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Judge evaluations expand to appellate bench
The Supreme Court of Virginia is test driving a new aspect of its Judicial Performance Evaluation program. Lawyers and circuit judges are being asked to evaluate appellate judges for the first time in a pilot project involving three jurists. The process will be similar to that used for measuring the performance of trial court judges. […]
Court Reorders Policy Priority for Auto Accident
In this contest over insurance coverage for a fatal automobile accident arising from a subcontractor employee’s permissive use of a vehicle belonging to the general contractor, the trial court erred in determining that a Nationwide CGL policy issued to the subcontractor provided liability coverage, notwithstanding the policy’s exclusion for claims arising out of the use […]
No ‘Refusal’ Charge for Private Road
A defendant found asleep in his car, which had its lights, engine and radio on and was irregularly parked in a space in the parking lot of a private apartment complex posted with “No Trespassing” signs, was not on a “highway” for purposes of Virginia’s implied consent law and cannot be prosecuted for refusal to […]
Justices offer few answers for vexed trial lawyers
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – A Virginia Supreme Court panel offered only marginal comfort last month for frustrated trial lawyers hoping to reverse a trend of unfavorable rulings in product liability cases. At the annual convention of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association at The Greenbrier, four Virginia justices were hit with questions about standards of […]
Widow Can Use ‘Last Clear Chance’ to Sue Railroad
An executor can sue a railroad company whose train fatally struck her husband, who was walking adjacent to railroad tracks, listening through earbuds to music on his cell phone, when he was struck by a part of the train that extended from the side and hit him in the head and shoulders; plaintiff alleged the […]
McAuliffe promises swift action after felon-rights ruling
After his blanket felon-rights restoration order was struck down by the Supreme Court of Virginia July 22, Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration said it would move quickly to ensure thousands of felons hoping to cast ballots in November’s election would be able to vote. By midweek, however, a news report questioned whether McAuliffe would be able […]
No ‘Imminent Harm’ Threat for Duress
Applying the standard for a duress defense adopted in Small v. Commonwealth, the Supreme Court of Virginia upholds a circuit court decision that defendant felon’s possession of a handgun as a response to a reported threat to his girlfriend did not demonstrate imminent harm and did not support his basis for asking to withdraw a […]
‘Generalized Fear’ Does Not Support Duress
The Supreme Court of Virginia upholds a circuit court decision that the commonwealth was prejudiced by defendant’s three-year delay in moving to withdraw his plea of guilty to possessing a weapon as a convicted felon, a delay defendant attributed to the wait for conviction of the man who shot him and another man; defendant’s generalized […]
Justices question standing for challenge to rights restoration
A Republican legal challenge to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s politically charged blanket rights restoration for convicted felons could be decided on how the case reached the doors of the state Supreme Court. The justices conducted oral arguments in the voting rights case Tuesday. It was one of two constitutional clashes heard at a special summer […]
Court Erred in Dismissing Condemnation Case
The Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a trial court decision dismissing Dominion Power’s petition to condemn 7.88 acres of a landowner’s 354-acre series of tracts and awarding the owner $312,575 in attorney’s fees and $141,866 in costs and expenses; the trial court erred in holding that the owner did not waive his jurisdictional challenge to […]
No Error from ‘Superseding Cause’ Evidence
A group of former Virginia Tech students who were poisoned by carbon monoxide from an overworked water heater may not recover from the manufacturer of the water heater in their products liability suit alleging breach of warranty and negligence; a divided Supreme Court of Virginia disagrees about a jury instruction on superseding causation, but affirms […]
The Empty Chair
Despite a plea from trial lawyers for guidance on when a defendant can cast blame on outsiders in a tort case, the Supreme Court of Virginia’s latest ruling on the issue of superseding cause is unlikely to resolve the issue. The court ruled 5-2 on June 16 that a water heater manufacturer could point to […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Driver fell asleep, causing significant auto accident — $1M settlement
- Defense verdict returned for company in rear-end crash — Defense verdict
- Cauda equina syndrome developed after procedure — $625,000 settlement
- Passenger died months after sustaining multiple injuries — $725,000 settlement
- 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
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
