Free Newsletter
Pressured Wife Did Not ‘Abandon’ Spouse
Although a woman left the marital home six weeks before husband died, and moved in with her daughter to avoid her terminally ill husband’s pressure to sign documents reducing her property rights, a Shenandoah County Circuit Court says she did not abandon husband and is not disqualified under Va. Code § 64.2-310 from an election […]
Jury found decedent’s 2012 holographic will to be invalid – Verdict for Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs alleged that a self-proving will dated Oct. 7, 2004, was the last true will and testament of the decedent. That will divided the decedent’s estate fairly equally between her three children, Carroll Mauck (defendant) and Roxie Lutz and Bobbie Holler (plaintiffs). The 2004 will also made a provision for Lutz’s son to receive certain […]
Will contest leads to order for exhumation
Citing “red flags of giant proportions,” a circuit judge has ordered the exhumation of a Shenandoah County man who died in 2011 and whose $2 million estate is at issue in a will contest.
Treatment of colon impaction led to perforation, plaintiff claims – Defense Verdict
Plaintiff, a female in her mid-fifties with a family history of cancer, was referred for colon cancer screening/ colonoscopy in July 2003. The procedure was terminated for fear of perforation. Barium enema was then recommended and performed the following day with noted findings of sigmoid diverticulosis and retained stool. Plaintiff presented to the emergency department […]
Referendum Request Rejected by Court
A motion for protective order filed by the Virginia Resources Authority is rendered moot, says a Shenandoah County Circuit Court, and the court sustains in part and overrules in part the VRA’s plea in bar in the present suit seeking a referendum requiring voter approval for financing of the Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail. I sustain the […]
Father entitled to pay child support with equity in marital home – $25,200 Verdict
In this case, the parties entered into a written agreement in 2007 that the father would deed to the mother the former marital home in exchange for $300 per month credit towards his child support obligation for seven years, for a total of $25,200. Four years later, the mother sued the father for contempt and […]
Courts struggle with which parent should pay for private school in divorce
The Virginia Court of Appeals offered guidelines 16 years ago for judges on when a spouse can be forced to pay for a child to attend private school. But battles over tuition bills have continued in Virginia divorce courts. When a parent questions the obligation to pay the extra money for private school, judges often […]
Drug-Abusing Parent Loses Rights
The Court of Appeals upholds termination of a mother’s parental rights to her three children, a decision supported by mother’s history of substance abuse and the prior removal of the children from the home. After finding that father abused and neglected A. and that mother neglected A., the trial court found that twins E. and […]
Parties Switch Roles, Split Marital Estate
In a 23-year marriage in which wife at first stayed home with the children, then went back to school and worked as a nurse, and husband then stayed home to care for the family and to provide the labor to make improvements on real estate the parties purchased, a Warren County Circuit Court says the […]
Suit claiming surgery too soon after medication fails – Defense Verdict
Plaintiff was scheduled to undergo percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) by the defendant, an interventional radiologist. The purpose of the PCN was to provide plaintiff’s urologist access to the left kidney for calculus removal. Plaintiff had a significant past medical history, including coronary artery disease, cardiac catheterization with stenting and pulmonary emboli. He was taking daily Coumadin [[...]
Employment – Public Employee – Wrongful Discharge – Bowman
A Warren County fraud investigator for a local services department can sue her employer for wrongful discharge under a Bowman exception to the employment-at-will doctrine, based on allegations that her employer prevented her investigation of fraud cases and her cooperation with the prosecutor, and that her grand jury appearance contributed to her termination. I sustain […]
Tort – Real Estate – Trespass – Boundary Dispute
Although defendant did not know he had trespassed on his neighbor’s land when he removed a fence and changed the location of a stream, those actions nevertheless showed a willful and wanton or reckless disregard for the rights of others, and a Shenandoah County Circuit Court says the fence can stay but defendant must relocate […]
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
