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Salem Circuit Court

Aug 12, 2019

Tension between courthouse access and security

Courthouse security is cracking down across Virginia. Despite calls for relaxed cellphone policies in Virginia courthouses, many sheriffs are still reluctant to allow visitors to bring their phones past the security desk. In some locations, lawyers are facing stricter security hurdles as they enter the courthouse. “Allowing cellphones into the courthouse is a double-edged issue,” […]

Jul 14, 2019

Driver backed into woman, hurting her ankle – $248,630 Verdict

The case arose from injuries sustained in a low-speed collision in a restaurant parking lot on April 16, 2013. The plaintiff, who had an unrelated right knee injury scheduled for surgery several weeks later, was exiting the passenger side of a pickup truck to enter the restaurant. The defendant was backing her own vehicle out […]

Jan 12, 2019

Default for missed pleading deadline upheld

Code § 8.01-428(D) does not grant a court unlimited power to set aside a default judgment, and, as a result, where petitioner missed a pleading deadline in the underlying action, the default judgment granted in respondent’s favor is upheld. Parties’ positions Petitioner, 21 East, has asked the court to set aside a default judgment entered in […]

Nov 25, 2018

Cause of girl’s knee injury at issue in rear-ender – $100,000 Verdict

The plaintiff was a 16-year-old high school student who suffered a suspected right patellar dislocation playing softball on April 14, 2014. There was evidence that the plaintiff was back to exercising and playing basketball during the summer of 2014. On Aug. 11, 2014, the plaintiff was rear-ended on Interstate 81 as she was slowing down […]

Feb 8, 2018

Next-door neighbors not cohabiting

An ex-husband’s spousal-support obligations were not extinguished by his former wife’s long-term relationship with a man who ultimately moved in next door to her but maintained his own residence, the court held. Kathryn Sue Elmore Gobble (Wife) and Mark Lowell Gobble (Husband) were married from 1989 to 2007, when they divorced and executed a post-nuptial […]

Oct 6, 2014

Patient suffered cardiac arrest during bypass surgery – Defense Verdict

A 54-year-old female patient presented to defendant vascular surgeon in February 2010 with a history of peripheral arterial disease and related claudication, as well as a history of hypertension, arrhythmia, diabetes, smoking and alcohol abuse, among other conditions. She had previously undergone multiple stent placements, endarterectomy and angioplasties in her iliac and femoral arteries bilatera[...]

Nov 3, 2013

Diagnosis of gastric band slippage at issue in med-mal action – Defense Verdict

On Nov. 18, 2008, the patient presented to the emergency room at Lewis Gale Hospital in Salem with complaints of sudden vomiting, chest pains and abdominal pains after eating a piece of banana. She was an obese patient who had had an adjustable gastric band placed almost two years earlier, but had not experienced any […]

Feb 25, 2013

Parties Should Discuss Discovery Issues

In this long-running contract dispute between a homeowner and a home builder, a Salem Circuit Court denies a motion to reconsider and motions to compel and admonishes the lawyers that “ad hominem attacks, bitterness and biting sarcasm upon or about opposing counsel” are not consistent with the standards of professionalism endorsed by the Supreme Court […]

Jan 17, 2013

DSS Wins Fees in Guardian Cases

In light of the Salem Circuit Court’s separate appointments of a guardian and conservator for an elderly husband and wife, after their daughter, a physician licensed in another state, unlawfully dispensed medications to the mother, appeared abusive to her father, and was barred from each parent’s nursing home, the court awards $4,370 in attorney’s fees […]

Jan 7, 2013

Ailing Wife Wins Continued Support

In determining spousal support after termination of the parties’ 26-year marriage, a Salem Circuit Court awards wife $2,150 in monthly support, as she is unable to work due to her conditions of lymphoma, diabetes and lupus. Both parties are trying to maintain the standard of living they were accustomed to during marriage. If you take […]

Nov 19, 2012

Unlicensed Contractor Can Enforce Contract

Although plaintiff builder split his contractor business into two corporations and is still trying to straighten out his licensing issues, his alleged unlicensed status does not void the contract on which he is suing to collect $385,000 in extras on defendants’ custom-built home, and the Salem Circuit Court denies the homeowner’s motion for partial summary […]

Sep 10, 2012

‘Good Faith’ Saves Search for Tools

A search warrant for power tools, copper and accelerants was not supported by an affidavit that recounted facts such as a convicted felon’s recent delivery to the residence and his purchase of a possible accelerant, but the Salem Circuit Court applies the good faith exception and denies defendant’s motion to suppress. The  affidavit indicated power […]

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