Judge’s Courtroom Visit Not Ethics Violation 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Administrative, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia
A judge did not violate Virginia judicial canons by appearing in a courtroom to support a close personal friend in a legal proceeding or by texting a court employee during evening hours to obtain a personal phone number, which purportedly related to a political campaign by the judge’s nephew; the Supreme Court of Virginia dismisses [...]
High court hears record wrongful death appeal
By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 31, 2012
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Judge Edward Hogshire, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Sanctions, Social Media, Supreme Court of Virginia News
A man should not keep a jury award for his wife’s death when he and his lawyer conspired to remove photos from his Facebook page and then lied about it to the court, a defense lawyer told the Supreme Court of Virginia on Oct. 30. Probing for prejudice the defendant might have suffered, several justices [...]
Owners Have Trespass Claim for Storm Water Runoff
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 24, 2012
Tags: Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia, Tort
Property owners may sue adjacent property owners on a theory of common law trespass, based on their claim that defendant owners developed their property in an unreasonable manner that removed vegetation and directed storm water runoff onto plaintiffs’ property; plaintiffs have stated a claim under Virginias’ modified common law rule applicable to surface water, and [...]
Nonsuit OK after Removed Suit Dismissal
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 24, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia
A physician may nonsuit his state court defamation action against hospital and staff on the second day of jury trial, the Supreme Court of Virginia says; the physician’s voluntary dismissal of a removed action in federal court does not extinguish his statutory right to one voluntary nonsuit under Va. Code § 8.01-380. In November 2009, [...]
$2 Million Award to Sailor’s Widow Reinstated
By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 20, 2012
Tags: Admiralty, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia
On rehearing, the Supreme Court of Virginia reinstates a jury award of $2 million nonpecuniary damages to a widow for the pre-death pain and suffering of a Navy sailor who died of mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos while working as a ship fitter, modifying its opinion in John Crane Inc. v. Hardick, Executor [VLW 012-6-038.] [...]
Get your motions running…
By Peter Vieth
Published: August 23, 2012
Tags: Judge H. Vincent Conway, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Virginia Court of Appeals News
Fifteen motorcyclists rode out of the southeast into downtown Richmond. Their goal? To fight convictions under Virginia’s motorcycle helmet law. Represented by a lawyer from “a motorcycle law group,” an even dozen of the bikers came away from the Court of Appeals with a win. The ruling from a three-judge panel in Bennett v. Commonwealth [...]
Email was ‘disgusting’ but was not ‘obscene’
By Peter Vieth
Published: June 15, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge Edward W. Hanson Jr., Justice Charles S. Russell, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia News
An angry doctor’s “disgusting” emails to his ex-wife were not “obscene” under a Virginia criminal law and his conviction for harassment by computer has been overturned by the Supreme Court of Virginia. Where a Court of Appeals majority rejected a narrow interpretation of “obscenity” and embraced instead a broader dictionary definition, the Supreme Court insisted [...]
Janitor Service Can be Sued for Slip & Fall
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2012
Tags: Justice Donald W. Lemons, Negligence, Supreme Court of Virginia
A call center employee who slipped on a puddle of liquid in the lobby of a 12-story office building may sue the janitorial company hired to clean the building for negligence; the Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a trial court decision saying plaintiff was a statutory employee of defendant janitorial service barred from suing for [...]
Vulgar Emails Not ‘Obscene’
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia
A husband’s emails to his estranged wife accusing her of soliciting sex on Craigslist and calling her a “coke whore baby killing prostitute” were not “obscene” under the definition of obscenity approved by the General Assembly, and the Supreme Court of Virginia vacates the husband’s conviction for harassment by computer in violation of Va. Code [...]
Sanction Denying Cross-Exam ‘Too Harsh’
By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia
In a tortious interference case with an $11.75 million judgment, the trial court had a broad right to sanction defendant minority owners of a tech-development company for repeated refusals to fully comply with discovery orders, including removal of issues from the jury, but denying defendants the right to cross-examine on the issue of damages was [...]
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