VALS winter meetings to be in Roanoke Feb. 7
Published: December 29, 2008
RVLSA…the association for legal professionals will host the VALS Winter Seminars/Third Board of Governors Meeting on Feb. 7, 2009 at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke.
The seminars will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7 with “Ethics for the Legal Assistant,” presented by Peggy Knicely, PLS.
At 10:45, Sherri Hoffman, PP, PLS, CLA, will present [...]
Child pornography cartoon conviction upheld by 4th Circuit
Published: December 29, 2008
Child pornography is illegal even if the pictures are drawn, a federal appeals panel said in affirming the first conviction under a 2003 federal law against such cartoons.
Dwight Whorley is serving 20 years in prison, convicted in 2005 of using a public computer for jobseekers at the Virginia Employment Commission to receive 20 Japanese cartoons, [...]
Fairfax Bar announces 2008 Pro Bono awards
Published: December 29, 2008
FAIRFAX— The Fairfax Bar Association (FBA) announced the winners of this year’s Pro Bono Awards and the James Keith Public Service Award on Dec. 2.
These awards honor those who gave their time and talents to the community through the FBA’s pro bono program. Arlene Beckerman, Director of Pro Bono Services said, “During these difficult [...]
Civil Procedure - Removal Jurisdiction - Joined Defendant - Counterclaim
Published: December 24, 2008
In this case of first impression involving a suit to collect $794 in unpaid cell phone service contract charges, the 4th Circuit holds that a party joined as a defendant to a counterclaim may not remove the case to federal court solely because the counterclaim satisfies the jurisdictional requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act [...]
Products Liability - Post-Sale Duty To Warn - Pain Pump
Published: December 23, 2008
An Abingdon U.S. District Court says the Virginia high court would recognize a post-sale duty to warn, in a case alleging injury from use of defendant manufacturer’s “pain pump” for delivery of pain medicine following surgery.
Rash v. Stryker Corp. (USDC-WD) (VLW 008-3-555) (10 pp.)
Tort - Malicious Prosecution - Baseball Card Online Sale 
Published: December 22, 2008
A woman who sold defendant vintage baseball cards for $7,800 and who allegedly filed an insurance claim after defendant buyer said he did not receive the cards can sue the buyer for malicious prosecution for swearing out a complaint that caused her arrest and detention in jail for two weeks, an Alexandria U.S. District Court [...]
Domestic Relations - Equitable Distribution - Classification - Dual-Formula Division
Published: December 22, 2008
A lawyer wife had greater earnings during the parties’ marriage but husband owned a house in town prior to the marriage and used an inheritance to help pay for acquisition and improvements to riverfront property the couple purchased, and the Court of Appeals affirms a property split that applied the Brandenburg formula to the city [...]
Tort - Fiduciary Breach - Tobacco Farmer Father - Elder Abuse
Published: December 22, 2008
Defendant daughter and her husband committed fraud and breach of fiduciary duty to her father, an illiterate and hearing-impaired 84-year-old tobacco farmer who amassed assets exceeding $1 million, by isolating him from his other three children, selling off his farm and siphoning off his money, and a Pittsylvania County Circuit Court says the father is [...]
Domestic Relations - Immigration - Foster Care Petition
Published: December 22, 2008
A youth who came from Mexico and initially lived with his sister and brother-in-law, but who now faces deportation, has reached 18 years of age and cannot be declared a “dependent” of the court in response to a custody petition filed by his brother-in-law in an effort to forestall deportation, a Newport News Circuit Court [...]
Negligence - Workers’ Comp Bar - Eye Injury - Treatment Delay
Published: December 22, 2008
A 19-year-old laborer whose eye was injured when he was working with a pick and a piece of concrete flew up and struck his eye, and who ultimately lost sight in the eye after the laborer’s supervisor and his uncle both refused his requests for medical treatment, cannot sue the employer for negligence for failure [...]
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