Fairfax Bar celebrates Justice Roush with portrait
FALLS CHURCH—The Fairfax Bar Association celebrated its longest-serving circuit judge on Jan. 6 when it unveiled the portrait of Jane Marum Roush, who spent 22 years on the bench there before her appointment to the Supreme Court of Virginia last August. Fairfax Circuit Judge Daniel Ortiz noted in his remarks that Roush’s tenure was the […]
ODBA takes a look at judicial selection
GLEN ALLEN – Conversations about how Virginia chooses its judges often arrive at a conclusion similar to Winston Churchill’s observation about democracy: It’s the worst way to proceed, except for all the rest. “We tend to think our process is probably preferable” to direct election of judges, said Supreme Court Justice Cleo E. Powell. Powell […]
Bar groups urge funding for judges
As lawmakers prepared to interview and select new judges this week, bar leaders have been calling on Assembly members to resist any efforts to trim judicial funding. Earlier this year, the General Assembly included money to fund 36 additional trial court judgeships in the state budget. No complete list of judicial choices was available at […]
Local bar association sends direct mail ads for lawyers
If you get a speeding ticket in some parts of Virginia, you can count on receiving a handful of letters from lawyers offering their services. High-volume traffic ticket areas – some simply call them “speed traps” – produce a high volume of work for courthouse lawyers and companies that provide mailing lists for the alleged […]
Holland to lead ODBA
The Old Dominion Bar Association elected new officers and committee members at its recent annual conference, held in Tysons Corner last month. Helivi Holland of Suffolk was elected to serve as president for 2014-15. Other new officers are: President Elect: Jane Reynolds, Northern Virginia Secretary: Stacy Lee, Central Virginia Treasurer: Clarence Brooks, Hampton Roads Immediate […]
A night for history
The Virginia Bar Association and the Old Dominion Bar Association made history in late January, as the two bar groups held their annual meetings together for the first time. And at the black-tie banquet Jan. 24 at the Williamsburg Lodge, the sense of history – both for the bar groups and for the Commonwealth of […]
Prosecutors: Start over on criminal discovery
Virginia prosecutors are urging the Supreme Court to launch a new study of proposed reforms to court rules governing what information prosecutors are required to share with defense lawyers. The request for a new task force by the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys is among dozens of comments received by the Supreme Court of Virginia […]
VBA debate to be live-streamed on PBS
Can’t make it to The Homestead later this month for the Virginia Bar Association’s gubernatorial debate but you still want to watch the fireworks? PBS has you covered. VBA Executive Director Yvonne McGhee reports that for the first time ever, one of the VBA’s debates will be live-streamed, at pbs.org. The group got confirmation of […]
Local Government Attorneys honor Chesterfield’s Parthemos
Chesterfield County Deputy County Attorney Stylian “Stel” Parthemos has been honored by the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, Inc. with the 2013 Cherin Award for Outstanding Deputy or Assistant Local Government Attorney, presented at the association’s recent spring conference in Roanoke. Parthemos has been with the county attorney’s office since 1987; he became deputy county [&hellip[...]
Food Frenzy winners honored
Dozens of law firms, legal departments, government offices, and law schools joined together to raise more than 1.5 million pounds of food for Virginia’s hungry during the seventh annual Legal Food Frenzy in Virginia. The results of the two-week drive in April brought the cumulative seven-year total raised to the equivalent of more than 10 […]
Rehearing petition may work, says court
ABINGDON – If the Supreme Court of Virginia denies your client’s petition for appeal, take a serious look at a second try, members of the high court said at an April 26 “town hall meeting” on appellate practice. Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, joined fellow Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan and Court of Appeals Judge Teresa […]
Hospitals must bill health insurance first
Trial lawyers hope a new Virginia law will put an end to a hospital billing tactic that threatened to take a bite out of accident victims’ compensation. The General Assembly passed, and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed, a bill requiring hospitals to bill patients’ private health insurance, when available, rather than holding out for a larger […]
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