Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2009

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2009

More bar groups submit endorsements in Virginia.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Five more bar organization have submitted their endorsements for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or for a district court opening in the Eastern District of Virginia. The Virginia Association of...

Ethics expert cannot show malpractice cause, rules Alexandria U.S. District Court.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Although an ethics expert said a lawyer should have consulted with government contract experts in his own firm, failure to do so is not legal malpractice, an Alexandria U.S. District Court says. A government...

Va. Supreme Court Justice Keenan, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauck gain top bar nods.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan received the highest endorsement from five bar groups for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck had the same...

Deal looming in Virginia on judicial performance evaluations.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A meeting between three members of the House Courts of Justice Committee and three members of the Supreme Court of Virginia appears to have defused - but hardly eliminated - animosity over the judicial performance...

Footprints: many devices create electronic trail lawyers and police can use.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Like a hiker making his way through the forest, every person these days leaves a set of footprints nearly everywhere he goes. Only the tracks aren't in mud, dirt or foliage - the footprints are electronic, creating a...

Virginia State Bar Council votes to ease rule on specialty advertising.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Virginia State Bar Council has approved a measure that would simplify the rule for advertising that a lawyer has been certified as a specialist in an area of law. The amendment to Rule 7.4 of the Rules of...

Richmond attorney gets good news, bad news.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Richmond lawyer Christopher C. Spencer got some good news and some bad news in the multi-pronged litigation stemming from a blown appeal in an $8.3 million judgment against the Wintergreen ski resort. The bad news...

Five more bars announce their endorsements for federal seats in Va.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Five more bar groups have submitted their endorsements for a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a district court opening in the Eastern District of Virginia. The organizations and the endorsements...

Supreme Court of Virginia speaks on three criminal law issues.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia has clarified the alibi defense, explained when a defendant can get immunity for testifying against a co-defendant and distinguished a butterfly knife from a dirk or any weapon of like...

11 judgeships remain open in Virginia.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The judicial system has 11 vacancies to be filled after the General Assembly re-appointed or elected 24 judges as its last act of the 2009 session. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is expected to fill one circuit court seat by...

35 years, $23M: Virginia Law Foundation celebrates milestone.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Thirty-five years after its founding, the Virginia Law Foundation has never accomplished its original goal. Regardless, those associated with the organization point with pride to a legacy of beneficial projects financed...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Neglect alleged in injury to elderly patient.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff A 91-year-old patient of a nursing home was allowed to develop a pressure ulcer on her sacrum. The pressure ulcer deteriorated, and she died three-and-one-half months later. On admission to the nursing...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Private placement results in claim against broker.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Claimant, a resident of McLean, was sold $100,000 in stock in a non-public company (private placement) by a registered stock broker of the respondent brokerage firm. A Financial Industry Regulatory...

State of Va. opinion sites.(The VSB, the AG and Others, part 3)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher The past two Web Hits columns have focused on government-run Web sites that provide opinions and case information - for Virginia's appellate courts and for the various circuit courts across the commonwealth. ...

Commentary: Web Sites: small screen lawyer edition.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher Lawyer shows have been a mainstay of television ever since the major networks started broadcasting. Some of the most memorable characters and programs even have spawned their own fan sites and interest groups. ...

Virginia appellate judge to lawyers: write better briefs.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth At least one Virginia appellate judge has a few gripes about the work product he sees from Virginia lawyers. Judge William G. Petty of the Court of Appeals of Virginia told a gathering of Lynchburg lawyers this...

Supreme Court of Va. rejects rule change on undisclosed recordings.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia has rejected an amendment to the Rules of Professional Conduct that would have allowed attorneys to use undisclosed recordings to investigate and develop a case. The vote was 4-3, with...

Is evidence code going off the rail?
March 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth The 20-year effort to get an official set of evidence rules in Virginia is still under review at the Supreme Court of Virginia, and one proponent is concerned that opposition has arisen. Richmond lawyer John M....

Loudoun County judge pares mold verdict to $1.45M.(Virginia)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A Loudoun County judge has reduced jury awards for a couple who contended that mold sickened them and left their home unlivable from $4.75 million to $1.45 million. Paul and Wendy Meng contended that mold developed...

Special needs trust: avoiding a malpractice trap.(Virginia)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Special needs trusts are not one-size-fits-all, according to the lawyers who help preserve benefits for the disabled. Personal injury lawyers are cautioned against dabbling in the field when they get a settlement or...

Supreme Court of Virginia's judicial evaluation program is dead.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The Supreme Court of Virginia's judicial evaluation program apparently is dead. The General Assembly cut the money for the JPE program from the 2009-10 budget, and Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr....

The first rollback: Richmond-based McGuireWoods to cut pay for new lawyers.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Law firms across Virginia, and indeed across the country, have announced a freeze on pay for associates. Some firm leaders wondered aloud if salaries should not be reduced. But the firms have watched each other, waiting...

'Big box' in Va. stopped.(permit to build a store)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Local governments in Virginia won a closely watched battle that pitted a large-scale retail developer against land use regulators and citizens in the Town of Blacksburg. The Supreme Court of Virginia strictly...

