Million-Dollar Verdicts « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Culpeper teen wins $15.4M verdict for sexual abuse

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: February 10, 2012
Tags: Culpeper County Circuit Court, Fraud, Judge F. Ward Harkrader, Million-Dollar Verdicts

A Culpeper County jury has handed down a $15.4 million dollar verdict to a teenage boy who claimed he was sexually abused by a man posing as a clinical psychologist.
The alleged abuse occurred in 2005 and 2006, when the boy was between the ages of 13 and 14, according to his attorney, J. Michael Sharman [...]

Other large verdicts of note

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: January 9, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Verdicts

Editor’s note: A few cases from 2011 caught our attention, but didn’t quite meet the criteria we use for our list of top state jury verdicts.
SunTrust Mortgage insurance suit
$40 Million
A federal judge in Richmond awarded nearly $40 million to SunTrust Mortgage Inc. from a subsidiary of AIG Inc. that insured second mortgages through the lender.
The [...]

Presenting ‘Largest Verdicts of 2011’

By Paul Fletcher
Published: January 9, 2012
Tags: Million-Dollar Verdicts

The biggest jury verdict ever returned in Virginia leads the survey of the “Virginia’s Largest Verdicts of 2011,” presented in this issue.
Web Editor Sarah Rodriguez has compiled the results, which can be found here.
Some of the findings from this year’s compilation:
TWENTY
A total of 20 qualifying verdicts were reported across the commonwealth. For inclusion in the [...]

Condo owners pursue structural defect, warranty claims – $3,248,105 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 26, 2011
Tags: Judge Leslie L. Lilley, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Real Estate, Virginia Beach Circuit Court

Sandbridge Dunes is a 74-unit, four-story condominium building on the oceanfront in Sandbridge. Following three years of fruitless attempts to have the project developer fix leaks and faulty construction in the common areas, the owner’s association retained experts and counsel to pursue statutory warranty claims, seeking over $4,000,000 to repair the defective work. Defects included [...]

Plaintiffs win on claim that video content was pirated – $1,526,644 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 26, 2011
Tags: Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Judge Leonie Brinkema, Million-Dollar Verdicts

The plaintiffs alleged direct copyright infringement by defendants Young Min Ro and Daewoo Video Inc. (and vicarious copyright infringement against Ro) for duplicating and distributing the plaintiffs’ copyrighted video content after the defendants had terminated their licenses. The infringement included illegally pirating video content from the Internet and distributing that pirated content through retail video [...]

Doc defends failure to diagnose case on causation, but loses – $2,650,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Verdicts

The plaintiff alleged that defendant radiologist missed a left breast abnormality on a screening mammogram performed on Sept. 15, 2008. The plaintiff further alleged that the defendant failed to order follow-up imaging studies and/or a referral to a surgeon for biopsy, which would have revealed the breast cancer in time for curative treatment.
On Oct. 23, [...]

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 Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., 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 judges [...]

Man scores $7M verdict against drunken driver – $7,000,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 5, 2011
Tags: Greensville County Circuit Court, Judge Samuel E. Campbell, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Personal Injury

On Aug. 7, 2009, a 20-year-old correctional officer was riding his 1998 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was hit by a drunken driver. The wreck occurred on Route 619 near its intersection with Route 606 in Greensville. The defendant was driving a 2007 Ford pickup truck, owned by Sandy Grove Farms Partnership, when he turned suddenly [...]

High court to hear case on ‘civil death penalty’

By Peter Vieth
Published: December 1, 2011
Tags: Business, Judge Margaret P. Spencer, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Richmond Circuit Court, Supreme Court of Virginia News

A group of business litigators hopes the Supreme Court of Virginia will save them from a “civil death penalty” imposed by a Richmond judge as punishment for discovery abuse, leading to an $11.75 million judgment.
Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer dropped the hammer on defendant Cristol LLC and four of its members when 1,044 pages [...]

Judge awards $7M to motorcyclist hit by drunken driver

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: November 30, 2011
Tags: Greensville County Circuit Court, Judge Samuel E. Campbell, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Personal Injury

A Greensville County judge has awarded $7,000,000 to a correctional officer who suffered extensive injuries when his Harley-Davidson motorcycle was struck by a drunken driver.
Brandon Rawlings, who was 20 at the time of the accident, had a lifelong ambition to be a Virginia State Trooper, according to his attorney, John C. Shea of Richmond, [...]

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