Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2007

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2007

Commentary: Check out the Virginia Lawyers Weekly blog.(Brief article)
June 4, 2007... Byline: Paul Fletcher Have you taken a look at the VLW blog yet? The Virginia Lawyers Weekly law blog can be found at vlweekly.blogspot.com. You'll find breaking news, cases you can use and the latest legal info. A selection...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Bank Robbery - Gasoline Dousing - Lesser- Included Offense A defendant who went on a spree in Charlotte, N.C., with his girlfriend during which he threw gasoline on a construction...

U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Taking - Just Compensation - Hurricane Floyd - Subdivision Flooding A man who claims the city's planning for storm water drainage kept his subdivision and another one as...

U.S. District Court of Western Virginia: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Employment Discrimination - 'Person' - University Defendant Plaintiff, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and an employee of the University...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Wine Franchise Act - Franchise Agreement - Unilateral Amendment A wine company, Louis Latour Inc., loses its appeal challenging a circuit court decision upholding a Virginia ABC...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Moving Contract - Property Damage - Painting Plaintiff owners are awarded $2,500 in damages and their costs against defendant moving company for defendants' unauthorized disposal of a...

Verdicts & Settlements June 4, 2007: Va. pedestrian wins $100K in high-low agreement.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Aug. 14, 2004, at 9:00 p.m., plaintiff attempted to cross a low-traffic, two-lane side street (with a center turn lane) between intersections from her place of employment to her car, which was parked...

Verdicts & Settlements June 4, 2007: Va. magistrate judge awards $200K in hit-and-run case.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This case was a hit-and-run tractor trailer accident with internal injuries that resolved after hospital admission. No surgical intervention was required. Medical specials were $26,388.05 and lost...

Verdicts & Settlements June 4, 2007: Va. rear-ender mediation results in $200K for back injuries.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was sitting at a stop sign when he was rear-ended by a United Central Industrial Supply vehicle, operated by Mr. Hale. Plaintiff was transported from the scene via ambulance. As a result of...

Verdicts & Settlements June 4, 2007: U.S. whistleblower wins $145K in qui tam mediation.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Relator filed this qui tam case under seal in December of 2004 alleging that defendants caused false claims to be submitted to the United States in violation of 31 U.S.C. Sect. 3729(a). Relator...

How to ... Choose a financial advisor.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Dolan Media Newswires Life takes financial planning - for future concerns such as college and retirement, as well as for the here and now. But when it comes to dealing with finances, many people feel...

Virginia Lawyers In the News: June 4, 2007.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Hunton & Williams LLP has promoted two attorneys to of counsel. Francine E. Friedman works in the Washington, DC office as a member of the firm's regulated industries and government relations...

Virginia wine case working its way back through courts.(Louis Latour Inc. v. Virginia ABC Board)
June 4, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The dispute between the Maison Louis Latour winery and The Country Vintner, a Virginia wine distributor, already has generated an important administrative law decision from the Supreme Court of Virginia. But...

Virginia judge finds fraud in sale of restaurant in Vienna.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper To say that Fairfax Circuit Judge Randy I. Bellows found that Ana G. Arias proved her case against Raoul and Edna Jean-Richard would be an understatement. Not only did he find the Jean-Richards liable under claims...

Virginia judge concludes double jeopardy claim was successful.
June 4, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The jury had been sworn and was in the jury room waiting for opening statements when a Fairfax County prosecutor asked for a continuance in June 2005. Defense attorney Harvey J. Volzer objected, but the judge...

Law vs. a life: Stanford students seek reforms at major law firms.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Marie Price Dolan Media Newswires Seeing ahead of them a work life potentially centered on accumulating billable hours to the detriment of their personal lives, more than 100 students from some top U.S. law schools want to change...

