Long and winding mortgage case ends in homeowners’ win

Looking back on 2011: The year in legal news

By Paul Fletcher and Peter Vieth
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Charlottesville Circuit Court, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge Edward Hogshire, Judge Thomas D. Horne, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Law Schools, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Sanctions, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia State Bar

The reversal of a 20-year-old noncompete case lead the case news from Virginia Lawyers in 2011. Much of the first half of year featured news from the General Assembly. Officials at the Virginia State Bar sparred with legislators over $5 million that Gov. Bob McDonnell wanted to take. And the Hernandez case – which allowed [...]

No Child Support Enforcement After 20 Years

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 10, 2011
Tags: Domestic Relations, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

A father ordered in 1966 to pay support for his three children is not liable for support due between 1967 and 1982, as the 20-year statute of limitations on enforcing judgments in Va. Code § 8.01-251 bars the attempt by the Division of Child Support Enforcement to collect the $73,619 arrearage, the Supreme Court of [...]

Transcript Use Not Improper Impeachment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 10, 2011
Tags: Evidence, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

At trial of plaintiff’s suit for injuries from an auto accident, including shoulder injuries, defendant’s use of a transcript of plaintiff’s telephone conversation reporting injuries to defendant’s insurance carrier that did not include mention of a shoulder injury, did not violate Va. Code § 8.01-404, the Supreme Court of Virginia says. Plaintiff contends the circuit [...]

Med-mal case dismissed, out-of-state lawyer at fault

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 10, 2011
Tags: Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Justice William C. Mims, Medical Malpractice, Supreme Court of Virginia News

Missteps by a Missouri lawyer cost a Virginia medical malpractice plaintiff the chance to prove her claim against a Richmond hospital in a case decided this month by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The court offered no remedy for the patient whose lawsuit was dismissed because her out-of-state lawyer was derelict in disclosures about experts [...]

Owner Not Barred by ‘Exclusive’ Easement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 22, 2011
Tags: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia

An easement agreement that granted “exclusive use,” without stating the purposes for which the easement may be used, does not permit the owner of the dominant estate to bar the owner of the servient estate from reasonable use of the easement area as a matter of law, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds. McCarthy Holdings [...]

No CLG Coverage for Energy Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 20, 2011
Tags: Insurance, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

A Virginia energy company sued in California federal court by an Alaskan Native village that alleges the company’s carbon dioxide emissions have damaged the village shoreline, has no insurance coverage under the energy company’s CGL policies because the federal complaint does not allege an “occurrence” under the policies; the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms summary [...]

SCC Could Not Deduct Internet Revenues

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 13, 2011
Tags: Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia, Taxation

The Virginia Supreme Court upholds the State Corporation Commission’s decision that it had no authority to deduct a telecommunications company’s Internet-related revenues when determining the gross receipts it certifies to the Virginia Department of Taxation. Level 3 Communications LLC filed several applications with the SCC for review and correction of determination of gross receipts certified [...]

Condo Association Wins Punitives Against Management

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 25, 2011
Tags: Contract, Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Supreme Court of Virginia

Although a condo owners association’s contract with a management company referenced association bylaws, the association did not have to comply with a bylaw to require a vote of unit owners to terminate the contract, but could terminate with written notice for cause; the Supreme Court of Virginia affirms a jury award of $70,667 in damages [...]

Med-mal claim against radiology group reinstated

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 21, 2011
Tags: Justice Charles S. Russell, Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Medical Malpractice, Supreme Court of Virginia News

A divided Supreme Court of Virginia has held that six MRIs performed by a radiology group over three years amounted to continuous treatment of a woman who suffered from numbness and pain on the right side of her face. Because the “continuing treatment rule” extends the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims, the woman [...]