New Indigent Defense Commission Launched In Va.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Matthew Philips The commonwealth's first entity charged with the oversight of court-appointed lawyers opened for business this month. The Virginia Indigent Defense Commision, created by the 2004 General Assembly, will handle...

Committee on State Medical Insurance In Va. Slow To Get Going.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Matthew Philips Gov. Mark R. Warner signed a bill in April to create a state-run insurance program for Virginia physicians, but since then, details on the program have been slow to develop. A study committee that must report...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Virginia med-mal suit settles for $750K.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The 52-year-old plaintiff consulted with defendant orthopedic surgeon with respect to tingling and pain in her right arm. After review of an MRI study, the surgeon planned cervical disc surgery at two...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Virginia plaintiff awarded workers' comp for hearing loss.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The deputy commissioner, William Culbreth, ruled in claimants' favor on May 14, 2003, and MeadWestvaco appealed to the full commission. In a 14-page opinion dated Nov. 4, 2003, by Commissioner Virginia...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Va. jury delivers $12K verdict and awards it in mediation.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Pursuant to a construction contract, defendant sub-contractor sued plaintiff general contractor in general district court for the city of Richmond for $12,000 related to the general contractor's...

Retired Nelson County lawyer Sam D. Eggleston Jr. dies at 77.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Retired Nelson County lawyer Sam D. Eggleston Jr., died June 27 in Charlottesville. He was 77. A native of Campbell County, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946 and served in the Philippines and...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 12, 2004.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Black Lung Benefits - Pneumoconiosis - Medical Payments The Benefits Review Board did not err in applying a presumption supporting a miner's eligibility for medical benefits...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 12, 2004.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Employee Grievance Procedure - Termination Although a state university employee contends she was not afforded due process, her claim is without merit and her termination is...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 12, 2004.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Minor's Medical Bills - Parent Suit Where parents of a boy injured in an altercation with defendant filed their first suit against defendant for medical bills for treatment of...

Generation X: Slowly but surely replacing the Baby Boomers in jury box.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Matthew Philips Generation X. It's a term that came into vogue during the 1990s to describe the generation - born between 1966 to 1981 - that followed the post-World War II Baby Boomers. The pop psychologists may have...

Mass. lawyer William G. "Bill" Davis dies at 61.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Franklin County lawyer William G. "Bill" Davis died at his home on Feb. 27 after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 61. A 1964 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, he earned his law degree...

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Suit stemming from dog bite settles for $145K.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a 4-year-old girl who was bitten on the face by a Labrador retriever mixed breed dog owned by her uncle. Plaintiff had approached the dog and attempted to pet it before she was attacked....

Verdicts & Settlements July 12, 2004: Virginia auto accident suit nets $100K verdict.
July 12, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was injured in an auto accident. Defendant admitted liability in return for a high-low of $30,000 to $150,000. There was $200,000 of UM coverage available. The plaintiff had been offered a job...

Playing Gotcha: Advice From Alexandria Lawyer Sharon Lieblich.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic relations lawyers may sigh with relief when their clients agree to last-minute resolutions of issues before court is called to order. But lawyers headed for court should give some thought to...

Thanks to Va. Board of Housing and Community Development: Merry Christmas, in July.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The temperature and the humidity level may be in the 90s here in the Old Dominion, but, by golly, here's a cheery holiday story to cool you right down. Virginia has lifted a ban on fresh-cut...

Va. State Bar Legal Ethics Opinion Says Lawyer-Shopping By Client Can Backfire.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod An attorney must withdraw from representation of a man in a divorce case because the man's wife previously disclosed confidential personal information to the attorney during a potential client interview, according to a...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 19, 2004.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Discovery - Nonparty - Protective Order Where defendant in an underlying action in federal court in the Virgin Islands sought discovery from a corporation closely held by two of...

Va. State Bar Finds It All, on eBay.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff And one last leftover from the VSB confab: Dana McDaniel, the Richmond lawyer who has been working with the VSB on updating its computers, gave the VSB Council a report about the system. He...

Va. State Bar Counsel Barbara Ann Williams: Feel the Force, Luke.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Another tidbit from the "Recent Developments" seminar, this one from Virginia State Bar Counsel Barbara Ann Williams, who surveyed lawyer ethics and discipline. Williams was "struck by how much...

