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Attorneys: Attorney’s license revoked because of multiple rules violations
Where the record supported a three-judge panel’s conclusion that an attorney violated his duty of candor towards a tribunal and engaged in other misconduct, his license to practice law was suspended.
Tort: School board members denied immunity in defamation suit
Where two school board officials included allegedly defamatory information about a third party in documents regarding disciplinary proceedings against another board member, the officials were not entitled to immunity against the third party’s claims for defamation and defamation per se.
Split Supreme Court reverses witness’s contempt conviction
Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a witness’s contempt conviction, ruling no evidence supported claim of intoxication during testimony.
Criminal: Conviction for being intoxicated while testifying is vacated
Where the record did not support the circuit court’s conclusion that a woman was intoxicated while testifying, the circuit court’s summary contempt order was reversed and the contempt finding was vacated.
Commercial: Private toll road owner denied permission to significantly increase tolls
Where the State Corporation Commission’s decision denying a toll road owner’s request to significantly increase tolls was not contrary to the evidence or without evidentiary support, it was affirmed.
School board immune from negligence suit
A school board was entitled to immunity from a negligence suit stemming from an alleged attack on an autistic child on a school bus because the plaintiff’s injuries did not relate to the operation of the bus, the Supreme Court of Virginia has held in reversing a Circuit Court decision.
Tort: School Board immune from autistic student’s gross negligence claims
Where a lawsuit alleged a non-verbal autistic child was struck, insulted and allowed to leave a school bus partially unclothed, the circuit court erred when it denied the School Board’s sovereign immunity plea in bar. Although an exception applied where a vehicle owned, operated or insured by a school board was “involved in an accident,” the alleged incidents here did not fall within that ex[...]
Criminal: Arrest was lawful despite lack of warrant
Where officers are lawfully present in the home or on the curtilage, and the arrest is otherwise proper, they may proceed to effect an arrest without the additional step of obtaining an arrest warrant.
Bankruptcy: Malpractice suit was wrongly dismissed following bankruptcy filing
Where a plaintiff had standing when she filed her medical malpractice action, and she thereafter filed a bankruptcy petition, her lawsuit was improperly dismissed for lack of standing. The filing of the bankruptcy petition does not automatically terminate the lawsuit; the bankruptcy trustee can join the plaintiff, be substituted for the plaintiff or allow the plaintiff’s lawsuit to proceed.
Appeals: Appeal dismissed where defendant becomes fugitive
Where a man convicted on multiple charges, including possession of heroin and fentanyl, absconded from probation while his appeal was pending, the Court of Appeals did not err in dismissing […]
Sanctions: Attorney suspended for ‘scurrilous statements’ about judge
Where an attorney made many scurrilous statements impugning the integrity of a judge, he was suspended from the practice of law for nine months. A lawyer is not privileged to […]
Real Property: Exclusionary rule inapplicable in zoning violation case
Where a homeowner argued that a zoning board must consider whether a zoning official complied with the Fourth Amendment when he conducted a search, it erred. In the absence of […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Medical Malpractice – Jurors side with doctor in suit over rescue surgery
- Workers’ Compensation- Seasonal worker paralyzed in tobacco baler accident
- Medical Malpractice- Death from cancer followed stomach pain misdiagnosis
- Workers’ Compensation – Struck in face by forklift, woman suffers brain injury
- Negligence and Tort – Group home resident falls, sustaining femur fracture
- Medical Malpractice – Nursing facility patient dies after fracturing ankle in fall
- Medical Malpractice- Patient has bladder injury during colostomy reversal
- Premises Liability- Apartment guest burned by gas grill spewing fire
- Motor Vehicle Negligence – Physician sustained hand injuries in crash
- Premises Liability- Dog bite injury nets settlement
- Motor Vehicle Negligence – Woman suffers injuries after T-bone collision
Opinion Digests
- Criminal – Court of Appeals wrongly vacated murder conviction
- Tort – U.Va. prevails on former professor’s claims
- Constitutional – Company’s due process claim against county is dismissed
- Administrative – Plaintiffs’ effort to enjoin ITC proceeding fails
- Patent and trademark – Amazon patent infringement suit transferred to New Jersey
- Tort – Chesterfield County dismissed from wrongful death suit
- Consumer Protection – Lawsuit over kratom survives motion to dismiss
- Criminal – Defendant convicted of attempted sexual exploitation of a child
- Evidence – Motion to exclude transmission expert is rejected
- Damages – Court awards pre-judgment interest following parties’ acquiescence
- Employment – Court approves overtime wage collective action settlement
- Search & Seizure – Warrantless search of hotel room safe upheld
