Virginia Lawyers Weekly articles from May 2003

Virginia Lawyers Weekly archives from May 2003

U.S. Magistrate Judge Glen R. Conrad Is Tapped For Seat In W.D.
May 5, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck President Bush has nominated U.S. Magistrate Judge Glen R. Conrad of Roanoke to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. District Court in the Western District. Conrad has served as a federal magistrate judge since 1976....

Alexandria Federal Judge Orders ERISA Plan To Pay Lawyer Benefits.
May 5, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck After an ERISA plan denied the claim of a disabled lawyer, an Alexandria federal judge ordered the plan to pay benefits. The lawyer sought benefits after depression, diabetes and a debilitating knee injury left...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: May 5, 2003.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Heroin Transport - State & Federal Charges - Collateral Estoppel Although a federal district court dismissed federal drug conspiracy and possession charges against defendant, who was...

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Chest Pain -- Myocardial Infarction.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The decedent, 63, was at a high risk for coronary artery disease. She presented to her family doctor's office on a Friday...

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Transected Common Bile Duct -- Naval Hospital.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Medical malpractice Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff underwent an elective laparascopic cholecystectomy at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. During the procedure, the Navy...

Virginia Bar Association Gets Into The Insurance Business.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The Virginia Bar Association has entered the insurance sales market. The association has formed a subsidiary that can help small and medium-sized firms, in particular, obtain an array of insurance, including legal...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Joseph A. Abdelnour.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Retired Williamsburg lawyer Joseph A. Abdelnour died Feb. 21. He was 66. Mr. Abdelnour received his undergraduate degree from St. Mary's College in Baltimore in 1958. He earned his law degree from...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Virginia Mister Walker.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Virginia Mister Walker, who in 1937 became the first woman to graduate from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary, died Feb. 10. Ms. Walker was a native of Cedar Grove....

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Whistleblowing -- Nursing Facility.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Employment Other Useful Information -- One plaintiff was the director of nursing at a skilled nursing facility in Essex County. The other plaintiff was the facility's...

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Attorney Denied Disability Benefits.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Employment Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was an attorney at a Washington, D.C. law firm. After more than 30 years of employment, he was the managing partner of the...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: May 5, 2003.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Capital Case - Defense Expert - Mitigation Evidence Although the defendant in this capital case has not met his burden of demonstrating particularized need to employ a "mitigation...

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Restaurant Worker Bites Customer.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Tort / Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff, a customer at the Dairy Queen in Ashland, was accosted by an employee during working hours. While the dining...

Verdicts & Settlements May 5, 2003: Child on Bicycle Hit At Intersection.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The infant plaintiff, 8, was riding his bicycle with three older children as he approached an intersection controlled by a traffic...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: May 5, 2003.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Roanoke lawyer Bayard Harris has accepted a position on the faculty of the Business and Economics Department of Roanoke College to continue his emphasis on labor relations and human resource management....

Receiver: Reciprocal Of America Insolvent.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase Reciprocal of America, one of the nation's largest insurers of hospitals and the financial backbone of American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal, is more than $200 million in debt and needs to be liquidated,...

Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Actions.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff The Virginia State Bar is seeking public input on the fitness to practice law of ex-attorney Douglas Downes Wilson of Roanoke. Wilson has petitioned the VSB Disciplinary Board for reinstatement. ...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: May 5, 2003.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Constitutional - Medical Record Privacy - HIPAA The 4th Circuit rejects a constitutional challenge to provisions of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996,...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: May 5, 2003.
May 5, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment ERISA - Disability Benefits - Lawyer Where a lawyer's insurance plan provides for disability benefits if "injury or sickness causes physical or mental impairment to such a degree of...

Failure to replace ANLIR risks CRESPA licensure, warns Virginia State Bar.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The Virginia State Bar is warning lawyer settlement agents who have not replaced their American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal liability coverage that they might be risking their CRESPA licenses. The Consumer...

Virginia Court of Appeals Case Summaries: May 12, 2003.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Unauthorized Use Of Auto - 'Rented' Car Although defendant claimed he did not know that a car he "rented" from a friend for $40 to attend a job interview was stolen, and the steering...

