Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A law firm that sought attorneys’ fees before they came due under a homebuyer’s promissory note now faces discovery in an action under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The count against the firm is the only claim to ...

Tagged with: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An insurance company’s bid to recover payments for a fire loss was thrown out of court this month because the company failed to preserve the fire scene. U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski of Roanoke said he dismissed the insurer’s ...

Tagged with: Judge Michael F. Urbanski Spoliation U.S. District Court - Western District

A student booted from the University of Virginia medical school in 2018 has survived an early obstacle with his lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations. U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon, sitting in Charlottesville federal court, concluded Kieran Bhattacharya had made ...

Tagged with: Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – New laws that increase the available coverage in auto insurance policies will mean more compensation to those injured in Virginia auto accidents. But the devil is in the details, and lawyers will have to parse ...

Tagged with: Car Insurance General Assembly Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

A ruling by a Newport News judge illustrates one of the hurdles faced by lawyers seeking to sue over COVID-19 infections acquired in group facilities. A wrongful death lawsuit claiming an unwritten no-mask policy at an assisted living facility led ...

Tagged with: assisted living covid Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death

Officers that arrested and jailed a severely intoxicated man who later died of an overdose are not entitled to qualified immunity in a lawsuit alleging they should have sought medical help, a federal appeals court has ruled. The ruling by ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julius N. Richardson Overdose

An effort to reverse the decision by the Shenandoah County School Board to retire the names of two public schools named after Confederate veterans has failed. In the case, Alger v. Shenandoah County School Bd., Shenandoah County Circuit Judge John ...

Tagged with: Judge John E. Wetsel Jr. Shenandoah County Circuit Court

Virginia Lawyers Weekly is reporting two additions to the list of “Million-Dollar Settlements of 2020” that was published in our March 29 edition. The first settlement, involving a woman whose hair got caught in a glue machine at a furniture ...

Tagged with: Million-Dollar Settlements

A Chesapeake judge ruled last month that a hospital owes a duty to ensure the competence of professionals who are allowed to practice at the hospital. Chesapeake Circuit Judge Marjorie A. Taylor Arrington built her decision on a body of law from previous Virginia circuit court ...

Tagged with: Judge Marjorie A. Taylor Arrington Negligence Virginia Circuit Courts

An award of attorneys’ fees can be proper in a case for breach of a covenant not to sue, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in a case of firm impression. Virginia adheres to the American Rule on attorneys’ ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Justice William C. Mims Supreme Court of Virginia