A record in the mountains

Roanoke OBs hit with $9M verdict

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Roanoke Circuit Court

A Roanoke City jury has returned verdicts totaling $9 million against two obstetricians in a birth injury case where the child’s medical expenses have already exceeded the cap for the child’s recovery under Virginia law. The child – now 10 – functions at a pre-kindergarten level, according to Jeffrey H. Krasnow of Roanoke, who tried [...]

Couple wins defamation case against TV station

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Defamation, Federal Courts, Judge Tommy E. Miller, Million-Dollar Verdicts

“On your side” consumer reports have become a staple of local television news coverage. The consumer reporter investigates complaints about a business and reports findings, often including how the station helped an angry citizen. But a 2010 report on a Hampton Roads TV station went too far, according to a federal jury in Norfolk. Earlier [...]

Man shot and killed by police while fleeing pot bust – $1,400,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 21, 2012
Tags: Halifax County Circuit Court, Judge David A. Melesco, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Wrongful Death

This shooting took place in the early evening at a Sheetz gas station on Route 58 in Halifax County on July 2, 2008. The entire incident was caught on surveillance video. Neal Seamster, age 22, had purchased a small amount of marijuana earlier in the day, and stopped at the Sheetz to buy a “Philly [...]

Nursing home patient broke arm, femur in unwitnessed fall – $6,500,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 30, 2012
Tags: Judge Charles N. Dorsey, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Negligence, Personal Injury, Roanoke Circuit Court

An 84-year-old nursing home patient sustained an unwitnessed fall in her bedroom. Plaintiff claimed the fall was caused by the nursing home’s failure to apply and monitor a fall alarm in her bed, which was required by the patient’s care plan. The nursing home staff claimed the bed alarm was used and sounded just before [...]

Nursing home fall nets $6.5M verdict

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 27, 2012
Tags: Judge Charles N. Dorsey, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Negligence, Personal Injury, Roanoke Circuit Court

A Roanoke City jury returned verdicts totaling $6.5 million for an 84-year-old woman injured in a fall at a nursing home. With an award of $5 million in punitive damages, the jury evidently sought to punish the owner of the home for a policy that discouraged the use of bed alarms to signal when a [...]

Former DynCorp employee entitled to full retention payment – $5,081,622 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 23, 2012
Tags: Contract, Employment, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Bruce D. White, Million-Dollar Verdicts

Phoenix Consulting Group was bought by DynCorp in October 2009. The owner of Phoenix Consulting Group wanted to give a large bonus from the proceeds of the sale to the president of Phoenix, Col. Gerald York. DynCorp required the owner to provide most of the bonus in the form of a retention agreement to ensure [...]

Gun in office did not justify firing, judge rules

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 19, 2012
Tags: Employment, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Bruce D. White, Million-Dollar Verdicts

A retired military intelligence officer was entitled to his $5-million retention bonus, even though his employer tried to claim he violated company rules by having a gun and ammunition in a locked drawer. The case involved the grandson of World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York, the most decorated American soldier of WWI. Judge Bruce [...]

Alleghany jury awards record verdict in personal injury case – $1,959,171 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Alleghany County Circuit Court, Judge Malfourd W. "Bo" Trumbo, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Personal Injury

Plaintiff, Michael D. Boguess Sr., was helping his brother, Todd Boguess, pour concrete for a mutual friend on May 18, 2006, in Covington. The concrete was delivered by a concrete truck owned and operated by Construction Materials Company, based in Harrisonburg, with a local plant in Covington. After the concrete had been poured, the plaintiff [...]

Child with asthma negligently diagnosed and treated for Cystic Fibrosis – $2,000,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr., Medical Malpractice, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Richmond Circuit Court

Plaintiff, a 15-year-old male with mild persistent asthma, was negligently diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (“CF”) and pancreatic insufficiency (“PI”) at the age of five, and treated for the diseases until shortly before his 13th birthday. His diagnoses were never properly confirmed by available testing. After seven and a half years of treatment, defendant’s physician employee [...]