Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2003

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2003

Virginia Legislators Explain New Judicial Election Process.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Virginia judges up for reelection can expect closer scrutiny in the future, key members of the General Assembly have told leaders from Virginia's largest bar groups. The chairs of the House and Senate Courts of...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Dischargeability Of Debt - Party Substitution A creditor seeking repayment of a $30,000 loan may not pursue her appeal because she failed to timely file a substitution of party after...

Richmond Lawyer Wants To Be Next AG.
March 3, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck With Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore the presumptive Republican nominee for governor in 2005, the jockeying among lawyers looking to replace him has already begun. Richmond attorney Stephen E. Baril, a...

Virginia State Bar Council Questions ANLIR Board Chair.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Members of the Virginia State Bar Council came to Richmond Feb. 22 with many questions about the status of American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal, but few were answered. On the agenda was Richmond lawyer Boyd...

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Delay Damages - N.Y. Law Where a New York property owner contracted to buy 1000 manufactured housing units from debtor, and debtor hired a subcontractor to transport, erect and...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2003: Elderly Wife Injured In Accident While Husband Driving.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, 74 at the time of the accident, was a passenger in a vehicle belonging to and driven by her husband. The husband failed to...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2003: Legal Malpractice - Divorce Settlement - Fees.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Attorneys / Ethics Other Useful Information -- The judge granted a motion for summary judgment made by the defendants, who were the plaintiff's former divorce attorneys. ...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2003: Needle Aspiration -- Biopsy -- Lung Cancer.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was a 73-year-old female who had smoked for more than 50 years. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant thoracic...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Ernest H. Williams Jr.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Ernest H. "Judge" Williams Jr., a longtime lobbyist before the General Assembly, died Feb. 19. He was 88. Mr. Williams for many years represented the Virginia trucking industry before the...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Mental Hospital Patient - Compulsory Treatment A trial court did not err in ordering appellant, a patient at the Southwest Virginia Mental Health Institute, to undergo medical...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Christopher G. Hill has joined the Richmond law firm of Meyer, Goergen & Marrs. A graduate of Duke University and the Washington University School of Law, Hill for five years was a litigator in the...

'Aspirational' Term In PSA Lets Ex-Wife Move, Rules Fairfax Circuit Judge.
March 3, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Although a divorcing couple with children signed an agreement stating that they would live no more than 30 miles apart, a Fairfax circuit judge has held that the mother may move from Northern Virginia to Chesapeake...

Associate Can't Be Sued By Ex-Client, Rules Richmond Circuit Judge.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher Even though she was not a named plaintiff in a prior lawsuit by her law firm to collect fees from a non-paying client, an associate cannot be sued by the client in a later malpractice case, a Richmond circuit judge...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Late Proof Of Claim - Informal Proof Of Claim - Ch. 7 In this chapter 7 case, the bankruptcy court grants a creditor's motion to allow a late filed proof of claim as an amendment to...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Jurisdiction - 'Local Action' Doctrine - Easement Use - Continuing Trespass In this suit by North Carolina landowners against a Virginia electric power company for damages for...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2003.
March 3, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Res Judicata - Legal Malpractice Where plaintiff, a former divorce client, defended a lawsuit for fees filed by a lawyer and law firm by alleging legal malpractice, and the suit...

Prosecutor Can't Force Judge To Give Sentence, Rules Supreme Court Of Virginia.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A prosecutor frustrated with a trial judge's taking cases "under advisement" may not resort to writs of prohibition or mandamus to force the judge to sentence a criminal defendant, the Supreme Court of Virginia has...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2003.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Default Judgment - Appeal A trial court reconsiders its earlier decision dismissing, under Ragan v. Woodcroft Village Apts., 255 Va. 322 (1998), a debtor's appeal of a general...

Virginia Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2003.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice - Moped Prosecution Where plaintiff's criminal defense lawyers allowed him to be charged with and convicted of driving a moped on a suspended license, even though...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2003: HIV-Positive Inmate Bites Federal Agent.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was a special agent with the U.S. Treasury Department who has full peace officer powers in Virginia. An HIV+ inmate on a...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2003: Legal Malpractice - Representation Of Criminal Defendant.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Legal malpractice Other Useful Information -- On Feb. 21, 1996, Daniel Caldwell received a near-fatal head wound caused by a gunshot in the home of a friend. The event was...