Virginia Lawyers Weekly's Online Forum celebrates anniversary.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher Virginia Lawyers Weekly's Online Forum celebrates its one-year anniversary this week. In the forum, attorneys can share trial tips, ask questions about unfamiliar areas of law and trade ideas. While not...

'Sort Of' Representation Results In Case Dismissal.
May 12, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck It happens all the time: A lawyer temporarily takes a case with the understanding that the client intends to hire a different attorney later on. But a recent ruling from Norfolk shows that even temporary control...

Roanoke Bar Cites Pro Bono.
May 12, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck At its annual Law Day ceremony May 1, the Roanoke Bar Association recognized area attorneys who had devoted more than 40 hours to pro bono service in 2002. Susan C. Proctor, managing attorney of the Roanoke...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: May 12, 2003.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Hospital - Certificate Of Public Need - MRI Service The Virginia Commissioner of Health did not err in denying petitioner Newport News hospital's application for a certificate of...

Verdicts & Settlements May 12, 2003: Stillbirth - Mother's Injury.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of action -- Medical Malpractice Other Useful Information - The plaintiff was a 40-year-old obese woman with a history of two prior macrocosmic (more than 10 pounds at birth) infants, the...

Verdicts & Settlements May 12, 2003: Explosion After Gasoline Tanker Ruptures.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- This case arose from an incident on the rainy, foggy night of Nov. 21, 1997 in Alleghany County. Shortly after 10 p.m., an employee of...

Commentary: A Few Tech Tips Acquired Over The Years.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Bruce L. Dorner It's the little things that make the most difference. Just ask your spouse. The same holds true for computers. Knowing the little tweaks and adjustments that improve your relationship with the mechanical beast can...

Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Urges Balance In Busy Lives.
May 12, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. has some simple advice for lawyers: Work is important, but it isn't everything. Hassell acknowledges the demands of practicing law. As an attorney in private...

Joe Condo Leads List Of New Virginia State Bar Reps.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher Joe Condo is back. Vienna lawyer Joseph A. Condo, who was president of the Virginia State Bar from 2000-2001, has just been elected to a new three-year term as a representative to the VSB Council from the 19th...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: May 12, 2003.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Prison Guard Discipline - Hairstyle - Dreadlocks - Title VII A district court erred in granting summary judgment to officials of the Maryland correctional system who allegedly...

Commentary: E-Mail, Cellphones Can Be Trap For Unwary.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Emily Eichenhorn Cellphones, personal computers and e-mail are wonderful tools for helping lawyers increase productivity, communicate more frequently and manage their businesses. Unfortunately, technological innovation also has...

Ask The Experts: Questions And Answers About Technology.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Ask the Experts is a regular feature of Lawyers Weekly's Online Forum. The following questions and answers were taken from an installment focusing on technology. The questions came from members of...

Virginia defense lawyers seek to help ANLIR insureds.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase For American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal-insured lawyers who are facing claims with no apparent liability coverage, two Virginia bar groups have pulled together a list of lawyers who say they have experience...

U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan To Take Senior Status Next February.
May 12, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., an 11-year veteran of the federal bench in Norfolk, has announced that he will take senior status next February. President George H.W. Bush nominated Morgan, 68, in...

Tennessee Insurance Official: It Is Time To Liquidate ANLIR.
May 12, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The Tennessee insurance commissioner has concluded that American National Lawyers Insurance Reciprocal cannot be rehabilitated and needs to be liquidated as soon as possible. Tennessee officials likewise plan to move...

Exams Under Oath: Perform For Jury, Defense Lawyers Say.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins Plaintiff's personal injury lawyers like to tell heroic tales of tilting at insurance companies and winning compensation for persons injured "through no fault of their own." But insurance defense lawyers also get...

Verdicts & Settlements May 19, 2003: Fiduciary Duty -- Fraud -- Interference with Contract.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Employment Other Useful Information -- The plaintiffs were affiliated advertising, public relations and printing companies which had employed the defendant for 14 years. The...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: May 19, 2003.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Senior Supreme Court Justice Harry L. Carrico swore in the new officers and directors of the Henrico County Bar Association during the association's annual banquet on April 26. William J. Viverette...

