Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from July 2007

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from July 2007

Virginia enacts the Putative Father Registry.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Stanton Phillips Yesterday - July 1, 2007 - marked the beginning of a new era in Virginia adoption law. A new philosophical approach is embodied in the enactment of the Putative Father Registry. No longer will adoptive parents...

Commentary: Federal pleading just got a little tougher.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Declan C. Leonard Last month, with relatively limited fanfare, the United States Supreme Court altered the federal pleading standard that has been in effect for the last half century. Those who practice civil litigation regularly...

Virginia Lawyers In the News: July 2, 2007.(Wiese Law Firm PLC)
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Vicki L. Wiese has opened the Wiese Law Firm PLC in Roanoke. Wiese is a litigator with an emphasis in family law and domestic relations. * * * Troutman Sanders LLP has added two attorneys to...

U.S District Judge says landlord is not required to mitigate under lease.(district judge Raymond A. Jackson)(Laskin Road Associates LP)
July 2, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins It's summer blockbuster season and people are hitting the movie theaters to check out what's on the big screen. As long as the popcorn's fresh, patrons at the Surf-N-Sand Movie Theater in Virginia Beach may not...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia jury makes doctor pay $3M in wrongful death case.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff's decedent was an overweight, caucasian male who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and presented to the Defendant hospital's emergency department on Nov. 4, 2000. The triage nurse's...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia two-vehicle auto collision settles for $850K.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This two-vehicle, rear-end collision occurred on Dec. 16, 2004. The plaintiff was stopped to turn left across oncoming traffic when the defendant, operating a loaded dump truck, collided at high speed...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia woman recovers $12M verdict in slip-and-fall suit.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This was a premises liability case, arising out of a fall in Williamsburg at a service station/convenience store known as "Miller Mart." The store is located on a raised island, surrounded by a...

Commentary: Nonsuit amendment has trap for unwary.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Paul Fletcher The Virginia nonsuit statute contains a "sleeper" change that may catch a lot of lawyers and litigants unaware. As of July 1, when you move for a nonsuit, you must "inform" the court that the case hasn't been...

Virginia judge upholds cop's check of the DMV database.(division of motor vehicles)(Judge Catherine C. Hammond)
July 2, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A driver sitting at a stop sign may get nervous when he sees a cop car in the rear-view mirror - even if the driver's car and conduct both pass legal muster. That driver may have cause for concern, in light of a...

Old law, new area: Damage to property in cyberspace.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Reni Gertner, Dolan Media Newswires It's fairly obvious when someone physically damages someone else's belongings, but what counts as property damage in cyberspace? Historically, the trespass to chattels doctrine has been used...

How to choose a commercial real estate broker.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee, Dolan Media Newswires If you're looking to buy, lease or sell commercial property, the first and perhaps most important step is to choose an excellent commercial real estate broker. Commercial real estate...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: July 2, 2007.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Reaffirmation Agreement - Approval - Counsel Appearance A bankruptcy court considering two motions to approve reaffirmation agreements in this Chapter 7 case admonishes counsel, who...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 2, 2007.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Amount In Controversy - Arbitration Award A federal district court had subject matter jurisdiction to reopen a contract action filed by Choice Hotels, stayed in favor of...

U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia Case Summaries: July 2, 2007.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Sanctions - FRCP 11 - Safe Harbor In a plaintiff's suit alleging housing discrimination, the district court denies a motion for sanctions based on plaintiff's lawyer's filing of a...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 2, 2007.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Rape - DNA Evidence - Mouth Swab In Unrelated Case Police investigators' use of a buccal swab given voluntarily by defendant in a 2001 case, to compare to physical evidence obtained...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 2, 2007.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Damages Trucking Business - Earnings Loss Where defendant hauling business contends that due to the unavailability of one of its trucks, it was deprived of $6,672 in "loss of earnings" caused...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia girl's equine accident mediated for $250K.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On June 10, 2000, the 14-year-old plaintiff was at an equine dispersal auction to which she had been referred by a family friend and former trainer. After waiting over three hours for the horse owner...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia car-truck collision mediated for $600K.(Brief article)
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On March 8, 2006, Sterling Smith was traveling southbound on Route 501 in Campbell County, behind one of his company's trucks. The truck swerved into the oncoming lane causing a northbound vehicle to...