Some ANLIR Employees Land With New Malpractice Carrier.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Seventy-one of 305 employees of financially beleaguered Reciprocal of America and its management company have been dismissed. About 41 of those workers are sales, risk management, underwriting and claims management...

Receiver: Don't Pay Hospital Claims With Premiums Of ANLIR Insureds.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Premiums paid by lawyers and doctors to buy insurance should not be used to pay off claims by hospitals that are Reciprocal of America policyholders, Tennessee officials say. The special deputy receivers of three...

Opinion On 'Best Lawyers' Is Amended By The Virginia State Bar.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The Virginia State Bar now says "it is not unethical" for a lawyer to advertise that he or she is listed in a publication such as Best Lawyers in America. But to use that listing to imply that the lawyer is indeed...

Contract Suit Not Barred By Prior Fraud Lawsuit, Rules Supreme Court Of Virginia.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher Even though a woman who loaned money to real estate speculators lost on her fraud lawsuit against them, she still may bring a breach of contract lawsuit arising from the same deal gone bad, the Supreme Court of...

Virginia Court of Appeals: March 10, 2003.
March 10, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Double Jeopardy - Robbery Acquittal - Larceny From Person - Bicycle Theft A defendant who was acquitted of robbery based on a charge that he pushed an 11-year-old boy off his bicycle...

Verdicts & Settlements March 10, 2003: Credit-Card Company Hit For Inadequate 'Investigation'.
March 10, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck A Richmond jury has held a credit-card company liable for failing to perform an adequate investigation of a customer's complaint that she did not owe the company $17,000 on a delinquent account. According to the...

Credit-Card Company Hit For Inadequate 'Investigation'.
March 10, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck A Richmond jury has held a credit-card company liable for failing to perform an adequate investigation of a customer's complaint that she did not owe the company $17,000 on a delinquent account. According to the...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: March 17, 2003.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Dischargeability Of Debt - Credit Card - Ch. 7 A district court upholds a bankruptcy court's decision that a chapter 7 debtor's credit card is only partially discharged, based on...

Virginia Court of Appeals: March 17, 2003.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Retirement Pay - Law Enforcement Officer - Game Warden Although claimant served as a "special game warden," allowed to carry firearms and enforce fish and wildlife protection...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: March 17, 2003.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Safety Inspection - OSHA Violations Where the Virginia Commissioner of Labor and Industry cited defendant contractor, who worked on the Richmond Convention Center, for three...

Verdicts & Settlements March 17, 2003: Low-Impact Rear-End Collision - Torn Medial Meniscus.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was rear-ended by the defendant in a low-speed impact. Although she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis in both knees...

Verdicts & Settlements March 17, 2003: Low-Impact Collision - Muscle Spasm.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- Both the plaintiff's car and the defendant's car received relatively little damage. The plaintiff received substantial treatment for a...

Sentence Reduced For Caregiver Defendant.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A criminal defendant who was the sole caretaker of her brain-injured husband was entitled to a shorter sentence because of her "exceptional family circumstances," an Alexandria federal district judge has ruled. ...

Supreme Court Of Virginia: No Noncompete, No Relief For Employer.
March 17, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Lawyers on both sides agree: A covenant not to compete might have made all the difference in a recent employment-law ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The case is Williams v. Dominion Technology Partners,...

Arlington Bar Rejects Board's PD Resolution.
March 17, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck In a referendum, the members of the Arlington County Bar Association have rejected a resolution supporting the establishment of a public defender's office in the county. In late November 2002, the association's...

Commissioners Tilt Over American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal Status.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase As Virginia attorneys who subscribed to American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal watch receivers in two states battle over a limited pot of money that includes their insurance premiums, the story has taken on...

The Reciprocal Companies: The Cast Of Players.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase A brief recapitulation of the Reciprocal liability crisis to date: The story started in Glen Allen, the home base of Reciprocal of America, one of the nation's largest insurers of hospitals. On Virginia Insurance...

