Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2006

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2006

Universities face suits for failing to protect student who have harmed themselves.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Reni Gertner In an effort to protect themselves from liability for suicidal students, universities around the country may be digging themselves into a deeper legal hole. In the first round of suicide-related litigation, a...

Virginia criminal defense attorney challenges fingerprints validity obtained by police.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins Fingerprint evidence is a common element of criminal investigation. Can defense lawyers take for granted that the crime-scene cops got it right when they gathered the fingerprints at issue? Lifting prints from a...

Virginia jury rules in favor of two doctors accused of disfigurement to a woman's abdominal wall.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher Two doctors have prevailed in the medical-malpractice lawsuit filed by a woman who was disfigured after flesh-eating bacteria, or necrotizing fasciitis, and other infections killed part of her abdominal wall. She...

Virginia jury awards Woman $502K for malicious prosecution.(Michael Hayden)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper In early November 2002, Jillian Cates noticed that an ATV and a hunting stand were no longer under the tarp that she kept over them behind her home near Montross. She reported the apparent theft to the Westmoreland...

Virginia judge rules a living person's will can be subject of declaratory action.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher The will of a living person can be reviewed by a judge through a declaratory judgment action, a judge sitting in Alexandria has ruled in a case of apparent first impression. And the particular will at issue should...

Virginia lawyer dies at 86.(Richard W. Smith )(Obituary)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Longtime Staunton lawyer Richard W. Smith died May 21. He was 86. A native of Waynesboro, Mr. Smith grew up in Lexington and graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1941. In 1938, Mr....

Virginia U.S. Bankruptcy Court case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Estate Property - Totaled Vehicle - Insurance Proceeds - Post- Petition Policy Where a debtor's vehicle was totaled, the proceeds on an insurance policy purchased after debtors...

Virginia U.S. Court Of Appeals case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Collateral Estoppel - Same Issues - Bankruptcy - Debt Discharge A father who sued a mother for wrongful death after the couple's adopted daughter drowned in a bathtub while in...

Virginia U.S. Eastern District Court case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Multiple Petitions - Foreclosure - Relief From Stay A debtor's sixth bankruptcy petition - a Chapter 13 petition - properly was dismissed by the bankruptcy court because debtor is...

Virginia U.S. Western District Court case summaries: June 5, 2006.(Natural Gas Act of 1938)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Competency - Involuntary Medication A defendant diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia may be involuntarily medicated for up to five months to attain competency to stand trial for...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: June 5, 2006.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Malicious Wounding - Statutory Burglary - Plea Withdrawal Although defendant contends she should have been allowed to withdraw her plea of guilty to malicious wounding, statutory...

Verdicts & settlements June 5, 2006: Virginia back surgery case settles at $475K.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 37-year-old operating room technician fell at work and injured his lower back. He underwent conservative treatment over 14 months before undergoing cage fusion surgery in January 2002 at L4-5. A...

Verdicts & settlements June 5, 2006: Virginia driver gets summary judgment in pedestrian case.(Mills, Administrator of the Estate of Brian L. Mills, Decedent v. Sanders and Schneider National Carriers, Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Schneider tractor-trailer driven by defendant Sanders was traveling westbound on Route 360 at approximately 12:50 a.m., when the decedent ran from a dark embankment into the travel portion of Route...

Verdicts & settlements June 5, 2006: Virginia court awards adverse possession claim.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Teitelbaums had owned and operated Norman's Garage on US Route 1 south of Stafford Courthouse since the early 1950s. They lived on the 3 acre premises where they towed, repaired, stored,...

Commentary: what attorneys should know about accepting credit cards.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Chris Rempel If you deal with collecting retainers from your clients, accepting credit cards can be a very intimidating option to consider as a sole practitioner or small-firm attorney. The word "merchant service" has developed...

Commentary: more companies are watching e-mail.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Larry Fiorino Forrester Research recently released a comprehensive survey of 294 U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees concerning e-mail usage in their corporate environments. During the last year, almost 33 percent of...

Virginia Lawyers Weekly celebrates 20 years.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Thank you. As this newspaper marks 20 years of operation this week - over 1,000 issues, tens of thousands of pages and probably millions of words - it comes down to those two words. Thank you....

Supreme Court of Virginia assault at nursing home not med-mal.(Alcoy v. Valley Nursing Homes Inc.)(Case note)
June 12, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A nursing-home patient who alleges sexual assault by an unknown assailant can sue for damages not limited by Virginia's medical malpractice cap. Reversing an Alexandria trial judge, the Supreme Court of Virginia...

Portsmouth's Judge Archie Elliott can return to bench.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Portsmouth General District Judge Archie Elliott will get his judicial pension by the narrowest of margins. The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled 4-3 on Thursday that the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission erred...

