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Recent Articles from Correy E. Stephenson
Reservation of rights letter doesn’t create conflict
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a South Carolina judge’s ruling that found no conflict of interest with either an insurer’s reservation of rights letter to an insured or the actions of the attorney provided to the insured by the insurer, handing down a prediction of how the South Carolina Supreme Court […]
Hog farm dispute settles after 4th Circuit’s split decision
The neighbors of a North Carolina hog farm have reportedly reached a deal with the company that owns the farm after the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict holding the owners liable for compensatory and punitive damages for violating the state’s nuisance law. The court remanded a large punitive damages award because […]
4th Circuit allows evidence for foreign arbitration
Teeing up a circuit split, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a party to private arbitration in the United Kingdom can obtain testimony from residents of South Carolina for use in the arbitration. Servotronics supplied valves to Rolls-Royce for use in an engine later installed on a new […]
More than just Miss Virginia USA
The third year of law school typically entails late nights of studying, trying to get any and all papers complete on time and the rising terror of the approaching bar exam. Not typically on the agenda: the Miss USA pageant. But on July 12, Laura Puleo, a recent graduate of the Washington & Lee law […]
What every lawyer should know about e-discovery
Electronic discovery strikes fear in the hearts of many attorneys. Unfamiliar with the terminology and hesitant about technology in general, lawyers have struggled with the tidal wave of electronically stored information, or ESI, hitting the courtroom. “The biggest mistake lawyers make is thinking there are lawsuits that don’t involve electronic discovery,” said Richmond practitioner Monica [...]
Slow your roll(over): New IRS rule poses trap for lawyers and their clients
Taxes remain one of the certainties in life but a new interpretation by the Internal Revenue Service could have clients – and lawyers – paying even more if they aren’t careful. For years, taxpayers have had the luxury of conducting multiple indirect rollovers from one individual retirement account to another on an IRA-by-IRA basis. But […]
Accommodating diversity: EEOC publishes guidance on religious garb and grooming
As the expression goes, “the clothes make the man.” Apparently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agrees, recently issuing new guidance on employee rights with regard to religious garb and grooming. Claims of religious discrimination in violation of Title VII have more than doubled over the last 15 years, the agency said, from 1,709 charges received […]
The future of legal staffing
Technology and the lessons learned in the wake of the recent recession have conspired to change the model of law firm staffing. Traditionally, every lawyer at a firm had his own secretary and often a paralegal as well. Today, only a handful of lawyers have their own assistant and lawyers typically share paralegals with fellow […]
The cost of the wrong case style
A medical malpractice lawsuit filed with the wrong case style has resulted in a $4 million legal malpractice verdict in Richmond Circuit Court. In the underlying med-mal case, the lawyers for an injured teen named her parents as plaintiffs, not her, in a suit brought days before the statute of limitations ran. A refiled suit […]
Plaintiff gets summary judgment … of $11.6M
Years of litigation, an unpaid loan and fraud on the court all added up to more than $11 million awarded by a Gloucester County Circuit judge on a summary judgment motion. The case dates back to 2005, when Meadow Financial LLC loaned money to Gloucester Seafood, a company that packaged the haul of local oystermen […]
Wellness programs could be bad for an employer’s health
But an employer-sponsored wellness program raises a veritable alphabet soup of concerns under federal law.
The VLW High Five: 5 tips for speaking up
Blame the Socratic method. The biggest hang-up lawyers have about public speaking is fear, said University of Virginia School of Law professor Molly Bishop Shadel, who teaches oral advocacy. Coupled with potentially high stakes – a jury trial or a dispositive motion being argued before a judge – some attorneys struggle with oral presentations or […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Driver struck twice in rear-end collision at red light — $350,000 settlement
- Drunken driver strikes vehicle on interstate — $200,000 settlement
- Trip and fall on mat leads to knee replacement surgery — $1.5M verdict
- Woman suffers permanent injury in broadside crash — $2.325M settlement
- Teacher injured in accident during morning commute — $1.5M settlement
- Woodshop incident leads to amputation of fingers — $1.3M settlement
- Motorcyclist’s foot amputated in collision — $7M settlement
- Contractor rear-ended on interstate on way to wedding — $825,000 settlement
- Man suffers back injury in crash with out-of-state driver — $530,000 settlement
- Driver crossed center line, struck 89-year-old’s vehicle — $1.2M settlement
- Jury returns defense verdict in favor of gastroenterologist
- Teens killed in T-bone collision with officer — $3.1M settlement
Opinion Digests
- Court silent on if ALJs were constitutionally appointed
- Homeowner’s lawsuit barred by res judicata
- Uncertainty over service prevents default judgment
- No stay of case pending resolution of motion
- Man’s unlawful search, seizure claims dismissed
- Amazon shows patent claim is ineligible abstract idea
- Geographical separation dooms trademark claim
- ‘Narcotics trafficker’ defense rejected
- Litigant’s suit against courts, judges dismissed
- Body cam footage properly admitted
- Motion to withdraw pleas properly denied
- Evidence supports murder, conspiracy conviction