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia woman recovers $2.5M for collision with trooper.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On June 7, 2004, Virginia State Trooper A.M. Hairston, while on routine daytime patrol in Henry County, received a call for assistance from another trooper which he mistakenly took as an emergency call....

Verdicts & Settlements July 2, 2007: Virginia tractor-trailer accident settles for $800K.
July 2, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2003, defendant Andrew Perry, an employee of Atlantic Wood Industries Inc., was stopped on Route 13 at the intersection of Rt. 710 in Accomack County. At the time,...

Commentary: Is a student government a public body?
July 16, 2007... Byline: Becky Dale In May the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued an opinion regarding student government at George Mason University. Repeating an Attorney General's Opinion from 1984, the opinion said that the student...

No refund of escrow checks after buyer cancels loan, Fairfax Circuit Court says.(Oasis Business Consulting Inc.)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A lawyer acting as settlement agent for a would-be restaurateur failed to get her money back when the funding fell through after the seller of the pizza place promptly cashed checks totaling $100,000. When the...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: July 16, 2007.(Burnett & Williams)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Burnett & Williams, a personal injury law firm, has opened a new office in Midlothian. The firm also has offices in Leesburg, Hopewell and Winchester. * * * John Tarley, an attorney with the...

Fairfax Circuit judge says lack of State Corporation Commission certificate won't stop bank's suit.(Judge Michael P. McWeeny)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Paul Fletcher An out-of-state bank can sue in Virginia courts to collect a credit-card debt, even though it has not obtained a certificate of authority from the State Corporation Commission, a Fairfax Circuit judge has ruled in a...

Virginia drivers are mad about fees, lawyers plot use of motion.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper News accounts and letters to the editor in every major state paper suggest that many Virginians are mad as hell about the civil remedial fees that are part of the 2007 highway funding package. McLean attorney...

4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds architect's win of $20,000 for copyright violation.(Christopher Phelps & Associates LLC)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper R. Wayne Galloway has his retirement dream home on Lake Wylie near Charlotte, N.C., designed by an architectural firm that specializes in such homes. He didn't get it the old-fashioned way by retaining Christopher...

Richmond-based LeClair Ryan to open an office in Boston.(Brief article)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Richmond-based LeClair Ryan will open an office in Boston with 10 partners from the firm of Donovan Hatem LLP. Gary D. LeClair, chairman and co-founder of the Richmond firm, said LeClair Ryan and...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 16, 2007.(United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Vehicle Sales Regulation - Extraterritorial Scope - S.C. Law This case explores the extent to which a state has regulated - or may regulate - the auto dealer/manufacturer...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: July 16, 2004.(virginia)
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice - Sentencing Error Although an inmate, who alleges his attorney's malpractice resulted in an incorrect sentence that exceeded the appropriate amount by 36 months,...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 16, 2007.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Jury Pool - Excused Juror - Peremptory Strikes At defendant's trial for first-degree murder, when the court had to excuse a juror for a doctor's appointment after the jury was sworn,...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 16, 2007.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Nonsuit - Creditor's Rights - Credit Card Debt A bank that nonsuited its first suit in general district court to collect debt on defendant's first credit card with the bank, in...

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: Jury finds podiatrist not at fault for amputation.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a 38-year-old diabetic female who presented to the podiatrist defendant in October 2001 with an ulcer on the ball of her right foot. The podiatrist successfully treated the ulcer. He...

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: Building owner recovers for faulty roof.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A Henry County judge has awarded almost $500,000 in damages to a building owner who sued his general contractor over a defective roofing system. The owner, Virginia Machine Tool Company, purchased an...

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: Jury returns $194K verdict for myofascial pain syndrome.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a 32-year-old veterinary practice manager who was married and the mother of two young children. She was on her way home from work when the defendant pulled out in front of her,...

