Civil Procedure – Complaint – Lawyer Signature – No Virginia License 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 21, 2010
Tags: Civil Procedure, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia
A Virginia lawyer may not validly authorize a lawyer licensed elsewhere, but not in Virginia, to sign the Virginia lawyer’s name to a pleading, and because the defect may not be cured by amendment, the Supreme Court upholds dismissal of an auto-accident personal injury complaint that was not signed by a pro se plaintiff or [...]
Municipal – Towing Ordinance – Dillon Rule
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 16, 2010
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia
A Fairfax County ordinance that requires tow truck operators to tow “each vehicle to storage site located within the boundaries of Fairfax County” does not violate the federal Equal Protection Clause or contravene the Dillon Rule, the Virginia Supreme Court says in this challenge to the ordinance filed by towing companies from Arlington County and [...]
Wills & Trusts – Unitrust – Trust Split – Uniform Trust Act
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 15, 2010
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Wills & Trusts
Although Virginia’s 2005 adoption of the Uniform Trust Code materially changed the law, it did not allow a trial court to divide a testamentary charitable remainder unitrust over the objection of one of the two charitable beneficiaries, and the Virginia Supreme Court reverses the circuit court order. The testator died in 2004, unmarried and with [...]
Insurance – Use of Vehicle – Police Pursuit
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 21, 2010
Tags: Insurance, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia
Where a sheriff’s deputy tackled a suspect at the conclusion of a high speed pursuit after both the suspect and deputy had left their vehicles, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds the deputy’s injuries did not arise out of the use of any vehicle and no coverage is afforded under either liability or uninsured motorist [...]
Domestic Relations – Equitable Distribution – Debt – Presumptions
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 21, 2010
Tags: Domestic Relations, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia
Virginia’s equitable distribution statute does not create a presumption that debt incurred by an individual during a marriage is marital debt, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds in reversing the trial court and the Virginia Court of Appeals. Husband incurred a tax liability of more than $100,000 by failing to pay payroll taxes for his [...]
Wills & Trusts – Life Estate – Future Interests – Conditions
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 21, 2010
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia, Wills & Trusts
The Supreme Court of Virginia holds that the “early-vesting” rule of will construction establishes the date at which monetary payments are required by a will, so the payments are conditions subsequent rather than conditions precedent. Testator devised a life estate to his wife with remainder interests to his three children in parcels of real estate [...]
Marital debt should not be divided equally
By Alan Cooper
Published: April 20, 2010
Tags: Domestic Relations, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia News
When the General Assembly enacted equitable distribution in 1982 as the mechanism for dividing the property of divorcing spouses, it created a presumption that property acquired during the marriage is marital – the property of both spouses. The legislature created no such presumption for debts acquired during the marriage. The case of Gilliam v. McGrady [...]
Criminal – Probation Revocation – Exclusionary Rule
By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 25, 2010
Tags: Criminal, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia
Reaffirming its holding in Anderson v. Commonwealth, 251 Va. 437 (1996), the Supreme Court of Virginia holds that the exclusionary rule is not applicable in probation revocation proceedings absent a showing of good faith on the part of the police; in this case, a police officer’s mistaken belief that a rooming house was not open [...]
Civil Procedure – Dead Man’s Statute – Corroboration – Independent Evidence
By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 25, 2010
Tags: Civil Procedure, Justice Charles S. Russell, Supreme Court of Virginia
Although circumstantial evidence may support a man’s claim that he moved his family to a Sussex County farm and assisted his elderly aunt and uncle after they promised to leave the farm to him after both died, there was no independent evidence to corroborate the dead uncle’s oral promise to the man, and the Supreme [...]
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