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Judge Timothy S. Fisher

Mar 17, 2016

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 […]

Dec 4, 2015

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 […]

Aug 27, 2015

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 […]

Jan 12, 2015

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 […]

Mar 31, 2014

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 […]

Nov 14, 2013

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 […]

Sep 13, 2013

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 […]

Jan 21, 2013

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[...]

Jan 3, 2013

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 […]

Jul 19, 2011

‘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 […]

Jul 15, 2011

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 […]

Apr 4, 2011

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 […]

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