Coaching for success or managing for survival?
June 11, 2007... Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones Dolan Media Newswires I often quote a former practice advisor for the Law Society of Alberta, Paul McLaughlin, who suggests that all receptionists should be viewed as "Managers of First and Last Impression." I...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Jury finds for plastic surgeon in pulmonary embolism case.(Amel Booker as Administrator for the Estate of Leena Shaban v. Anonymous M.D.)(Brief article)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff alleged that the defendant, a plastic surgeon, was negligent in his post-operative care of decedent following an abdominoplasty procedure ("tummy tuck"). Defendant performed the procedure on...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Virginia property owner settles in apartment fall case.(Richard Spiers v. Death by Stereo)(Thomas Upton v. Death by Stereo)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiffs were injured when they were knocked out of a third-story window during a concert held in an apartment complex in Blacksburg. The home belonged to Penn America's insured. The window was...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Virginia jury awards $250K for bus driver defamation.(Jeannie Mason v. Alzena Mayfield)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, Mason, is a bus driver for the Petersburg Public Schools. Defendant Mayfield is president of the Petersburg NAACP and had custody of a teenage granddaughter who rode on Mason's bus. In...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Virginia jury rules for defendant in personal injury case.(Jeremy H. Shifflett v. Corey Shifflett)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff While at a party at the plaintiff's house on February 26, 2005, the defendant accidentally struck the plaintiff in the mouth when swinging a beer bottle around. As a result of the accident, the...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Virginia auto accident leads to a $700K settlement.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff This case arose following a motor vehicle collision on April 2005 on U.S. 29 in Centreville. At approximately 5:45 a.m., the defendant tractor trailer driver made a left turn onto U.S. 29, obstructing...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Virginia heat stroke disability case settles for $3M.(Mario Baldivieso v. Labor Finders)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Baldivieso, an undocumented worker, was injured in June 2002. At that time, this 36-year-old man was working a low-wage, temporary job, hauling trash for a large waste management company. After working...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007:Va. jury rejects self-defense and awards $1.97M in shooting.(Cornejo v. Gotwalt)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The case was brought by Austin Cornejo, administrator of the estate of his son, Jack "Steven" Cornejo. In the early morning hours of June 25, 2005, Steven, age 23, was leaving a party at an apartment...

How to use bonuses for rewarding staff.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Dolan Media Newswires A client recently called me with a good problem. The office administrator of his firm was someone who, as the lawyer said, "takes more initiative than anyone I've ever had around here." That ranged...

Woman awarded $2M by Fairfax County Circuit Court.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Molly Raymond's mild traumatic brain injury changed her from "the queen of multitasking," as a friend described her, to someone who has trouble remembering that she has food on the stove. A Fairfax County Circuit...

Huddleston to run for Virginia State Bar president-elect.(Jon D. Huddleston)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Jon D. Huddleston, a Leesburg lawyer who has long been active in the Virginia State Bar, has announced his candidacy for president-elect of the organization. Huddleston, 47, has been on Bar Council since 2001 and...

Virginia Court of Appeals rules no 'protective sweep' for an empty house.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins Police had no right to conduct a protective sweep of the home of a man already in custody, the Virginia Court of Appeals said Tuesday in reversing the man's firearm convictions. Both the man and his live-in...

Richmond ex-grocer wins $16M after business was destroyed.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A Richmond Circuit Court jury has awarded $16 million to the operator of a grocery store chain who contended that the country's third-largest grocery supplier forced him out of business. Jonathan F. Johnson had a...

Rules on e-discovery floated by Virginia Judicial Council's advisory committee.
June 11, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia Judicial Council's advisory committee on rules of court has published possible changes to the state rules to reflect e-discovery concerns. Kent Sinclair, the University of Virginia law professor who is...