Norfolk judge showed bias, Supreme Court of Virginia rules.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins A Norfolk trial judge should have recused himself from a drug case after his irritation over "judge-shopping" prompted the judge to remove the defendant's lawyer from the local court-appointed counsel list. In...

Thomas E. Albro, Judge Walter D. Kelley backed by 4 statewide bar organizations.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Charlottesville attorney Thomas E. Albro and U.S. District Judge Walter D. Kelley Jr. are the only candidates for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to be recommended by the state's four largest...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Jurisdiction - Military Training - Airport Operating Agreement A federal district court does not have jurisdiction to consider this suit filed by the Airborne Tactical Advantage...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Sex Offender - Risk Assessment A 17-year-old who was convicted of forcible sodomy and criminal solicitation involving male relatives aged nine and 10, can be sentenced...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 12, 2006.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Breach - Timber- Cutting Dispute - Summary Judgment In this lawsuit between the parties over payment for and defendant's right to cut timber on plaintiff's land, the circuit court...

Verdicts & Settlements June 12, 2006: Doctor wins suit over bile duct injury.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, Ms. Richardson, alleged that she suffered an injury to her common hepatic duct during the course of an open cholecystectomy (gall bladder surgery) performed by the defendant, a general...

Verdicts & Settlements June 12, 2006: Flying tire causes wreck, girl's eyes injured by airbag.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, an 8-year-old front seat passenger in a 2001 BMW convertible driven by her mother, was injured when the outside wheel and tire of a 1998 Mack dump truck came off the vehicle, became...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Robert A. Desilets Jr. has joined the Norfolk office of Vandeventer Black LLP. Desilets will concentrate his practice in taxation, ERISA, employee benefits, business transactions and securities....

Supreme Court of Virginia to med-mal lawyers: precision matters.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia reminded medical malpractice attorneys in two cases earlier this month that precision counts. In one, Bitar v. Rahman (VLW 006-6-064), the court held that defense attorneys waited too...

Eastern Shore judge doubles jury's award in broker v. agent dispute.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper An Eastern Shore judge has taken the unusual step of almost doubling a jury verdict. At issue were the commissions due real estate agent Cynthia Lee Carneal after the termination of her relationship with broker...

U.S. Bankruptcy judge rules fee request needs 'actual time' record.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Deborah Elkins What happens when a high-volume bankruptcy practice that uses assembly-line methods to streamline the process for debtors has to run that process through the statutory mechanism for collecting attorney's fees? ...

Ignoring COLA support provision costs man $143K.(Cost-Of-Living Adjustment)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher When a couple divorced in 1985, the husband agreed to pay the wife $1,250 a month. Under their property settlement agreement, the amount would increase by a "standard formula mutually satisfactory to the parties." ...

Supreme Court of Virginia delivers first post-Kelo eminent domain decision.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper A Supreme Court of Virginia decision earlier this month was hardly the ringing endorsement of property rights that eminent domain lawyer Joseph T. Waldo had hoped for. But the court ruled that the Norfolk...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Attorneys - Supplemental Fee Application - Time Records A high-volume debtors' bankruptcy practice that keeps contemporaneous time records but bills standardized "minimums" for...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Medicare Reimbursement - Ambulance Services Plaintiff, a licensed Medicare Part B certified ambulance supplier of medical services loses its challenge to a final agency decision...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Laundromat Theft - Letter Of Apology Where police invited defendant to write a letter of apology to a laundromat owner regarding a burglary at the laundromat, the trial court did not...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Consumer Protection Real Estate - VCPA - Limitations - Discovery Rule Plaintiff home buyers who allege that defendant seller kept hidden structural defects and water damage to the residence,...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 19, 2006.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Guardian's Former Counsel - Property Sale - Intervention A licensed attorney who had been retained by the guardian/nephew of a man was hospitalized in state institutions, to sell two...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Patient unsuccessful in claim following surgery.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was a 44-year-old female with a long history of multiple medical problems. In the spring of 2003 she presented to the office of the defendant surgeon with a history of recurrent abdominal...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Structured settlement totals $2.5 million.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action: Motor Vehicle Injuries Alleged: Death of 56-year-old male, leaving 52-year-old widow and children ages 12, 18 and 32. Name of Case: Confidential Court: U.S. District...

Verdicts & Settlements June 19, 2006: Surry tractor-trailer collision settled for $500K.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Nov. 2, 2003, plaintiff was driving his 1988 Toyota pickup truck on Route 10, a two-lane road in Surry County. A 1995 Freightliner tractor, no trailer, headed in the opposite direction swerved into...

Virginia State Bar Leader of the Year for 2006 recognizes two lawyers.(George W. Dodge and Carolyn M. Grimes )
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report The Conference of Local Bar Associations has recognized not one but two lawyers as the VSB's Local Bar Leader of the Year for 2006. Both recipients hail from Northern Virginia. They are...