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 17, 2003.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Service On Creditor - Ch. 7 - Institution Officer A bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in vacating a prior default judgment against a creditor on the ground that debtor...

Verdicts & Settlements March 17, 2003: Resident Suffers Fractures During Transfer - Wrongful Death.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The decedent, 91, became a resident of Gretna Healthcare in March 1999. She arrived at the facility with multiple medical problems,...

Virginia Legal Obituary: David Hugh Boyd.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff David Hugh Boyd, a construction-law specialist who maintained a private practice in Fairfax County for about 25 years, died Jan. 26 in Fair Oaks. He was 71. The Newark, N.J. native served as an...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: March 17, 2003.
March 17, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Fee Award - Factor Test A group of hospital defendants who successfully defended against a plaintiff's lawsuit filed under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C. Sect....

The Birth And Growth Of A Local Bar In Virginia.
March 24, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Not so long ago, Powhatan County was a quiet, sparsely populated farming community with just a handful of lawyers. Until 1995, in fact, the county's prosecutor practiced on a part-time basis. Now, however, the...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: March 24, 2003.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Concealed Handgun Permit - Reconsideration Where petitioner's original application for a concealed handgun permit was denied based on a 1993 concealed weapons charge without any...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Mistreatment Of Resident With Alzheimer's Disease - Ulcers.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff's decedent suffered from Alzheimer's disease. In a five-month period, the decedent went from 150 pounds to less than 110...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Elderly Woman Killed When Motorist Runs Red Light.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff's decedent was 91 at the time of her death. She lived an active lifestyle, spending summers in her native Michigan with one...

Richmond Lawyer Robert J. Grey Looks Ahead To ABA Presidency.
March 24, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Richmond lawyer Robert J. Grey Jr., the future president of the American Bar Association, knows that things can change in 17 months. Nevertheless, one thing is certain: When he takes the oath of office in August...

Maryland Landlord Needs A 'Resident' Agent For Suit.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher A Maryland-based landlord company cannot proceed in its suit against a tenant that moved out and allegedly broke its lease because it failed to maintain a "resident agent" filing in the Fairfax Circuit Court records,...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Failure To Diagnose Arteriosclerotic Disease - Heart Attack.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff's decedent, a 45-year-old farmer, injured himself in a fall from a ladder on Aug. 18, 1999, in which he struck...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: March 24, 2003.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Norfolk lawyer Deborah M. Casey has been inducted into the Community Association Institute's College of Community Association Lawyers. She is the first and only lawyer from southeastern Virginia to...

Norfolk Circuit Judge Rules Cab Company Liable As 'Public Franchise'.
March 24, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Even though a taxicab company claimed that its driver was an independent contractor, a woman struck by the cab could bring a personal injury suit against the company, a Norfolk Circuit judge ruled. The ruling may...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: March 24, 2003.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Downward Departure - Family Situation A business manager convicted of income tax evasion is entitled to a "downward departure" in the district court's application of the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Odometer Tampering -- Salvage History.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Consumer Protection Other Useful Information -- The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant and its employees tampered with an odometer, made false disclosures of odometer...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy -- Bile Duct.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was a 27-year old mentally retarded man diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. As a child, he had also battled...

Virginia Law Firm Wins Injunction Over 'Best Lawyers' Ad.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase A federal judge has ordered the Virginia State Bar not to prosecute, at least temporarily, a Richmond law firm for advertising that three of its attorneys are listed in the book Best Lawyers in America. Senior U.S....

Remittitur For Soft Tissue Injury Reversed By Supreme Court Of Virginia.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A Chesterfield County Circuit judge erred in reducing by nearly one-half a jury award to a woman who was injured when a car plowed into her as she and her adult son walked a dog. On March 14, the Supreme Court of...

SCC Officials To ANLIR Receiver: Be Patient.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase As Tennessee officials continue to pound on the doors of the Virginia insurance commissioner, demanding access to the records and employees of three ailing liability carriers, the Virginia commissioner has issued a stern...

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 24, 2003.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Child Pornography - Actual Children - Roommate Agent A defendant's conviction of possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sect. 2252A is reversed because the district...

