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Widow Bound by PreNup Agreement
A prenuptial agreement is valid and enforceable and prevents defendant, the fourth wife of decedent whom he was divorcing when he died testate, from exercising her statutory rights to take against the will, says a Roanoke City Circuit Court. Defendant is a native Ukrainian, is college educated and worked in the Soviet Union but emigrated […]
Locomotive engineer suffered spinal injuries in railyard fall – $2,400,000 Verdict
The case involved a 52-year-old Norfolk Southern Railroad locomotive engineer who was injured on May 1, 2011, in the Waynesboro Yard. At approximately 11:00 p.m., he tripped over a metal “joint” bar that had previously been removed from one of the tracks, causing him to fall into a nearby switch stand and sustain serious injuries. […]
Welfare Check Nets Drunk-in-Public Charge
Police officers who discovered defendant unresponsive in his car in a private parking lot near a restaurant, and who ultimately opened his unlocked door and prodded him before he woke up cursing in a slurred voice, did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when they performed this “well-being” check, and the Roanoke City Circuit Court […]
Tip Lacked Detail for ‘Reasonable Suspicion’
A police officer did not have reasonable suspicion to block defendant’s car in the parking lot of a convenience store after receiving a tip about a drunken driver and the Roanoke City Circuit Court grants defendant’s motion to suppress. No police officer saw defendant or her vehicle on a public road. The officers had been […]
Husband Can’t Discharge Debt to Wife
A husband who has accumulated arrearages in payments he was ordered to make to wife under the parties’ final divorce decree cannot discharge $50,237.96 in debt to wife in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, says a Roanoke City Circuit Court. Husband agreed to pay wife $700 per month in spousal support for 36 months, beginning […]
Custody Changed After Job Relocation
Although a necessary job transfer for her new husband constituted a material change in circumstances, a mother who wants to move her sons, ages 11 and 14, to Ohio has not carried her burden to prove the move would be in the children’s best interests and would not substantially impair their relationship with their father; […]
Neighbors Say Rail Line Is ‘Public Nuisance’
In plaintiff property owners’ suit alleging defendant railroad’s operation of a rail line is a “public nuisance” and asserting a claim for just compensation, the Roanoke City Circuit Court overrules defendant’s demurrers which are accompanied by materials that assert additional facts outside complaint that the court cannot consider on demurrer. In their complaint for declaratory [&hellip[...]
Meningitis Case Prompts VCPA, Punitives Claims
In plaintiff’s suit for the wrongful death of her husband from fungal meningitis allegedly resulting from an epidural injection of a contaminated steroid produced by a compounding pharmacy and used by defendant health care providers, a Roanoke City Circuit Court says plaintiff has stated claims for negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se, punitive damages and […]
N.C. Court Should Hear Custody Case
On appeal from a JDR court decision awarding custody of two girls, ages 3 and 7, to their biological mother, a Roanoke City Circuit Court grants the motion of their mother’s sister and declines to exercise jurisdiction over this matter, so that she may pursue continued custody of the children in a North Carolina court. […]
DNA Test Proved Paternity Claim
DNA paternity testing produced by plaintiff is a “birth record” under Va. Code § 64.1-5.1(4)(i) and plaintiff is “excepted” from the proof of paternity requirements of Code § 64.1-5.1(4) in order to claim an interest in her deceased birth father’s estate, says a Roanoke City Circuit Court. According to plaintiff, Donald Manns Sr. died intestate […]
Death of 89-year-old patient nets verdict of $660,000
A Roanoke jury has awarded $660,000 to the children of an 89-year-old woman who died after a fall at an orthopedic clinic. The verdict came after the clinic’s insurance company offered only $200,000 to resolve the case, according to a lawyer for the family of Frances H. Robertson of Boones Mill. Robertson had been a […]
Plaintiff May Add ‘Informed Consent’ Claim
A Roanoke City Circuit Court says a plaintiff who alleges defendant was negligent in performing vascular surgery on her right thigh five years earlier may amend her complaint to allege defendant failed to obtain informed consent, as that claim relates back to the filing date of the original complaint; however, plaintiff’s punitive damages and fraud […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Woodshop incident leads to amputation of fingers — $1.3M settlement
- Motorcyclist’s foot amputated in collision — $7M settlement
- Contractor rear-ended on interstate on way to wedding — $825,000 settlement
- Man suffers back injury in crash with out-of-state driver — $530,000 settlement
- Driver crossed center line, struck 89-year-old’s vehicle — $1.2M settlement
- Jury returns defense verdict in favor of gastroenterologist
- Teens killed in T-bone collision with officer — $3.1M settlement
- Man sustained subdural hematoma in rear-end collision —$1.15M settlement
- Adequate anesthesia not provided during C-section — $2.5M verdict
- Tenant fell ill from mold in apartment — $588,000 verdict
- Woman suffers nerve injury, pain after dental procedure — $550,000 settlement
- Driver struck child exiting school bus — $750,000 settlement
Opinion Digests
- Suit over historic mansion and estate dismissed
- Former employee’s claims survive motion to dismiss
- Equal Pay Act doesn’t apply to applicant
- Court rejects invocation of attorney-client privilege
- Evidence supported competency determination
- Appellees had power to remove business manager
- No continuance after witnesses failed to appear
- No actual or constructive eviction in warranty case
- Gas distribution pipeline exempt from ZBA regulation
- Improper venue in air pollution regulation matter
- No benefits awarded in unemployment comp case
- No immunity for judge who personally oversaw search
