2009 January 26 | Virginia Lawyers Weekly - Part 2

#1 – $20.77 million

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: January 26, 2009

Williams v. LexisNexis Management Inc.
Type of Case: Class action, violations of Fair Credit Reporting Act
Attorneys: Leonard A. Bennett, Christopher Colt North, Newport News; Michael A. Caddell, Richard D. Daly, Houston, Texas
Summary: Plaintiffs’ attorneys alleged that a subsidiary of LexisNexis that conducts background checks failed to provide claimants notice of a background report at the same [...]

Workers’ Comp – Claim Settlement – Lawyer Fraud

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

A workers’ comp claimant whose lawyer absconded with her $32,000 settlement proceeds is not barred by laches from obtaining payment from the carrier, a deputy commissioner says.
Howard v. American Service Contractors (Workers’ Comp. Comm’n) (VLW 009-10-01) (6 pp.)

Attorneys – Legal Malpractice – Trust Revocability – Advice To Client

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

In this decision from Fairfax Circuit Court, a claim of lawyer malpractice is dismissed as to a client’s intent to make a trust revocable or irrevocable, based on collateral estoppel, but the client may pursue a claim of negligence in advising on the tax consequences of the trust.
Plaintiff’s second wife, Lorraine, died July 22, 1998. [...]

Negligence – P.I. Settlement – Lawyer Fraud

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

Although a lawyer defrauded his p.i. client by absconding with the money paid by the carrier to settle the case, a Fairfax Circuit Court says the lawyer had apparent authority to settle the case and the client’s motion to set aside the settlement is denied.
After a 2004 auto accident in which plaintiff Dale Johnson was [...]

Domestic Relations – Equitable Distribution – Military Retirement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

A trial court erred in holding wife’s agreed 50-percent share of husband’s military retirement pay was to begin on his 2005 retirement date, rather than on the 2007 date of the evidentiary hearing in the parties’ equitable distribution proceeding, and the Court of Appeals reverses the portion of the final decree so holding; however, the [...]

Criminal – Venue – Identity Theft – Reprogrammed Credit Card

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

A defendant who used a laptop computer in Arlington to steal a woman’s identity, beginning with unlawfully obtaining her credit card number, including the act of recording and accessing the number and extending beyond his attempted use of the credit card number at a store in Alexandria, continued until he was apprehended in Arlington, and [...]

Insurance – Auto Liability – Void Policy – Household Member

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

A policyholder who, at the time he applied for auto liability insurance, failed to disclose that a particular person was a licensed driver, over 21 years of age, and a full-time member of the applicant’s household, cannot later obtain coverage for that driver who had permission to use the policyholder’s vehicle, because the policy is [...]

Civil Procedure – Nonsuit – Jury Costs

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

A trial court erred in imposing on a plaintiff who nonsuited a personal injury suit the costs of impaneling a jury, the Virginia Supreme Court holds.
Plaintiff moved to nonsuit after the trial court denied defendant’s motion to strike the evidence on the issue of liability. Defense counsel asked the court to assess expenses incurred in [...]

Criminal – B&E – Intent – Break In Fence

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

Although a neighbor of the theft victim saw defendant walking down the street with tools in his arms that he offered to sell the neighbor; the neighbor then observed an opening through the forced removal of fence boards in the backyard of the property, where the victim had not been for several days and most [...]

Medical Malpractice – Expert Witness – Standard Of Care – Emergency Room Care

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2009

In this med-mal suit alleging defendant physician negligently failed to admit decedent infant to the hospital when he presented signs of respiratory distress and/or pertussis, the trial court abused its discretion by holding that a pediatric-infectious disease physician who saw patients in an “urgent care” clinic was not qualified to testify as an expert on [...]

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