Parents who lost son denied visits with grandchild

Hacked: What to do if your office computers are breached

By Correy E. Stephenson
Published: May 20, 2013
Tags: Law Office Management, Technology

While stories of foreign hackers and data breaches may seem unlikely in the commonwealth, “it can happen to anyone,” warned John Simek, vice president of Sensei Enterprises, a digital forensics and information security company in Fairfax. Take the example of criminal defense firm Puckett & Faraj in Alexandria. Last year, the firm was one of [...]

Developers, state sparred over conservation tax credits

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Real Estate, Taxation

A court battle over the value of a patch of Albemarle County land has shed light on the often-secret and high dollar business of conservation tax credits and may be a guidepost for using expert appraisal witnesses. While other investors suffered huge losses when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, a Charlottesville developer and [...]

Virginia Tech president retires, reflects on 2007 massacre

By The Associated Press
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: Virginia Tech Shootings

(AP) — The president of Virginia Tech announced his retirement May 14, satisfied he had elevated the university’s reputation and acknowledging that the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history on his campus would be a part of his legacy. Charles Steger, 65, continues to be a central figure and criticized for the way the [...]

U.S. appeals panel ponders: what is a pirate?

By The Associated Press
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Federal Courts, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, Judge Henry F. Floyd, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

(AP) — In the violent world of piracy, Mohammad Saaili Shibin was a multilingual negotiator based in lawless Somalia, working his cellphone to negotiate multimillion-dollar ransoms for merchant ships and sailors that dared to venture into pirate-infested international waters off Africa. Does that make him guilty of piracy? The question was the central argument May [...]

Waiting to file suit aids in $1.7M settlement

By Correy E. Stephenson
Published: May 16, 2013
Tags: Clarke County Circuit Court, Million-Dollar Settlements, Personal Injury

Thirteen years after a serious accident, a 20-year-old college student reached a $1.7 million settlement in a suit over her mild traumatic brain injury. Seven years old at the time of the accident, the plaintiff (whose name and other identifying information remain confidential) was riding in the front seat when a truck ran nearly head-on [...]

Chief justice makes plea for filling judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser

ROANOKE – The head of Virginia’s court system is raising the volume on her call for more money from the state government. “The time has arrived to fund and fill all vacant judgeships,” proclaimed Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser in her state of the judiciary speech May 14. Kinser said the administration [...]

Medical practice was liable, doctor was not

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: Judge Johnny E. Morrison, Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Portsmouth Circuit Court, Supreme Court of Virginia News

The Supreme Court of Virginia has reinstated a jury verdict against a Portsmouth medical practice for alleged sloppy management in the case of a 24-year-old patient who died of pneumonia. The trial judge ruled the $3.5-million verdict had to be set aside because the jury made inconsistent findings – exonerating the doctor, but finding the [...]

An HR headache: New worker privacy law will protect ‘personal information’

By Correy E. Stephenson
Published: May 13, 2013
Tags: Employment

Employment lawyers – and attorneys who run their own firms – should take note of a new, under-the-radar law set to take effect July 1. Under the new statute, employers are not obligated to disclose the “personally identifiable information” of current and former employees, including name, cell phone number and work schedule, to third parties. [...]

Rule changes would deal with discovery

By Correy E. Stephenson
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Discovery, Federal Courts

Lawyers are concerned that discovery is getting out of hand. The masses of data that are part of everyday operations in modern organizations are generating ever-more complicated discovery demands, even in simple cases. Responding to concern from litigators nationwide, the U.S. Courts’ Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure recently approved proposed changes to several [...]