Van-fire plaintiff can cite other fires

Law Firm Fee Payment Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 23, 2013
Tags: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia

A law firm gets to keep $130,000 in attorney’s fees after a sale of real estate as part of a disputed estate case; the Supreme Court of Virginia says the circuit court had jurisdiction to distribute the fee as part of the sale proceeds in the settlement of the related equity actions involving trust and [...]

No Dec Action on Texas Hold ‘Em Poker

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 13, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

A trial court did not have jurisdiction to consider this action filed by the operator of the Poker Palace to declare that Texas Hold ‘Em Poker is not illegal gambling under Va. Code § 18.2-325, and the Supreme Court of Virginia vacates the trial court’s judgment and dismisses the bingo operator’s declaratory judgment action; however, [...]

No Procurement Review for Fitness Center

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 15, 2013
Tags: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Municipal, Supreme Court of Virginia

Suits filed by plaintiffs, a group of Fitness Clubs, to challenge actions by a city council and a county board of supervisors to lease public property to a YMCA and to enter into a use agreement with a capital contribution of $2 million for construction of a nonprofit fitness center, should not have been heard [...]

Getting to the jury on ‘capacity’ for will

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 14, 2012
Tags: Alexandria Circuit Court, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Justice William C. Mims, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Wills & Trusts

Call it a finger on the scale of justice. The law sometimes gives an advantage to one side in a lawsuit, allowing a legal “presumption” about some key fact in the case. Presumptions can be overcome, but how much weight it takes, who gets to make the call, and what happens afterward have been open [...]

‘A new standard of liability’ in Virginia?

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 9, 2012
Tags: Employment, Federal Courts, Judge James C. Turk, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Justice William C. Mims, Supreme Court of Virginia News

The Supreme Court of Virginia has opened the door to claims against individual supervisors who take part in the unlawful firing of an employee. The Nov. 1 decision in VanBuren v. Grubb (VLW 012-6-143), decided 4-3, is a victory for a nurse who claimed she was groped, propositioned and then fired by an orthopedic surgeon [...]

Firearm Sentences Can Run Concurrently

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

Reversing the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds that multiple sentences for firearm use or display in commission of a felony, imposed pursuant to Va. Code § 18.2-53.1, may be run concurrently. Defendant contends neither the language of the use or display of a firearm statute (Code Va. Code § 18.2-53.1) nor [...]

Exclusions Bar Homeowner Coverage for Chinese Drywall

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

A policyholder who sought homeowners’ insurance coverage for damages allegedly caused by drywall manufactured in China loses his suit in the Supreme Court of Virginia, as the court construes four exclusions, including “defective materials” and “pollutants” exclusions, to preclude coverage. A federal district court granted summary judgment to TravCo Insurance, the carrier, on the basis [...]

New Trial, Not Remittur, After $25M Award

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 24, 2012
Tags: Admiralty, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

The Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a trial court decision setting aside a circuit court’s award of $2 million (reduced from a $25 million jury award) to a merchant seaman who said the shipping company he worked for fired him rather than responding properly to his allegation that he had been sexually assaulted by South [...]

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 [...]