Virginia Supreme Court: More Detail In Habeas Orders Due.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins Beginning in July, Virginia circuit court judges may no longer deny habeas corpus petitions without explaining the reasons for the denial of relief, Supreme Court Justice Cynthia D. Kinser announced on May 13. ...

Virginia Women Attorneys Association First Group To Use Reelection Endorsements.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase As Virginia's statewide bar groups continue to press the cause of judicial independence, the Virginia Women Attorneys Association has hit on a novel approach to the judicial election process in the General Assembly. ...

Blogger's Case Against Spammer Is Tossed Out.
May 19, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Old-fashioned agency principles have thwarted one man's bid to take on the cutting-edge problem of spam, the nettlesome junk mail that clogs electronic mail boxes. The man, who administers a weblog, or "blog,"...

Virginia Court Of Appeals Case Summaries: May 19, 2003.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Felony Parental Abduction - Custodial Interference A custodial mother who failed to return a child to father at the appointed time and place, and instead took the child out of state,...

Verdicts & Settlements May 19, 2003: $7.5M Award After Trailer Rig Drags Car Down Guardrail.
May 19, 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...

Verdicts & Settlements May 19, 2003 Computer Crimes Act -- Commercial Misappropriation -- E-Mail Address.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Tort / Negligence suit involving a civil claim under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, Sect. 18.2-152.1, et seq., commercial misappropriation under Sect. 8.01-40, and common law...

Whistleblowers Reach Deal In Discharge Suit.
May 19, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Two whistleblowers fired for reporting regulatory violations at a nursing home have settled their wrongful-discharge suits against the home for more than $2 million. The plaintiffs filed suit under Virginia Code...

Judges, Lawyers Provide Graduation Advice.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher If it's spring, it must be time for graduation. While Virginia's many colleges and seven law schools will be holding ceremonies throughout this month and on into June, the weekend of May 10-11 featured speeches by...

Virginia State Guaranty Fund Would Cover ROA Claims.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase If Reciprocal of America is ordered into liquidation by the State Corporation Commission -- which could happen as early as June 19 -- outstanding legal claims against ROA's hospital policyholders will be handled through...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: May 19, 2003.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Entrapment - Psychiatric Testimony - Head Injury Where defendant claimed that a 1997 head injury left him more susceptible to entrapment by government agents than the average person,...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: May 19, 2003.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Inmate Privacy - HIV Status Where a Virginia inmate alleges that defendant deputy violated the inmate's constitutional right to privacy by stating within earshot of other inmates...

Verdicts & Settlements May 19, 2003: Breach of Contract -- Salesman's Commissions.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Employment. Other Useful Information -- The defendant employer terminated the plaintiff, who had been the company's top sales representative since 1994, for personality...

Verdicts & Settlements May 19, 2003: Woman Killed In Collision With Drunk Driver.
May 19, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The decedent, Liliana R. Vega, 41, was a passenger in a minivan. As the vehicle entered a Chesterfield County intersection at a green...

Virginia Lawyers In The News: May 26, 2003.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Richmond lawyer Thomas M. Wolf was elected president of the International Association of Commercial Lawyers (ACL) at its annual meeting in Paris. Wolf, a partner in the law firm of LeClair Ryan, is...

Arlington Chief Judge Announces Retirement.
May 26, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck Arlington Chief Circuit Judge Paul F. Sheridan, an 18-year veteran of the circuit bench, will step down July 1. Sheridan, however, will don his robe from time to time, continuing to hear cases in Arlington and...

U.S. District Court VA Eastern Case Summaries: May 26, 2003.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Ineffective Assistance - Mitigation - Mental Health Diagnosis A defendant convicted of capital murder of his wife and two-year-old son cannot overturn his convictions...

Verdicts & Settlements May 26, 2003: County Supervisor Claims First Amendment Rights Violated.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Tort / Negligence Other Useful Information -- Paulette McWaters, a former Powhatan County supervisor, sued Powhatan County, all five county supervisors, the county attorney,...

