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Jury awards $6.45M to shipyard retiree
A Newport News jury this month awarded $6.45 million to a 71-year-old Navy shipyard retiree diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer. The March 4 award is the latest in a string of multi-million-dollar mesothelioma verdicts against manufacturer John Crane Inc. in Newport News Circuit Court. Lawyers for mesothelioma victims blame the company for failing to prevent asbestos […]
Amateur race driver settles claim for $3M
A weekend racetrack adventure that led to grievous injuries in 2011 produced a $3 million settlement this year after three separate insurance companies paid the limits of their policies. The result is a trust that will benefit a man who suffered permanent brain injury in a wreck during an amateur racing experience at Hampton’s renowned […]
Case Not Served, But Timely Refiled
Although the original warrants in debt in these p.i. cases are listed on the court website as “not found – unserved”, plaintiffs refiled warrants in debt that were nonsuited and a third set of plaintiffs’ warrants in debt were filed within six months and were dismissed with prejudice by the general district court, and the […]
Plaintiff sustained nerve injury from elective cosmetic procedure – $500,000 Verdict
Plaintiff alleged negligence, battery and failure to obtain informed consent regarding elective cosmetic surgery procedures. At trial, plaintiff focused mostly on an ulnar nerve injury that she sustained from a forearm/elbow lift, alleging that it was a much more dangerous surgery than she had been led to believe, and that she sustained injuries to her […]
Plaintiff wins record verdict on wrongful conception claim – $1,800,000 Verdict
In what is believed to be the largest verdict in U.S. history for a case of this kind, a 40-year-old woman who gave birth to a healthy child after a failed bilateral tubligation was awarded the sued upon amount of $1,800,000. The defendant physician expert testified the defendant was not negligent and the wrongful conception […]
Jury rewards verdict in excess of auto insurance coverage – $350,000 Verdict
The plaintiff, who was 38 at the time of the accident, was stopped at a stop light when she was struck from behind by an elderly driver. The plaintiff suffered a torn patella tendon that was not diagnosed until three months post-accident when an MRI had been ordered for the first time. The defendant did […]
Preterm labor not detected during visit with OB – Defense Verdict
On Feb. 12, 2007, the plaintiff mother presented to the defendant obstetrician at 26 weeks gestation with complaints of decreased fetal movement and cramping since the previous evening that was occurring every five minutes and lasting two minutes at the time of the appointment. In response, the defendant obstetrician evaluated the patient and, among other […]
Plaintiff claims hospital fall led to brain injury – $3,500,000 Verdict
An 81-year-old total hip replacement patient fell while undergoing in-patient treatment at Riverside Hospital, fracturing her femur and hitting head. Twenty hours later, plaintiff suffered a mild cerebral stroke, which extended during orthopedic surgical repair under general anesthesia, causing permanent hemiplegia. Riverside had previously assessed the plaintiff as a high fall risk, but failed to[...]
A return to ‘Riverside’
An 87-year-old hospital patient injured in a fall has won a $3.5 million verdict against a Newport News hospital using high resolution imaging to dramatize alleged brain injuries for the jury. An appeal of Shirley Burrell’s verdict against the owner of Riverside Regional Medical Center could offer a ruling on the admission of hospital policies […]
‘Mutual wills’ depend more on trust than law
Second marriages and “first” children are generating more issues in estate-planning practice, as couples continue to divorce and remarry before they can celebrate that golden anniversary with one spouse. One of those issues is making sure the children of each spouse get treated equitably when the last parent dies. Mutual wills, sometimes accompanied by a […]
Asbestos Claim Against Shipyard Dismissed
In this suit by the estate of a man who allegedly died from mesothelioma contracted from asbestos exposure after he worked on construction of the U.S. Navy submarine Lewis & Clark in 1965, a Newport News Circuit Court dismisses plaintiff’s claim against defendant shipyard. I am unaware of this issue being raised in the asbestos […]
Shipyard worker blames Exxon for mesothelioma – $25,000,000 Verdict
A former ship repair supervisor contracted mesothelioma almost 30 years after he last worked for Newport News Shipbuilding on oil tankers owned by Exxon Mobil Corp. Plaintiff, now 72, contended that the disease was caused by his exposure to asbestos in the engine and boiler rooms of 17 ships he worked on from 1966-77, some […]
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