Verdicts & Settlements March 16, 2009: Diabetic falls from ramp, leg amputated as a result.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Plaintiff, a 36-year-old diabetic with end stage renal disease, moved into an apartment complex owned by the defendant. Prior to moving into the complex, she had lost her left leg as a result of...

Verdicts & Settlements March 16, 2009: Nursing home patient breaks hip in fall from bed to floor.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly A 92-year-old nursing home patient fell from her bed to the floor. The fall resulted in a non-displaced femur fracture. The patient had severe dementia, could not walk, had contractures in both arms and both...

Verdicts & Settlements March 16, 2009: Patient develops paraplegia after abscess not diagnosed.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly The plaintiff was a 68-year-old female with a history of chronic urinary tract infection, controlled diabetes, atrial fibrillation and recent lithotripsy and stenting to remove a kidney stone obstruction....

Richmond Circuit Court dismisses malpractice claim in Wintergreen case.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper McGuireWoods LLP cannot be held liable for legal malpractice because it failed to file the transcript in an appeal of an $8.3 million verdict against the Winter-green ski resort. Richmond Circuit Judge Melvin R....

'Legal Food Frenzy' in Va. satisfies hunger to give.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The first legal food frenzies in Hampton Roads in the early 1990s were scheduled at the end of March because that had been a slow time during the year for contributions to food banks. That's still true and with the...

Researchers at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg win $2M defamation award.(Virginia)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A jury has returned verdicts totaling $2 million for two former psychologists at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg who contended that two top officials at the hospital defamed them. The plaintiffs are Douglas...

Supreme Court of Virginia rules 'illegal act' bars med pay.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Roderick A. Bailey lost control of his motorcycle in July 2005 in Buchanan County and incurred more than $100,000 in medical expenses from the single-vehicle crash. Bailey sought coverage for the medical bills under...

Rohrstaff becomes new president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.(Interview)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper Growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s in a small town in Texas, Sandra Rohrstaff never thought about working at anything other than the jobs educated women had at the time: nurse, teacher or secretary. It never...

Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk sounds tax fraud alarm.(Virginia)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper The troubled housing market is creating headaches for court clerks and real estate professionals in the assessment of recordation taxes. Fairfax County Circuit Court Clerk John T. Frey addressed one of those...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Consulting Engineers Corp. v. Geometric Ltd.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Civil Procedure - Personal Jurisdiction - Telephone & E-Mail Contacts Four phone calls and 24 e-mails do not give an Alexandria U.S. District Court personal jurisdiction over defendants, an Indian corporation...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Wollman v. Geren.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Administrative - Army - Medical Retirement - Pre-existing Condition - Jurisdiction A determination by the Army Discharge Review Board that plaintiff's physical disability prompting his discharge from service was...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Zegarra v. Marco Polo Inc.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Labor - FLSA - Overtime Pay - Caterers An Alexandria U.S. District Court refuses to dismiss a suit seeking overtime wages from an individual defendant who operated defendant catering business, as the law is clear...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: U.S. v. Foggo.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Criminal - Sentencing - Grand Jury Transcripts In sentencing a former high-ranking CIA official on his conviction of wire fraud, for a fraudulent scheme that steered government funds toward his lifelong friend...

Alexandria U.S. District Court: Carter, Fullerton & Hayes LLC v. FTC.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Deborah Elkins Administrative - FOIA - FTC Documents The Federal Trade Commission wins summary judgment in this FOIA suit filed by a Virginia law firm that has filed numerous FOIA requests for FTC documents pertaining to...

Lawyers in Va. can pitch case to an online jury.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Sarah Rodriguez Lawyers understand the many facets of trial. They know the judge, the opposing attorneys and the law, and they use this knowledge to determine the value of a case. But what they don't know - the x-factor, so to...

Damages cap in Va. now on tap.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher The 2009 General Assembly session is more or less over. Only the April 8 veto session, in which the legislature considers bills vetoed or amended by the governor, remains. The anticipated battle over an...

Va.-based McGuireWoods adds an office in London.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper McGuireWoods LLP will merge with a 36-lawyer firm based in London on May 1, a move that will more than double the firm's foreign-based contingent of attorneys. This is a great day in the history of McGuireWoods,...

Hall and Marsh gain honors from Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Paul Fletcher Reston lawyer Robert T. Hall and Sen. Henry L. Marsh III of Richmond received special awards from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at the group's annual meeting earlier this month. In addition, Peter J....

U.S. Magistrate judge in Richmond rules claim for distress won't waive therapist privilege.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Alan Cooper A plaintiff who files a personal injury claim for emotional distress and mental anguish does not necessarily waive the psychotherapist-client privilege, a federal magistrate judge in Richmond has ruled. The...

Former Chester real estate lawyer is sentenced in mortgage 'rescue' scam.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth A former Chester real estate lawyer was sentenced last week to two years in prison for his participation in a mortgage rescue program that scammed homeowners out of the equity in their homes. Colin C. Connelly, 52,...

Look before you tweet: lawyers' social media marketing subject to Va. State Bar rules.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Peter Vieth Lawyers are being cautioned to watch how they use the new social media on the Internet, especially for marketing purposes. Wendy Inge of legal malpractice insurer Minnesota Lawyers Mutual said that the slump in the...