Virginia Court of Appeals: March 24, 2003.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Felon In Possession - Shotgun A woman who previously was convicted of grand larceny and related crimes properly was convicted of illegal weapon possession based on police discovery of...

Verdicts & Settlements March 24, 2003: Student Loans - Adequacy Of Disclosures.
March 24, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action -- Consumer Protection Other useful information: Plaintiffs were all people who enrolled in classes with Solid Computer Decisions (SCD), a computer training program. Since SCD...

Virginia Lawyers in the News: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Liability Protection Society, A Risk Retention Group, has announced the promotion of D. Adele Nighman to Insurance Operations Manager of ALPS' Eastern Territory headquartered in Richmond. ...

Lender Trumps Landlord Who Failed To File UCC-1, Rules Richmond Federal Judge.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher A commercial lender that filed a financing statement perfecting its security interest in the crops of a tenant farmer takes priority over the landlord who owns the property, a Richmond federal judge has ruled. The...

U.S. District Court VA Western Case Summaries: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Municipal - Cell Telephone Tower Where a county board of supervisors rejected a special use permit that would allow plaintiff company to construct a 240' wireless...

Effort To Pursue Discharged Debt Prompts Sanctions From Bankruptcy Judge In Alexandria.
March 31, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck A bankruptcy judge in Alexandria has slammed a bank and its lawyer for damages, including punitives, after they tried to use a "replevin," or repossession, action to pursue a debt that had been discharged in...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case Summaries: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Discharged Debt Collection - Contempt - Attorney's Fees A bank and its attorneys violated 11 U.S.C. Sect. 524 by attempting to collect a discharged debt, and they are ordered by the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 31, 2003: Failure To Diagnose Myocardial Infarction.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, 54, called the defendant health facility at noon on Feb. 4, 2001, and said he was feeling ill and had shortness of...

Study: Virginia Chief Magistrates Should Be Attorneys.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase A Supreme Court of Virginia committee has recommended that the state's magistrate system be overhauled to include a requirement that the chief magistrates in each of the 32 judicial districts be attorneys. The...

Hampton Jury Gives $7.5M Award.
March 31, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck In what is reportedly the largest verdict in Hampton history, a jury awarded $7.5 million to a woman who sustained a mild traumatic brain injury after her car was sandwiched between a tractor-trailer and a highway...

Testimony On 'Aggressive' Driving Not Too Remote, Rules Virginia Court Of Appeals.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins A driver who witnessed a woman in a black truck speeding and weaving in and out of traffic on Interstate 95 before he lost sight of her for about 20 minutes can testify about the woman's driving at her trial for...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Weapon Possession - Prior Domestic Violence Conviction A defendant who previously was convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence properly was convicted of illegal weapon possession in...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Advertising - Commercial Speech A Richmond-based law firm is entitled to an injunction barring the Virginia State Bar from enforcing Rule 7.1(a)(3) of its Rules of Professional...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 31, 2003.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Miranda Warnings - Public Safety Exception Where police visited defendant's home on a call for domestic disturbance, and were informed that a gun had been discharged in the house,...

Tennessee Receivers Ask SCC To Stay Cases.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Receivers for American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal and two other Tennessee-based risk-retention groups have asked Virginia's State Corporation Commission to help them obtain stays of Virginia cases against...

Virginia Legal Obituary: James E. Edmunds III.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Halifax lawyer James Easley Edmunds III died March 17. He was 87. A native of Halifax County, Mr. Edmunds practiced law there for over 50 years. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Harry P. Anderson Jr.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Richmond lawyer Harry P. Anderson Jr. died March 24. He was 83. A native of Louisiana, Mr. Anderson attended school in Richmond, graduating in 1939. Before receiving his undergraduate and law...

Verdicts & Settlements March 31, 2003: Collision Aggravates Preexisting Neck And Back Injuries.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was 40 years old at the time of the accident. She had some previous neck and back problems and had been treated three...

Verdicts & Settlements March 31, 2003: UIM Coverage - Macular Hole Injury.
March 31, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- This case involved an AMICA uninsured motorist policy purchased by the plaintiff in Rhode Island. The policy mandated that any dispute...