Verdicts & Settlements July 19, 2004: Virginia woman awarded $750K for broken ankle.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, 36, lived with her husband and two young children at Dominion English Hills, an apartment complex owned and operated by the defendants. The accident occurred on August 30, 2002, as the...

Verdicts & Settlements July 19, 2004: Virginia med-mal case in mediation nets $520K.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 57-year-old insulin dependent diabetic, complained of a small sore on the tip of his little toe. Anonymous defendant, a podiatrist doctor, debrided the grade-two sore and provided...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 19, 2004.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination Disability - ADA - Reasonable Accommodation Where plaintiff warehouse worker alleges he was illegally discharged under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 19, 2004.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Capital Defendant A Virginia state prisoner under capital sentence who has given notice of his intention to file a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus must...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 19, 2004.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Custodial Arrest - Drug & Gun Seizure Where defendant began to run as he was approached by police in a high-crime area, and defendant took out a handgun and threw it behind a...

Verdicts & Settlements July 19, 2004: Dog attack case settles in mediation for $100K in Virginia.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendants owned a 44-pound mixed breed German shepherd that had previously snapped at and tried to bite two very young neighborhood girls. The defendants admitted that one incident involving an...

Bad Faith Claim Filed In Richmond Circuit Court Prompts Carrier to Provide Defense.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin A commercial insurance carrier agreed to defend its policyholder in a business-tort case, but only after the policyholder filed a bad-faith claim against it. The carrier initially had refused to defend the...

Alexandria Federal Judge Rules AOL's Reliance On Defective Warrant Will Be Trial Issue.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod When Virginia-based America Online turned over subscriber information to Connecticut detectives investigating a perceived e-mail threat, based on a defective warrant, it acted with the knowledge and intent required for...

Canine responsible for crime wave in McLean.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A crime wave was going down in McLean. Someone kept stealing the small ceramic figurines from Ruth Breiner's yard. A raccoon was pinched in April. A small deer vanished in early June. ...

4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Actress' Stress Syndrome Is Not Covered Under ADA.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins An actress who was fired from a musical road show after she suffered debilitating mental illness cannot sue the touring company for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 4th U.S....

Tysons Corner Lawyer Patrick Kennedy dies.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Vienna trusts & estates lawyer Patrick Kennedy died suddenly on June 28. He was a partner in the firm of Cochran & Owen LLC. Born in Illinois in 1960, he received his undergraduate degree, summa...

Verdicts & Settlements July 19, 2004: Plaintiff settles for $260K for misplaced sponge.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, Sue Yung, mother of a Navy enlisted man, 52 years old, had a hysterectomy. The following year, she had nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain and was examined at the Naval Medical Center...

Verdicts & Settlements July 19, 2004: Breach of insurance contract suit settles for $305, 671.
July 19, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff In April 2001, CBP Resources, Inc. was sued for several business torts. When CBP put its insurance agent on notice of the suit it was advised that there was no coverage under its Comprehensive General...

Making Movies: Richmond Lawyer Becomes Producer.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin When Eileen McNeil Newkirk graduated from Virginia Tech at the tender age of 20 with a degree in broadcasting, she was unsure which direction her life was headed. Following a summer stint working for ABC's...

The John-John Show in Boston.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff It's Democrat week in Boston, as the donkeys gather for their nominating convention starting today, when they'll anoint the John-John ticket - home-town Sen. John Kerry for president and North...

Albemarle Jury Awards $8.3M To Skier Hurt At Wintergreen.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin An Albemarle County jury has awarded $8.3 million to a teenage girl who was permanently injured when she collided with a snow-grooming machine while skiing at the Wintergreen. The judge will wait a month and hear...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Taxpayer Union - Social Security Act - Constitutional Challenge Plaintiff National Taxpayer Union may not challenge the constitutionality of Sect. 1140 of the Social Security...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Veterans Affairs - Administrative Remedies A veteran's suit against the Department of Veterans Affairs under 42 U.S.C. Sect. 1983 is dismissed for lack of subject matter...

Verdicts & Settlements July 26, 2004: Breach of insurance contract suit settles for $1M.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Trilegiant hired National Accident Insurance Consultants, Inc. to obtain life insurance coverage that Trilegiant marketed to credit card companies to make available to customers who were traveling on a...