Richmond lawyer's goal: a national 'advance directives day'.(attorney Nathan A. Kottkamp)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Federal law generally requires staff to ask anyone entering a hospital or nursing home whether he or she has an advance medical directive and to provide information about the concept. "It's a tremendously bad time...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.(Lin-Jian v. Gonzalez )
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Immigration Political Asylum - Chinese Population Policy The 4th Circuit grants the petition for review of a native of the People's Republic of China who claims he fled to the U.S. to escape...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.(Shipbuilders Council of America Inc. v. U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security)(Dwoskin v. Ajax Yachts Ltd.)(re Stephen Meredith CPA, PC )
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Admiralty - Jones Act - 'Rebuilt' Vessel - Final Agency Action A district court has no subject matter jurisdiction to consider a challenge to the U.S. Coast Guard's preliminary...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.(Johnson v. Commonwealth of Virginia and the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia)(Morrell v. The Barter Foundation Inc.)(Monroe v. City of Charlottesville)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights EMTALA - State Hospital - Sovereign Immunity Because the Commonwealth of Virginia has not expressly or impliedly waived immunity and because Congress has not abrogated the...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.(Commonwealth of Virginia, Dep't of Education v. Fairfax County School Board)(Lange v. Lange)(Naaman v. Larrazabal )
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Administrative - Interlocutory Appeal The Court of Appeals has no jurisdiction under Va. Code Sect. 8.01-670.1 to consider an interlocutory appeal by the Virginia Department of...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 11, 2007.(Nadolski v. Nadolski)(Old Dominion University v. Birkmeyer)(Terrell v. City of Richmond )
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Parties' Agreement - Prior Expenses In construing a divorcing couple's agreement to "divide equally" the expenses and costs of their prior case and costs related to wife's...

Verdicts & Settlements June 11, 2007: Neck, back sprain results in $70K settlement.(John Scott III v. Jimmy Burgess)
June 11, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The accident occurred when defendant Burgess, who was traveling at high speed on Interstate 95 southbound in Prince William County, struck the rear-end of John Scott's vehicle and flipped it over....

Justice Lacy to retire from Virginia Supreme Court in August.(Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy said she hopes to take advantage of what she called "bonus years" when she retires in August as the current court's longest serving member. Lacy announced her...

Smith Mountain rentals OK for 'residential' purposes, rules Supreme Court of Virginia.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Deborah Elkins A home in a Smith Mountain Lake subdivision can be used for short-term rentals, even though a restrictive covenant says the property is only for "residential purposes," the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in...

Physical contact needed for leaving-scene charge, rules Supreme Court of Virginia.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A driver can be convicted of felony leaving the scene of an accident only if there is physical contact or the driver was the proximate cause of the wreck, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled. The June 8 decision...

Tort Claim damages cap applies after jury's verdict, rules Supreme Court of Virginia.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A judge hearing a claim under the Virginia Tort Claims Act erred when he applied that act's damages cap before the case went to the jury, according to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The issue arose from injuries...

Withdrawal of guilty pleas should have been allowed, Supreme Court of Virginia has held.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper A woman trying to withdraw her guilty pleas before she was sentenced on several felonies should have been allowed to do so, the Supreme Court of Virginia has held. The trial judge and the Virginia Court of Appeals...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.(United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Habeas Corpus - Accused Terrorist - Military Detention Federal courts have jurisdiction to hear a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by a citizen of Qatar and legal...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.(United States District Court of Eastern Virginia)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Storage Facility - Rental Agreement - Liability Limit A storage facility wins partial summary judgment limiting its liability for selling a woman's stored goods - which she valued at...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.(United States District Court of Western Virginia)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Social Security Second Application - New Award Although the Commissioner of Social Security found this 49-year-old former cashier who suffers from epilepsy, headaches, and pain related to...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Search & Seizure Hand Into Pocket - No Reasonable Suspicion Although police observed defendant and another person in a hand-to-hand transaction on the street, the officer's subsequent...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Voided Policy - Misrepresentations On motion to reconsider, the trial court has reviewed an exhibit purportedly misconstrued in the court's earlier ruling, but the court...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 18, 2007.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Choice Of Law - Usury Law - Lottery Winnings A Virginia lottery winner who borrowed $29,000 from WebBank, in an arrangement with a loan agreement governed by Utah law and an...

Verdicts & Settlements June 18, 2007: Brain-injured child receives $8.35M from mediation.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff, a 4-year-old child, was severely injured in an automobile accident when her mother's car was broadsided while making a left turn on Tidewater Drive in Norfolk. The plaintiff alleged that the...

