Virginia Trial Lawyers Association « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Payee notification up for discussion again

By Peter Vieth
Published: September 15, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Payee Notification, Virginia State Bar, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Virginia Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser has asked the Virginia State Bar once again to look at payee notification.
Past proposals, seeking to protect clients from potentially larcenous lawyers, would have required insurance companies to give notice to litigants expecting money after settling a case.
The concept has been controversial – trial lawyers felt unduly singled [...]

Top p.i. lawyer quits Allen firm

By Peter Vieth
Published: July 20, 2011
Tags: Charlottesville Circuit Court, Judge Edward Hogshire, Law Firms, Virginia State Bar, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Charlottesville lawyer Mat-thew B. Murray, the immediate past president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, has resigned from his law firm and reportedly is leaving the practice of law.
Murray’s resignation from Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, the largest personal injury firm in Virginia, came one day after the filing of legal papers accusing him of [...]

Draft LEO: Plaintiff is not required to indemnify liens

By Peter Vieth
Published: June 9, 2011
Tags: Legal Ethics Opinion, Personal Injury, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, Virginia State Bar, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Trial lawyers are cheering and the defense bar and at least one corporation are booing a proposed Legal Ethics Opinion on lawyers’ obligations for unpaid liens in personal injury cases.
LEO 1858, as drafted, says it is unethical for a plaintiff’s lawyer to indemnify an insurance carrier against any unpaid liens; moreover, it says an insurance [...]

Tips from the bench at the VTLA meeting

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 15, 2011
Tags: Practice Tips, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

HOT SPRINGS—Lawyers who attended the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association convention at The Homestead earlier this month found judicial advice in good supply. Judges offered tips from the bench on a potpourri of topics:
Manners. Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O’Brien urged lawyers to curb their use of colloquial language at trial. “You can never [...]

Med-mal cap survives Gov. McDonnell’s veto

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 11, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Medical Malpractice, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

The House of Delegates made quick work of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s veto of legislation that would raise the state’s cap on medical malpractice awards from $2 million to $3 million over 20 years.
After barely 10 minutes of discussion, the House overrode the veto Wednesday on a 93-7 vote, even more one-sided than the 89-7 vote [...]

VTLA Officers 2011-2012

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 11, 2011
Tags: Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Edward L. Allen of Fredericksburg became president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at the group’s annual convention at The Homestead.
Other new officers are:
Norfolk lawyer Lisa P. O’Donnell became president-elect. There are four vice-presidents:
• Barbara S. Williams, Leesburg
• Thomas J. Curcio, Alexandria
• John E. Lichtenstein, Roanoke
• Stephanie E. Grana, Richmond
Charlottesville’s R. Lee Livingston will be [...]

Allen to be VTLA president

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 8, 2011
Tags: Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Edward L. Allen brings family and history with him to the presidency of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
His grandfather was the first president of the association. His father started its political action committee. A cousin and a brother have served as president.
Allen is proud of that history, but he’s looking forward rather than backward. He [...]

O’Donnell: Call them ‘defense medical exams’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 8, 2011
Tags: Personal Injury, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

HOT SPRINGS – Defense lawyers call them “independent medical examinations.” Plaintiffs’ lawyers bristle at the phrase.
Court-ordered medical exams in personal injury cases should be called “defense medical exams,” insist the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Regardless of the name, the law is clear it’s an examination by a health care provider “employed by the moving party.” No one should [...]

Kinser seeks input on revamp of boundaries

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 29, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Redistricting, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

The Supreme Court of Virginia plans to have its say about the proposal to redraw the state’s judicial map.
At the request of the General Assembly, the Supreme Court of Virginia is launching a comprehensive study of how to realign judicial circuits and districts, with a report expected in the fall.
It’s a response to a realignment [...]

Parties to med-mal cap deal getting nervous

By Alan Cooper
Published: March 18, 2011
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Medical Malpractice, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Lawyers, doctors and hospital leaders thought they had finished the hard part last November, when they agreed gradually to increase the state’s statutory cap on medical malpractice awards.
Hammered out over three years of negotiations, the implementing legislation sailed through the General Assembly. The bills needed only the grace of the governor’s signature.
But proponents of the [...]

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