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: Trash truck collision results in $12M settlement.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The case arose out of a collision in Fairfax County. At 3:45 a.m. on Dec. 27, 2005, Jerome Stewart was driving his 1990 Jeep Cherokee northbound on Dorr Avenue near its intersection with Hilltop Road....

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: UM carrier offers $50K, jury awards $400K for back injury.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was a 47-year-old sole proprietor of an HVAC business. He was involved in a rear-end accident with moderate property damage. Defendant admitted liability prior to trial and the defendant's...

Verdicts & Settlements July 16, 2007: Man's comp claim settled for $275K.
July 16, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Feb. 6, 1995, Truman F. Austin, 66, a MeadWestvaco employee, was struck by a forklift. Radiographic studies after the 1995 injury confirmed a syrinx of the spinal cord in the T8 to T11 area. A...

Commentary: Single-member LLC can be good choice of business entity.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Eric C. Perkins Most entrepreneurs and real estate developers/investors now acknowledge that the limited liability company (LLC) has become the entity of choice for many business and investment purposes. The single-member LLC...

Judge Benton to retire from Virginia Court of Appeals on Oct. 1.(Judge James W. Benton Jr.)
July 23, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Judge James W. Benton Jr., the last of the original members of the Virginia Court of Appeals, will retire Oct. 1. Benton, who turns 64 in September, is the state's senior appellate judge in terms of service. A...

Roanoke Circuit Judge Charles N. Dorsey says rear-ender minutes after a wreck is single 'occurrence'.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Paul Fletcher Anthony Early and his family were traveling north on Interstate 581 near downtown Roanoke in December 2001. They were hit head-on by a woman named Carol McKenna, who was going south. A few minutes later, the...

State of Virginia to replace 'dated' Intoxilyzers.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Budget documents from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science describe the instruments that measure the level of intoxication content as "dated, unstable and unreliable." Peter M. Marone, director of the...

Appeals work is creating a new group of legal experts.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Lewis T. Stoneburner is a very successful lawyer, as a string of seven-figure verdicts in personal injury cases in recent years illustrates. But he goes to a tax specialist for tax advice and to a trust and estates...

Woman who signed release didn't waive FMLA claims.(Family and Medical Leave Act)
July 23, 2007... Byline: Barbara Grzincic Dolan Media Newswires A woman signed a "general release of claims" in exchange for a better severance deal can still sue for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: July 23, 2007.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Guarantor Payment - Allocation By Creditor A district court erred in allowing a creditor to allocate a payment made by a non-debtor guarantor first to interest then to principal,...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: July 23, 2007.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Ex Parte Subpoenas - Student Identity - Internet File- Sharing A district court denies an ex parte motion for immediate discovery filed by plaintiff music companies to require...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: July 23, 2007.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure FTCA - Venue - Theft From Luggage An airline passenger who is suing pro se under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the alleged theft of a pearl necklace from her luggage...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: July 23, 2007.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Trespass - Ban Order Assuming without deciding that the trial court erred in admitting a document purportedly designating the Alexandria Police Department as "a person lawfully in...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 23, 2007.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Custody - Texas Court Order - UCCJEA A father who lived in North Carolina with his son for most of the period between 2002 and 2006, when a North Carolina county social...

Verdicts & Settlements July 23, 2007: Injuries caused by oversized load settled for $1.5 million.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Larry Long was driving his employer's one-ton truck with a tool body in the right lane on Interstate 81 when he was clipped from behind by a wide-load tractor trailer passing him in the left lane. The...

Verdicts & Settlements July 23, 2007: Cyclist's injuries settled in Norfolk for $1.5M.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 51-year-old woman, was riding her bicycle with her husband north on Granby Street in downtown Norfolk. Two vehicles were approaching her in the opposite direction, a small pickup truck...

Verdicts & Settlements July 23, 2007: Negligent use of forklift results in $500K settlement.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was at the facility of the defendant to pick up a load for delivery. He was walking to the bay where his truck was parked when an employee of the defendant backed a forklift out of a truck...