Virginia State Bar awards attorney Frank West Morrison with the 2006 Lifetime Achievement award.(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Paul Fletcher Rustburg attorney Frank West Morrison received this year's Lifetime Achievement Award from the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. The award honors an individual who has made a substantial contribution...

Virginia State Bar awards Frank Overton Brown Jr. with the 2006 Tradition of Excellence Award.(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Frank Overton Brown Jr., the Richmond lawyer who founded and was the first chair of the Virginia State Bar's Senior Lawyers Conference, was the 2006 recipient of the Tradition of Excellence...

Virginia lawyer Christy E. Kiely receives 2006 R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year Award.(Brief article)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Richmond lawyer Christy E. Kiely received the 2006 R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year Award. Presented by the Virginia State Bar's Young Lawyers Conference, the award is named...

Virginia State Bar rejects proposal that General Assembly attorney members get CLE credit hours.(continuing legal education )
June 26, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia State Bar Council has rejected a proposal that attorney members of the General Assembly get four hours of credit toward their continuing legal education obligations. The vote was 37-24 after a 36-29...

Virginia lawyer Jill A. Hanken receives the 2006 Legal Aid Award.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Jill A. Hanken of the Virginia Poverty Law Center in Richmond received the 2006 Legal Aid Award from the Virginia State Bar's Special Committee on Access to Legal Services. The award, which...

Virginia lawyer Michael Morchower faces ethics charge.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Michael Morchower has received his share of publicity by representing high-profile clients without charge. That tactic has landed the prominent Richmond criminal defense attorney in ethical hot water, however. ...

U.S. Supreme Court rules that workers' comp insurer does not have priority status in bankruptcy suit.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Barbara Grzincic Resolving a split in the federal circuits, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that a workers' compensation insurer is not entitled to priority status in bankruptcy court for premiums owed by the debtor. The...

Virginia State Bar names Lawyer Karen A. Gould president.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Karen A. Gould was busy in late 2002, defending medical malpractice and workers' compensation cases as she had for the past 18 years. She had paid relatively little attention to the administration of her firm and...

A Virginia county pays $15M for land for new government center.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Sometimes you can do too well. Earlier this year, Arlington lawyer Jerry K. Emrich won a $9.85 million award from a panel of jury commissioners for a 48.9-acre tract that Prince William County wanted for an...

Virginia lawyer Manueal A. Capsalis will run for president-elect of state bar.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Alan Cooper Manuel A. Capsalis, a member of the Virginia State Bar's executive committee and a former president of its Conference of Local Bar Associations, has announced that he will run as president-elect of the VSB. ...

U.S. Court rules that speaking out against regular job duties is not covered by first amendment.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson A U.S. Supreme Court decision last month makes clear that public employees are not protected by the First Amendment when they speak out in the course of their regular job duties. The case involved a city...

Concerns that teachers and professors could be negatively impacted from recent whistleblower case.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Corey E. Stephenson This article was originally published in Lawyers Weekly, another Dolan Media-owned publication. One group of public employees received special mention in the recent Supreme Court whistleblower case, Garcetti...

Virginia U.S. Bankruptcy Court case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Bankruptcy Amended Proof Of Claim - Added Interest & Fees - Ch. 13 In this Chapter 13 case, converted from a Chapter 7 case, a credit union may not amend its proof of claim to add...

U.S. Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Civil Rights Admission To Bar - Comity Admission - N.C. Law A district court erred in holding that the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners' Rule .0502(3), which governs comity...

Virginia U.S. Eastern District Court case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Discovery - Police Statements - Internal Affairs A district court grants the City of Virginia Beach's motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum requesting the production of...

Virginia U.S. Western District Court case summaries: June 26, 2006.(Centennial Broadcasting LLC v. Burns)(breach of contract for noncompete agreement case)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Contract - Noncompete - Radio Station Sale A man who allegedly violated the noncompete agreement he entered into when he sold his radio station to plaintiff broadcasting company is...

Virginia Court of Appeals case summaries: June 26, 2006.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Criminal Attempted Murder - Eluding Police A police officer's testimony that defendant refused to respond when the officer made a traffic stop and repeatedly rapped on defendant's...

Verdicts & settlements June 26, 2006: Virginia jury awards $200K in automobile negligence suit.(Turner v. Mayhew)(Case overview)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Single vehicle motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff was the defendant's girlfriend. Punitives damage claim and willful and wanton conduct were withdrawn before trial. The plaintiff didn't want...

Verdicts & settlements June 26, 2006: Virginia jury rules in favor of doctor in med-mal suit.(medical malpractice case)(Case overview)
June 26, 2006... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Report Plaintiff was a 63-year-old female with a long history of basal cell carcinomas appearing on her nose and face. In October of 2001, plaintiff once more developed a lesion on her nose that was...