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‘We need the cases’: Virginia’s high court issuing fewer opinions
Appellate practitioners and others who monitor Virginia’s jurisprudence have noticed a long, steady decline in the number of opinions released by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Attorney’s conduct results in mistrial
After a California attorney’s “unprofessional conduct” during the trial of his client’s negligence claim resulted in prejudice that couldn’t be cured by a cautionary instruction, an Eastern District of Virginia judge declared a mistrial and revoked the out-of-state attorney’s pro hac vice status.
Wine shipper must have separate licenses for each shipping location
Distributors of alcoholic beverages in Virginia must have a separate license from the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, or Virginia ABC, for “each separate place of business” that ships beverages straight to customers, the Court of Appeals of Virginia has held.
Mandatory pre-dispute arbitration: Have its best days passed?
Historically, courts were hostile to pre-dispute arbitration agreements. To address this hostility, Congress enacted the Federal Arbitration Act, 9. U. S. C. §1, et. seq., or FAA, that placed arbitration agreements on the same footing as other contracts. Virginia has its own arbitration act. (See, Va. Code Ann. §§ 8.01-577, et. seq.)
New date set for state bar’s annual meeting
Attorneys, mark your calendars: the Virginia State Bar 2024 Annual Meeting has a new date.
‘Akin to an asset’: Wrongful death payments not income for child support
Annuity payments received by a woman as a structured settlement for her mother’s wrongful death shouldn’t be included as gross income for purposes of calculating child support, a Virginia circuit court has held.
Contingency agreement not basis for fee award
A federal court awarded attorneys’ fees to plaintiff’s counsel in a case stemming from a disagreement between two attorneys.
No private action against bank for failure to prevent elder exploitation
An elderly woman scammed out of more than $130,000 has no private cause of action under federal and state laws that impose a permissive duty to deny or report transactions that it may suspect are elder financial exploitation, the Court of Appeals of Virginia has held.
No witnesses: Plaintiff denied third-party witness, recording of medical exam
A personal injury plaintiff failed to satisfy the burden required to necessitate the recording of or having a third-party witness at her Rule 4:10 medical examination, a Fairfax County judge has held.
Running the numbers: structuring a commercial real estate investment
As a commercial real estate lawyer, I understand that my clients often rely on their financial analysts and their projections, forecasts and assumptions to determine whether to invest in a real estate venture. Whether a lawyer or a nonlawyer, it is helpful to understand what real estate investors may look at when evaluating and structuring potential investments and correlating strategies.
‘Too stringent’: Court tosses precedent, joins other circuits on attorneys’ fees for injunction wins
Joining every other circuit to decide the issue, a divided 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled its precedent that preliminary injunctions can’t convey “prevailing party” status to a plaintiff, which precluded awards of attorney’s fees.
Court erred creating new property boundary line
The Court of Appeals of Virginia reversed in part a decision from the Fairfax County Circuit Court, finding that the trial court erred in declaring a new boundary line between neighboring properties in a nuisance and trespass case.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Plaintiff injured in crash with oncoming vehicle — $235,000 settlement
- Driver killed in rear-end collision with tractor-trailer — $1.5M settlement
- Man died from pancreatic cancer after delayed response — $1.8M settlement
- Worker fell off roof, rendering him a paraplegic — $1.25M settlement
- Driver sustained permanent hearing loss after traffic collision — $240,000 settlement
- Plaintiff suffered concussion in rear-end collision — $81,000 verdict
- Builder misrepresented home status to buyers — $675,000 verdict
- Low potassium led to cardiac arrest, death of patient — $1M settlement
- Excessive propofol caused death in dialysis patient — $850,000 settlement
- Pedestrian struck in crosswalk in hit-and-run incident — $300,000 settlement
- Navy veteran killed in collision with box truck — $1.85M arbitration award
- Motorcyclist ejected from bike in collision with SUV — $1.5M settlement
Opinion Digests
- Company owner dodges breach of contract suit
- Employee’s own allegations doom minimum wage claim
- Federal government defeats former employee’s claims
- Principal wasn’t entitled to exclusively remote work
- USPTO properly redacted info in responsive documents
- Untimely lawsuit allowed to proceed
- Engineering consultant dismissed from suit
- Rule 60 motion was filed too late
- Nonprofit directors immune from ex-employees’ claims
- City, employees immune from whistleblower claims
- Experts excluded in condemnation damages suit
- Judgment entered against company for horse’s death
