Wife is Sole Obligor on Student Loans

Drunken driver rear-ended plaintiffs at 60 mph – $250,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: November 12, 2012
Tags: Norfolk Circuit Court, Personal Injury

The plaintiffs, husband and wife, were traveling on East Princess Anne Road in Norfolk in their 2004 Jeep Wrangler when they were rear-ended by the defendant, who was operating a 1997 Ford F-150 pick-up truck. Plaintiffs’ vehicle was traveling at approximately 30 mph, and it was estimated that the defendant struck them going approximately 60 [...]

Nonsuited Jones Act Claim Filed Too Late

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 9, 2012
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Charles E. Poston, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

An injured seaman who filed Jones Act and unseaworthiness claims in state court, then nonsuited, is still bound by the three-year limitations period for such claims; the Norfolk Circuit Court says these claims are time-barred, as the State Savings Statute did not extend the federal limitations period and the three-year period was not equitably tolled. [...]

Reduced Share for Beneficiary Interference

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Louis Allen Sherman, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts, Wills & Trusts

The Norfolk Circuit Court upholds a commissioner’s finding that a beneficiary’s distribution from an estate will be reduced because of her substantial interference with efficient administration of the estate. Cleo Eppes died on March 18, 2007, and left two surviving children, James Eppes and Mary Martin, and two grandchildren, Bryan and Gregory Eppes (the ‘Brothers’), [...]

No Nonsuit After Defective Signature

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Mary Jane Hall, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A plaintiff whose complaint was defective because it listed plaintiff’s attorneys but was only signed by plaintiff, may not nonsuit and refile beyond the statute of limitations, as the original complaint was not a validly pending proceeding, says a Norfolk Circuit Court. In the case at hand, plaintiff’s individual signature is the only signature on [...]

Court Has Authority to Reduce Liens

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Louis Allen Sherman, Negligence, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Norfolk Circuit Court says after researching the authority of a circuit court judge to reduce the amounts of liens, including those claimed by public hospitals, and to apportion recovery, including a negotiated settlement, between a plaintiff, the plaintiff’s attorney, and the commonwealth, and is satisfied that as long as the requirements set forth in [...]

No Lien for Wrong Lot Description

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Charles E. Poston, Norfolk Circuit Court, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiff creditor does not have a lien against the entirety of Lot 58 at a particular location in Norfolk; the Norfolk Circuit Court says plaintiff is not entitled to a declaratory judgment that a deed of trust executed in favor of its predecessor in interest confers the entire interest. The question is whether the deed [...]

No Damages for Violating Foreclosure Reg

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Judge Everett A. Martin Jr., Norfolk Circuit Court, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although the failure to conduct or arrange for a face-to-face meeting may have been a sufficient basis to stop foreclosure sale of plaintiff’s property, or to impose a regulatory sanction or a nominal damages award, it is not a sufficient ground to award compensatory damages or set aside the completed foreclosure sale to a third [...]

No Venue Transfer on Business Activity Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Karen J. Burrell, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Norfolk Circuit Court denies defendant barge company’s motion to transfer venue, as defendant has not met its burden to produce evidence showing that defendants did not engage in substantial business activities in the City of Norfolk at the time plaintiff filed the underlying suit. Under the current version of Va. Code § 8.01-262(3), venue [...]

No Dismissal for Pre-Indictment Delay

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 5, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Judge Mary Jane Hall, Norfolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although defendant was not indicted until 2012 for three murders that occurred in 2007, the Norfolk Circuit Court denies defendant’s motion alleging the pre-indictment delay violated his due process rights. Norfolk police interrogated defendant as a suspect on Sept. 27, 2007, after the Aug. 29, 2007 murders. Defendant provided alleged alibi witnesses during that interview [...]