Verdicts & Settlements July 26, 2004: Albemarle jury awards $8.3M to skier hurt at Wintergreen.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin An Albemarle County jury has awarded $8.3 million to a teenage girl who was permanently injured when she collided with a snow-grooming machine while skiing at the Wintergreen. The judge will wait a month and hear...

Richmond Federal Judge RulesFederal Guidelines Are Unconstitutional.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Paul Fletcher A Richmond federal judge has ruled that use of the federal mandatory sentencing guidelines in a drug case would be unconstitutional. He based his decision on Blakely v. Washington, a new U.S. Supreme Court case...

Va. Court of Appeals Rules 'Pension' Award Includes Spouse's Disability Pay.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Deborah Elkins A wife was entitled to part of her husband's disability retirement pay under a final divorce decree that gave her a portion of his "pension if, when and as received by him," the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled....

Elizabeth Rust Williams, first female lawyer in Clarke County, dies at 59.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Elizabeth Rust Williams, the first female lawyer in Clarke County, died July 8. She was 59. She passed away at her 18th-century farm, Clermont, which her family had owned for many years and which...

Internet Defamation.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Dara McLeod The World Wide Web is giving local politicians, grass roots activists, and aspiring editorial columnists a new podium from which to espouse their views--a result that can only be good for a democratic society founded...

The Mary Washington (University of Mary Washington) Name Game, Cont.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff "Mary Washington College" will remain part of the newly monikered University of Mary Washington, but how and where the name will appear is still a question. The board of visitors voted unanimously...

Crime From All Over.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff It's been a really dumb month for criminals. For example: Where's the White Bronco? Dept. Up in Syracuse, N.Y., a guy led police on a car chase. A dozen cars were involved. Onondaga County deputies...

Catching Zs: Stafford County Circuit judge declares mistrial over sleeping juror.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Perry Mason might call it "The Case of the Sleepy Juror." Stafford County Circuit Judge Ann Hunter Simpson called it a mistrial. Back on June 30, Simpson was presiding over the trial of a man...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations QDRO - Divorce Decree - Pension - Disability Pay Where a final divorce decree gave wife 50 percent of the marital share of husband's "pension if, when and as received by"...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Environmental - Water Quality - Pollutant Discharge Permit A circuit court judge upholds the State Water Control Board's decision to issue a Virginia Pollutant Discharge...

Verdicts & Settlements July 26, 2004: Va. jury rules for defense in med-mal hemorrhage case.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Elizabeth Davis was a 37-year-old wife and mother of two when she presented to Danville Regional Medical Center for the delivery of her third child on Sept. 24, 2000. She delivered a 9 lb. 3 oz. baby...

Verdicts & Settlements July 26, 2004: DIR complicates Virginia wrongful death settlement.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was the estate of a 60-year-old woman from Petersburg, who died of complications from Methotrexate toxicity. Defendants included her primary care physician, who was board-certified in...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff At its annual meeting last month, the Virginia Law Foundation Board of Directors elected W. Scott Street III as its president for a one-year term that began July 1. Street is secretary-treasurer...

Battery Claim Versus Doctor Nets $1.5M In Norfolk Circuit Court.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Brent Baldwin A Norfolk Circuit Court jury has awarded $1.5 million to a Virginia Beach delivery man who now has a permanent chronic pain syndrome known as RDS after receiving an anesthetic procedure he did not authorize. ...

Arlington lawyer David B. Kinney dies at 83.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Arlington lawyer David B. Kinney died July 13. He was 83. A native of Belfast, N.Y, he graduated from Alma College in Michigan in 1943. During World War II, he was not eligible for military service...

Virginia Court Case Summaries: July 26, 2004.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing Guidelines - Constitutional - Enhancements - Blakely Case Where a defendant pled guilty to crack cocaine charges, but the government's presentence report and recommendation...

Verdicts & Settlements July 26, 2004: Va. judge awards over $209K for excessive use of force.
July 26, 2004... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On June 29, defendant Todd Branson, a City of Alexandria K-9 police officer, received a dispatch for a residential burglary in progress. Branson arrived at the scene with his K-9 "Swifty" and canvassed...