The VLW Blog

An employee who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after his hand became stuck in a machine has won workers’ comp benefits for a hospital stay ordered by his psychiatrist. The mix of meds the claimant was taking apparently prompted him to seek medical help for “homicidal ideation” about “the company attorney.” The deputy commissioner denied benefits, [...]

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A company that screens job applicants is facing a negligence claim for allegedly missing the “extensive” criminal record of a leasing agent hired by a Falls Church apartment complex. The company, Liberty Screening Services Ltd., allegedly did the background check on Mark Lawlor before he was hired as a leasing agent for Prestwick Apartments, a [...]

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In its first published opinion released in a month, the Virginia Court of Appeals today rejected a double jeopardy claim and upheld larceny convictions for Ronald Arthur Tharrington. Convicted in the Chesapeake Circuit Court, Tharrington argued the trial court should have dismissed indictments that charged both grand larceny under Va. Code § 18.2-95 and larceny [...]

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WASHINGTON D.C. – The legal department of Verizon Communications Inc. was honored Sept. 22 with a Community Service Award, presented by the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association at its 7th annual awards program at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. Under the leadership of General Counsel Randal Milch and Associate General Counsel John Frantz, Verizon [...]

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In yet another sign of the post-paper era, a judge has digitally delivered not a “letter opinion,” but an “email opinion” to communicate a ruling to the parties. Judges often send their letter opinions as email attachments, and many arrive at Virginia Lawyers Weekly in that form. But this new message is a fully developed [...]

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A federal appeals court finds it a “close question” whether a lawyer can be convicted of obstruction of justice for conveniently omitting his prior disciplinary record in seeking pro hac vice status in a Virginia case. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided the omission alone was not sufficient to [...]

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“What part of no don’t you understand,” runs the refrain of a country-western song. That chorus may have echoed in Scott Street’s mind as he tried for the fourth time to explain to bar applicant Jonathan Bolls that he failed the Virginia bar examination in 2008. Bolls was in federal court earlier this month with [...]

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Roanoke lawyer Robert S. Ballou has been selected as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia to replace Michael Urbanski, who was recently elevated to the district court bench. Ballou is a partner with the Roanoke firm of Johnson, Ayers & Matthews. He served for eight years on the Virginia State Bar’s [...]

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A nursing assistant banned from wearing the modest garb prescribed by her Church of the Brethren faith cannot sue the Catholic nursing care facility that fired her for Title VII religious discrimination, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Villa St. Catherine Inc., in Emmitsburg, Md., asked geriatric nursing assistant Lori Kennedy to [...]

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Is it proper for a judge to reveal a jury verdict to lawyers before it is announced in open court? The Daily Press puts this practice into question after a recent criminal trial in Hampton Circuit Court. After the verdict was handed down in Deshawn Goodwin-Godfrey’s second-degree murder trial, a reporter observed the deputy commonwealth’s [...]

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