News Stories | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Railroad employee wins $4.5M for foot injury

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 22, 2012
Tags: Judge Jonathan M. Apgar, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Personal Injury, Roanoke Circuit Court

A Roanoke jury awarded $4.5 million this month to a 43-year-old former railroad worker who claimed his on-the-job foot injury led to permanent pain and disability.
The Feb. 17 verdict came at the end of a five-day trial in Kirk Davis’ suit against the Norfolk Southern Railway in Roanoke City Circuit Court.
Davis was a conductor/engineer for [...]

Hiding something? Forensic accounting plays role in family law

By Dolan Media Newswires
Published: February 21, 2012
Tags: Domestic Relations

Divorce clients frequently raise concerns that spouses are hiding assets or income. Often, however, such concerns are the product of the other spouse’s attempts to manipulate the client into staying in the marriage or believing she will ultimately “lose” anyway, so she may as well settle now on unfavorable terms.
Uncovering a spouse’s plot to artificially [...]

Protecting your client’s business in divorce

By Dolan Media Newswires
Published: February 21, 2012
Tags: Domestic Relations

Divorce can be bad business for your client. Mixing a business and its assets with a divorce can become financially and emotionally devastating for the couple and their family, as well as the employees and co-owners.
Division of property is usually the chief issue in divorce, and the business is usually the most valuable asset. Planning [...]

Support issues for Baby Boomers:?A primer

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: February 21, 2012
Tags: Elder Law

It is a common misconception that just because you retire you will get a reduction in your spousal support obligation – that may not be the case, so beware. The terms of the obligation, when you retire, and the way you retire may significantly affect your ability to get a reduction.
Does this mean the court [...]

Are irrevocable trusts really irrevocable?

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: February 21, 2012
Tags: Elder Law

When children or grandchildren are the beneficiaries of irrevocable trusts that were set up for them long ago by their parents or grandparents but the terms are not working very well for them, is it possible to have the trusts terminated or at least modified, and would the court have the power to allow the [...]

Focus on: Family Law and Elder Law

By Paul Fletcher
Published: February 21, 2012
Tags: Domestic Relations, Elder Law

This week’s special second section focuses on the fields of family law and elder law; the two increasingly are intersecting as families seek to resolve issues with aging parents or changes arising from divorce.
The stories you’ll find in this issue:
Irrevocable trusts What happens when the children who are beneficiaries of a trust set up by [...]

Assembly addresses issues in elder law

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 20, 2012
Tags: Elder Law, General Assembly, Virginia Bar Association

Bills that would keep Virginia competitive in wealth management are making their way through the General Assembly, reports the head of the Virginia Bar Association’s Wills, Trusts and Estates section.
Richmond lawyer Farhad Aghdami, chair of the VBA section, noted the success of Senate Bill 180 which provides liability protection for a trustee acting in accordance [...]

Loudoun jury: $15M for death

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: February 20, 2012
Tags: Loudoun County Circuit Court, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Wrongful Death

A man facing a life sentence for the murder of his wife has been hit with a record-setting civil verdict arising from the same crime.
Last Monday, a Loudoun County jury awarded $15 million to the family of Catherine Ann “Cacey” Combs-LaFleur, a woman who died after Steven Combs-LaFleur, her husband, struck her on the [...]

Restrictive covenant different from noncompete, court says

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 17, 2012
Tags: Contract, Federal Courts, Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Judge Leonie Brinkema, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

An Alexandria federal judge was too quick to pull the trigger on a petroleum distributor’s suit to enforce a restrictive covenant meant to keep a service-station operator from selling a different brand of gasoline.
The trial judge awarded summary judgment to the service-station operator, including fees and costs, when BP Products North America Inc. tried to [...]

Lawyer mismanaged assets, is convicted of embezzlement

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 16, 2012
Tags: Alexandria Circuit Court, Elder Law, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, Judge Robert J. Smith, Lawyer Discipline, Virginia State Bar

A Falls Church lawyer has been convicted of embezzlement after being ordered to reimburse more than $275,000 in excess fees she charged for management of an elderly couple’s assets, according the Virginia State Bar and court records.
A 2009 report by the Fairfax County commissioner of accounts found Erin Weber Anderson, now known as Erin Marie [...]

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