More on James Monroe.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff In the April 21 edition, in a note about the ongoing name controversy at Mary Washington College, this column noted that America's fifth president, James Monroe, doesn't have a college named for him....

South of which border?
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Ordinarily, the Virginia General Assembly is the branch of government that has the power to redraw the map of the commonwealth, by periodically recasting the state's electoral districts. But...

Virginia State Bar Pursues Another P.I. Firm Over Its Ads.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Dawn Chase The Virginia State Bar, already locked in litigation with a large Richmond personal-injury firm over its advertisements, is preparing to take on another P.I. powerhouse over a long-running ad campaign that features actor...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Thomas C. Gordon Jr.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Thomas C. Gordon Jr., who served on the Supreme Court of Virginia from 1965 to 1972, died May 17. He was 87. Justice Gordon graduated from the University of Virginia in 1936 and from U.Va.'s law...

Verdicts & Settlements May 26, 2003: Pedestrian With Shopping Cart Hit By Car Crossing Road.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- The plaintiff was pushing a shopping cart filled with laundry across Princess Anne Road in Norfolk. It was raining. The road had...

Verdicts & Settlements May 26, 2003:Truck Strikes Sheriff's Van, Injures Inmate Working On Road Crew.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action - Negligence Other Useful Information - The plaintiff was a jail inmate injured on May 25, 2001, while working on a sheriff's highway work force. He was part of a road crew cleaning...

Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Virginia: 'The State Of Our Judiciary Is Strong'.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Editorial Editor's Note: Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, gave his inaugural State of the Judiciary Address at the 2003 Judicial Conference of Virginia in...

Chief Justice Leroy R. Hassell: New Focus In Family Law Fights Needed.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Deborah Elkins Saying that no parent should have to contest child custody without having a lawyer, Chief Justice Leroy R. Hassell Sr. addressed Virginia judges in his first State of the Judiciary report. Hassell, who became...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: May 26, 2003.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Intellectual Property Trademark Infringement - Internet Domain Addresses In this declaratory judgment trademark infringement action in which the counterclaimant/owner of Monaco's famed gambling...

Virginia Circuit Court Case Summaries: May 26, 2003.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Choice Of Law - Fire Engine Fire - Sovereign Immunity - Md. Law Where a Maryland county sent its fire engine to plaintiff equipment corporation in Roanoke for renewal of its UL...

Progress comes to Surry County, Virginia.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Surry County is in line for a stoplight - the county's first. It's coming to the intersection of Routes 10 and 31 on Surry's town square in early 2004, said David Steele, resident engineer with the...

Traffic jam in Northern Virginia.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Back in the 1960s, a one-hit band from England, "Four Jacks and a Jill" had one hit, that ended with the line, "It's a strange, strange world that we live in, Master Jack." Amen to that: Here's a...

Virginia Criminal Defense Group Blasts Judge In Norfolk.
May 26, 2003... Byline: John D. Tuerck The Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has picked a public fight with a Norfolk circuit judge. An article in the group's most recent newsletter about Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles D. Griffith Jr.'s...

Payment Of Support Under Order Is Not Waste, Rules Virginia Court Of Appeals.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Paul Fletcher A husband's payment of court-ordered pendente lite support from marital funds was not waste, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of apparent first impression. The case fills a gap in marital waste...

Virginia Legal Obituary: Ruby Grant Martin.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Ruby Grant Martin, a lawyer who was civil rights director under President Lyndon B. Johnson and a cabinet member in the administration of Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, died May 8 in Richmond. She was 70. ...

Virginia Court of Appeals: May 26, 2003.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Physician License - Unprofessional Conduct - Sexual Harassment A circuit court order upholding the Board of Medicine's decision finding petitioner psychiatrist guilty of...

Verdicts & Settlements May 26, 2003: Soft Tissue Injuries From Rear-End Collision.
May 26, 2003... Byline: Virginia Lawyers Weekly Staff Type of Action -- Negligence Other Useful Information -- This was a MIST case involving a rear-end impact. Treatment consisted of physical therapy and diagnostic evaluations. The...