Verdicts & Settlements July 23, 2007: Pedestrians settle cases against driver who struck them.
July 23, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On July 30, 2004, the plaintiffs, boyfriend and girlfriend, were visiting the city of Virginia Beach. Darren Dillman had been sent there by his employer to attend a trade school. Jennifer Snay...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: July 30, 2007.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Construction - Appeal Bond - Jurisdiction A contractor terminated from two county construction projects who is seeking damages from the county cannot pursue its suit in the circuit...

Verdicts & Settlements July 30, 2007: Man hit while changing tire settles for $450K.(Brief article)
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff and companion co-worker, were changing a flat tire of their company's van on the shoulder of Interstate 95. Plaintiff and companion were injured when a semi strayed off the travel lanes,...

Verdicts & Settlements July 30, 2007: Shoulder surgery problem settled for $500K.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a 59-year-old retired school nurse who suffered from a chronic impingement syndrome of the left shoulder. To alleviate this she submitted to outpatient arthroscopic surgery for...

Verdicts & Settlements July 30, 2007: Finger injury from weight machine settled.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Karla Ortiz was attempting to operate a ST-4 exercise machine, manufactured and supplied by Paramount Fitness Corporation, in the gym at The Elms at Kingstowne Apartments, where she was a tenant. When...

Verdicts & Settlements July 30, 2007: Girl wins claim for scarring from wreck.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The defendant was driving on Route 15, a two-lane road. He crossed a double solid line, attempting to pass a car. He stayed in the wrong lane for at least 15 seconds and continued to drive in that lane...

Commentary: The dumb things lawyers do with e-mail.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Sharon D. Nelson and John W. Simek We have finally reached the point where virtually all lawyers have succumbed to our times and now use e-mail. There were a lot just five years ago who swore they never would. We are down to a...

E-mail call: managing that cluttered inbox.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Justin Rebello Dolan Media Newswires For most attorneys, it's not uncommon to receive 150-200 new e-mails per day, approximately 25,000 per year. With that kind of clutter, tangled with spam and other unimportant messages, it's...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: July 30, 2007.(Greater Peninsula Women's Bar Association)
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Colleen Haddow Pate, Darcey Geissler, Robert M. Worster III, and Elizabeth Y. McKenzie have joined Colten Cummins Watson & Vincent PC, in Fairfax, as associate attorneys. * * * Michael R....

No benefits after Virginia Commonwealth University prof's affair, Richmond Circuit Court judge rules.(Judge T.J. Markow)
July 30, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A former Virginia Commonwealth University professor and a student had different accounts of the nature of their sexual relationship. The student contended that Dr. Peng W. Hsia, an associate professor of biomedical...

Loudon County circuit judge rules on a revocable trust.(Judge James H. Chamblin)
July 30, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The distinction between outright ownership and control of a revocable trust by the person who is settlor, trustee and sole beneficiary seldom makes a difference. But Loudoun County Circuit Judge James H. Chamblin...

OxyContin maker hit for $600M in fines in Abingdon federal court.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins The manufacturer of OxyContin, one of the drug scourges of rural America, has been sentenced in Abingdon federal court to five years' probation and monetary sanctions totaling $600 million. On July 20, U.S....

Man exploits hole in the Virginia's disorderly conduct law.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Virginia Code Sect. 18.2-415, the disorderly conduct statute, is an anomaly. It excludes a finding of guilt under the statute if the conduct in question violates another criminal law. "That is the only statute...

U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit Case Summaries: July 30, 2007.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Black Lung Benefits - Survivor Benefits The 4th Circuit vacates the Benefits Review Board's retroactive denial of a miner's 1989 claim for black lung lifetime disability...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: July 30, 2007.(Virginia)
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Jurisdiction - Ukrainian Join Venture - Oil & Gas Rights A dual citizen of the Ukraine and the U.S. who says he lives in Maryland can be sued in Virginia federal court for the...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: July 30, 2007.
July 30, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Eluding Police - Penalty Phase - Police Injury Under Rule 5A:18, defendant cannot challenge on appeal the trial court's alleged error in allowing two officers to testify in the...