Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Law Firm Must Detail Guardian Services 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 25, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Virginia Circuit Courts, Wills & Trusts

On a report by the Commissioner of Accounts and review of these seven cases in which a law firm has served in multiple roles, including guardian, conservator and trustee, for incapacitated persons, the Fairfax Circuit Court orders the law firm to provide detailed descriptions of the services, who performed them and at what hourly rate, [...]

Woman died from blood clot after spinal surgery – Defense verdict 

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 21, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Defense Verdicts, Wrongful Death

Plaintiff’s decedent was a 31-year-old woman admitted to the hospital on Aug. 9, 2007, for spine surgery. While in the pre-operative holding area, she was found to have deep venous thrombosis (DVT) involving three vessels in her right lower leg. The spine surgeon postponed the surgery and sought medical management for the DVT from the [...]

Scenes from the VTLA 

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 9, 2012
Tags: Judge Jerrauld C. Jones, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Practice Tips, Social Media, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

With 12 hours of continuing legal education from leaders of the bar, the court and the legislature, good advice was in plentiful supply at the annual convention of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at The Greenbrier last month. Some samples:
About Facebook

“Never, ever, ever, ever tell your client to delete anything,” said Malcolm P. “Mic” McConnell [...]

Full-court press against NBA’s Arenas fails 

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: April 9, 2012
Tags: Contract, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden

Think a stormy relationship between a pro basketball player and a reality TV star wouldn’t find its way into the Virginia court system?  It did.
Memphis Grizzlies point guard Gilbert Arenas and his fiancé Laura Mendoza-Govan, a current cast member of VH1’s “Basketball Wives LA,” went through a bitter split at the end of 2010. Arenas, [...]

Moving company sues basketball player for breach of contract – Motion to strike granted 

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 9, 2012
Tags: Contract, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden

This lawsuit arose from the alleged breach of a contract by defendant Gilbert Arenas, a professional basketball player, to move the contents of Arenas’ home in Fairfax County to California.
In November 2010, Arenas and his girlfriend, Laura Mendoza-Govan, separated. Mendoza-Govan continued to reside in Arenas’ home. In December 2010, the Washington Wizards traded Arenas to [...]

Former HOA president’s emails were defamatory – $9,000 Verdict 

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 26, 2011
Tags: Defamation, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden

Plaintiff Sondra Cornwell filed a defamation per se case, alleging that she was defamed by four emails written and published by defendant James Ruggieri. The emails alleged that Cornwell had stolen homeowner association (HOA) funds five years earlier. Ruggieri was the president of the HOA at the time, and the emails were published in 2010.
Ruggieri [...]

$9M settlement set aside in family fight over mom’s millions 

By Peter Vieth
Published: October 6, 2011
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden

A Fairfax judge has pulled the plug on a $9-million family deal, calling the financial settlement of a guardianship petition “a perversion of the court system.”
The decision means the children of Margaret Karageorge, 76, have to pay back nearly $1.7 million they already had received, including money for attorneys’ fees, under a unique settlement agreement [...]

No FOIA Claim for School Board Emails 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 29, 2011
Tags: Civil Rights, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Virginia Circuit Courts

A school board did not violate the Virginia Freedom of Information Act by conducting a meeting through email exchanges during the days leading up to the board’s decision to vote to close an elementary school; although the Fairfax Circuit Court finds the board did violate VFOIA by failing to timely produce documents, the violation was [...]

Lot-Width Waivers Violate Dillon’s Rule 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 6, 2011
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Virginia Circuit Courts, Zoning

A plaintiff wins a challenge to the county’s grant of a special exception under Fairfax Zoning Ordinance § 9-610 for waiver of minimum lot width requirement to another owner’s property, as the Fairfax Circuit Court holds the county violated Dillon’s Rule by granting lot width waivers without meeting the requirements for granting a variance.
The first [...]

No Review of Child Support Order 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 28, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Judge Leslie M. Alden, Virginia Court of Appeals

A father’s appeal of a denial of a modification in child support cannot be considered because the record on appeal does not contain a transcript or timely filed written statement of facts, and the Court of Appeals remands the case for an award of attorney’s fees to the mother.
Because we hold the father’s appeal lacks [...]