2008 October 13 | Virginia Lawyers Weekly - Part 2

Department store loses effort to arbitrate employee claim

By News in Brief
Published: October 13, 2008

The Supreme Court of Virginia again rejected by unpublished order the contention of Dillard’s Inc. that malicious prosecution complaints filed by two former employees had to be decided by arbitration.
This time, the decision in Dillard’s Inc. v. Judkins, Record No. 071302, was on the merits.
Dillard’s fired two employees it suspected of embezzlement and then filed [...]

VSB Disciplinary Actions

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: October 13, 2008

On June 6, 2008, a three-judge court of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court reinstated a public admonition on Virginia Beach lawyer Clarence J. Ball III for violating a professional rule that governs safekeeping property. According to the VSB, the matter involved Ball’s handling of disputed funds from a law firm partnership. The sanction originally [...]

Insurance – Auto Accident – Subrogation – Accord & Satisfaction

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A p.i. defendant who sent a check for 10 percent of what a carrier wanted, with a letter addressed “To Whom It May Concern,” lacked good faith and a Newport News Circuit Court rejects defendant’s defense of accord and satisfaction.
This matter is before the court on plaintiff’s claim for subrogation reimbursement following a car accident [...]

Civil Procedure – Jurisdiction – Personal Appearance – Subpoena Request

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A defendant corporation that filed a subpoena duces tecum in circuit court has made a general appearance and submitted to the court’s jurisdiction, a Roanoke County Circuit Court holds, and the corporation’s later assertion that it was entering a “special appearance” to contest jurisdiction came too late.
Plaintiff, who asserts he is “widely known and respected” [...]

Domestic Relations – Termination Of Parental Rights – Substance Abuse

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

The Virginia Court of Appeals upholds termination of the parental rights of a father who admitted to drug abuse including “sniffing drugs,” and whose two sons had stabilized somewhat when they removed from their first to their second foster care placement.
The boys’ foster care parents are interested in adopting them, and a license clinical psychologist [...]

Woman’s arm amputated after driver loses control – $2,750,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: October 13, 2008

Plaintiff was riding as a passenger in a vehicle being driven by a friend when the vehicle went off the shoulder of the road, struck three trees and landed in a ditch approximately 20 feet below the roadway. The plaintiff, who was in the right rear seat, lost her right arm when one of [...]

Domestic Relations – Custody – Mom’s Move – Reversion

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A trial court erred in ordering that primary physical custody of the parties’ child would revert from mother to father if mother moved out of Virginia or more than 30 miles from father, and the Court of Appeals reverses the custody order.
The court indicated the interests of the child would best be served by remaining [...]

Domestic Relations – Child Support – Imputed Income

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A divorce court did not err in imputing income to mother, who after retiring from a 20-year career with the Navy, left a position that paid $24.55 per hour to take a part-time job as a social worker earning $14.71 per hour, and the Court of Appeals rejects mother’s appeal of the order reducing father’s [...]

Criminal – Aggravated Sexual Battery – Forcible Sodomy – Lesser-Included Offense

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A trial court erred when it held that aggravated sexual battery is a lesser-included offense of forcible sodomy, and the Court of Appeals reverses defendant’s conviction of aggravated sexual battery under Va. Code § 18.2-67.3, and dismisses the indictment.
Defendant was indicted for committing forcible sodomy by cunnilingus on a child less than 13 years of [...]

Attorneys – Contempt Citation – Continuance Order – Rule 5A:18

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 13, 2008

A defense lawyer who did not appear for a scheduled trial date and told his client he need not show up can be cited for contempt, the Court of Appeals says, even though the lawyer and the prosecutor had agreed to a continuance of the DUI trial.
The defense lawyer and the prosecutor agreed to jointly [...]

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