Verdicts & Settlements June 18, 2007:Broken leg, PTSD, depression result in $500K settlement.(post traumatic stress disorder)(Brief article)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff was involved in a two-vehicle wreck on February 23, 2006, on eastbound Route 60 in Powhatan. She was driving a 1998 Honda Civic and was struck by a 2000 Chevrolet 2500 pickup truck that pulled...

Verdicts & Settlements June 18, 2007: Fairfax jury awards $200K for soft-tissue injuries.(Brief article)
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Plaintiff is a 39-year-old female airline attendant who was hit from behind in a motor vehicle accident. There was moderate property damage and plaintiff did not feel any pain until later that night....

Verdicts & Settlements June 18, 2007: Injury from unsecured ladder produces $197K arbitration award.
June 18, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff was injured when an unsecured ladder fell in a back room of a Food Lion grocery store, striking her on the head, neck and shoulder, while she was delivering bread to the store. She did not...

Virginia Women Attorneys Association honors retiring administrative director Jill Wood.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Voluntary bar organizations know how much they depend on their staff to serve as the central nervous system that sustains the group through leadership changes. As administrative director of the...

Virginia Supreme Court publishes forms for fee waivers.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia has developed the forms that will be used to request a waiver of the caps on court-appointed counsel fees. One, Form DC-40 with the caption "List of Allowances," is a multi-copy...

U.S. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Bad Faith - Expired Lease - Ch. 11 Debtor, an export-import motor vehicle business, loses its appeal of a bankruptcy court order dismissing its Chapter 11 petition as filed in bad...

U.S. District Court of Eastern Virginia Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Federal Procurement - Mapping Contracts - Surveyor's Ethics Rules A group of trade associations that represent professional surveyors and engineers has no standing to sue the...

U.S. District Court of Western Virginia Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Police Confrontation - Fatal Shooting - Qualified Immunity In this action for damages resulting from a police shooting in which Deputy Andrew McNally killed Kirby Willis and...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Larceny By False Pretenses - Child Support Arrearage Although a woman claimed her estranged husband owed her nearly $3,000 in back child support, she also had sworn out a false...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Equitable Distribution - Debt Apportionment In this equitable distribution proceeding, the circuit court finds that wife can acquire husband's interest in the marital home...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 25, 2007.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Capital Murder - 'Beltway Sniper' - Brady Claim The Supreme Court of Virginia denies a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by John Allen Muhammad, who was convicted in Prince...

Verdicts & Settlements June 25, 2007: Va. wrongful death case settled after coverage issues resolved.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff On Sept. 2, 2004, Jeanette Walker, a single mother of three children, ages 11, 14 and 18, was traveling on Interstate 95 northbound to the Hampton Inn in Stoney Creek for her first day of work there....

Verdicts & Settlements June 25, 2007: Va. jury returns $2M verdict for mild traumatic brain injury.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Molly Raymond was traveling on the Fairfax County Parkway on July 3, 2004. Two teenagers driving separate vehicles at a high rate of speed struck her one after another. Her car suffered significant...

Victim of a Virginia truck wreck gets a settlement of $12M.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Jerome Stewart was left a quadriplegic in an instant on Dec. 27, 2005. The circumstances surrounding that instant became "a very highly contested and expensively waged war" that resulted earlier this month in a $12...

Virginia Court of Appeals rules Health Records Privacy law applies to criminal subpoena.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Virginia's Health Records Privacy Law applies to a criminal defendant's subpoena duces tecum for a victim's counseling records, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression....

Howard W. Martin Jr. becomes new president of the Virginia State Bar.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Howard W. Martin Jr., the senior partner in the 12-lawyer Norfolk firm of Crenshaw, Ware & Martin PLC has long been involved in bar activities. He was a member and chairman of the Second District Disciplinary...

Virginia State Bar to revisit issue of mandatory insurance.
June 25, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper The question was whether the Virginia State Bar Council had any appetite for pursuing the issue of whether lawyers with private clients should be required to have legal malpractice insurance. Because the question...

Virginia's Governor Kaine seeks nominees for high court seat.(Timothy M. Kaine)
June 25, 2007... Byline: Alan Cooper Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked those interested in filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy to submit their names and supporting documentation to his staff by July 16. Mark E....