The VLW Blog

An employer did not forfeit coverage for an employment discrimination suit when it waited until a legal complaint hit the court to notify the carrier. The insurance company, Philadelphia Indemnity, refused to defend the eventual suit. It said the employer had an obligation to report the employee’s accusations after the employer had been contacted by [...]

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A police officer is not liable for a civil rights violation for kicking in the door of a man’s home to arrest him for drunken driving, in a new case from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Oct. 2, 2004, Vienna police officer M.A. Reeves followed Alan J. Cilman from a sports bar [...]

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A company that approached Rockingham Memorial Hospital with a plan to boost its Medicare reimbursements failed to prove a binding contract for a percentage of the increased revenues, a federal appeals court found last week. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday affirmed dismissal of the suit brought by McKay Consulting Inc. seeking court [...]

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The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is raising the price of admission. Actually, it’s not the 4th circuit, it’s all federal appeals courts. Judges propose to raise the admission fee for applicants to practice in the federal appeals courts from $150 to $176. When the 4th Circuit’s local fee of $20 is added in, [...]

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The case of North Carolina defendant Torrell Vann has spawned a weighty decision by a fractured 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, released yesterday. After a January 2008 “domestic altercation,” Vann was arrested and charged with handgun possession in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924. The indictment also charged three prior convictions that [...]

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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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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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Just in time for President Obama’s visit to Richmond Friday, the 4th U.S Circuit of Appeals has delivered two opinions upholding the president’s healthcare plan against challenges from both the state and from Liberty University. The three-judge panel that heard the cases determined Virginia had no standing to speak for citizens subject to a healthcare [...]

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When to call the carrier is a question that always crosses the mind of a lawyer who realizes he has made a mistake. Many malpractice policies say a lawyer has a duty to notify the carrier if he did something he knew, or reasonably should have known, would support a demand for damages. Failure to [...]

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Whether a private plaintiff may sue a surety under Virginia’s CRESPA statute is a question that was certified today to the Supreme Court of Virginia by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Several Virginia state and federal courts that have considered the question have found no private right of action under Virginia’s Consumer Real [...]

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