On April 27, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court issued Manu v. GEICO Cas. Co., No. 160852. It affirmed Fairfax County Circuit Court ruling as a matter of law that an uninsured motorist (“UM”) insurer could not be liable under Va. Code §8.01-66.1(D)(1) for failing to...
On February 26, 2017, an offending Newport News motorist failed to yield the right of way to a bicyclist on Boxley Boulevard in Newport News, Virginia, driving the victim airborne and causing grievous injuries requiring major surgery and convalescence. The offending driver was cited for...
Trial is the quarterly journal for the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). Its issue for April 2017 is emblazoned “DAMAGES” and subtitled “Jurors’ minds – What’s beneath the surface?”. Its 7 featured articles are: “UNDER THE SURFACE,” id. at...
Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Inc. (“CHKD”) did not contract with a Patient Safety Organization (“PSO”) until April 22, 2013, per its Answer to Interrogatory 30 in the wrongful death medical malpractice case of Elizabeth Brown Wilder, Administratrix of the Estate of Fredrick Wade...
On March 20, 2017, United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division, entered Memorandum Opinion in the wrongful death case of Whitacre v. Thiele, 2017 WL 1048133. Sitting in diversity under Virginia law, id. at 6, it denied the Defendant UVA physician...
On March 16, 2017, Richmond Circuit Court entered a pre-trial Order, granting Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine and excluding 4 statements of testimony by the Defendant doctor in the medical malpractice case of Sexton v. Bowser, No. CL 14-5484. Dr. Bowser’s uncorroborated testimony violated Va. Code...
On February 16, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed grant of summary judgment by Danville Circuit Court in the motor vehicle car crash case, Ricketts v. Strange, No. 160311. Id. at 10. Personal injury plaintiff lacked standing because after filing for bankruptcy protection following her...
On March 9, 2017, in the wrongful death train accident case of Coutlakis v. CSX Transp., Inc., No. 160277, the Virginia Supreme Court held that “the continuing nature of a plaintiff’s contributory negligence does not automatically bar the application of the last clear chance doctrine”....
On February 24, 2017, a bare majority of Republications pushed H.R. 1215 through U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee without debate by narrow 18-17 vote. Although styled the "Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017," in fact H.R. 1215 is one of a half-dozen slickly-styled...
By unpublished Order entered February 2, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed and remanded for new trial the Southampton County Circuit Court’s dismissal of a malicious prosecution action in the special case of Robinson v. Copeland, Record No. 151806, * 1, 8. Despite acknowledging “reasonable...
During February 23 – 25, 2017, Mr. Waterman attended the 29th Annual Convention of The Southern Trial Lawyers Association (“STLA”) in New Orleans, Louisiana. That Mardi Gras conference featured 15 hours of continuing legal education about nursing home litigation, wrongful death cases, and other personal...
By Order entered February 10, 2017, Loudoun County Circuit Court enforced Plaintiff’s pre-service Va. Code §8.01-413(C) Supoena Duces Tecum, striking the medical malpractice Defendants’ Motion to Quash in Sussman v. Allen, No. 103980. It held that the metadata and audit trails sought in the Subpoena...
By pre-trial Order on February 6, 2017, Stafford County Circuit Court granted Plaintiff’s Motions in Limine in the medical malpractice case of Locasio v. Raley, No. 13-1356, 2016 WL 543462. The judge ruled that Defendant shall not introduce evidence, argument or reference: (1) to raw...
The Trial Lawyer is the quarterly legal journal of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers. The cover of its issue for Winter 2017 is emblazoned “WOMEN LAWYERS ARE CHANGING THE GAME”. A feature medical malpractice article of Winter 2017 The Trial Lawyer is “Who’s...
On February 3, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court again upheld the circuit court refusing to give Virginia Model Jury Instruction (“VMJI”) 35.040, which is argumentative and cumulative, placing undue special defense emphasis. It denied rehearing of its 10/12/16 denial of the losing medical malpractice Defendant’s...
Trial is the monthly journal of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). Its issue for February, 2017, covers “TRANSPORTATION,” with its cover subtitled “Battling Trucker Opioids Use” and “The Uneven Terrain of DRIVERLESS CARS”. February 2016’s Trial features five...
On February 2, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court drew “the boundary that separates a technical [medical] battery from an action for negligence” in a medical malpractice case, Mayr v. Osborne, No. 151985, at 3. As a threshold matter, it reaffirmed: “The tort of battery and...
By Order entered on January 27, 2017, Fairfax Circuit Court denied Defendants’ Motion for Bill of Particulars in the wrongful death case of Ford v. Mohindra, No. CL–2016-12140. The Court ruled pursuant to Va. S. Ct. Rule 3:18(b) that the medical malpractice Complaint’s general allegation...
Best Lawyers BUSINESS EDITION for Winter 2016 includes a Special Section for MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW. Therein Mr. Waterman is listed as 1 of only 37 lawyers recognized for “MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW – PLAINTIFFS” for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Id. at 52. Mr. Waterman has been...
By opinion letter on January 18, 2017, Alexandria Circuit Court rejected the old “same evidence” test and applied the current successor “same transaction or occurrence” test to the enhanced medical malpractice Complaint refiled by Plaintiff after nonsuit in Panth v. Ashouripour, No. CL16002520. The new...
At hearing on January 25, 2017, Norfolk Circuit Court denied Defendant’s Motion to Reduce Ad Damnum in the wrongful death case of Wilder v. Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, No. CL16-8482. Plaintiff has prayed for a $20,000,000.00 jury award for alleged medical malpractice causing...
By ruling made and Order entered on January 6, 2017, Fairfax Circuit Court overruled the Demurrer of Defendants, hospital and vascular surgeon chief, to Plaintiff’s allegations of battery, fraud, and conspiracy in Yeatts v. INOVA Health Care Servs. and Dipankar Mukherjee, No. 2016-05070. Defendants unsuccessfully...
By Order entered on January 17, 2017, in the medical malpractice case of Locasio v. Raley, No. 2013-1356, Stafford County Circuit Court denied Defendants’ Motion to Strike New Allegations Raised in Plaintiff’s Designation of Expert Witness and Motion in Limine. Despite the specific opinions of...
By Order entered December 13, 2016, in the wrongful death case of Williams v. Boyle and University of Virginia Physicians Group, No. CL15-406, Charlottesville Circuit Court granted Plaintiff’s broad-reaching multi-faceted Motion to Compel. Following the Orders in Mr. Waterman’s Rauchfuss v. Schultz medical malpractice case...
Unpublished, the medical malpractice Order of the Virginia Supreme Court in Kraina v. Carman, Record No. 071718 (Jul. 18, 2008) has been under the legal radar. Yet it is a very important response to aggressive defense pleading. Kraina reverses and remanded Norfolk Circuit Court’s grant of...
On January 6, 2017, Fairfax Circuit Court denied in material part the Motion to Quash filed by third-party healthcare provider, Fairfax Surgical Center, L.P., in the medical malpractice case of Rico v. Otolaryngology Assocs., P.C., No. CL15-11602. It upheld Plaintiff’s discovery Subpoena Duces Tecum for...
On December 6, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the professional liability portion of the hospital’s insurance policy covered a staffing agency nurse for medical malpractice at the hospital, despite the general liability portion of the policy excluding...
In Hall v. Lassiter, No.3:16-cv-00061 (W.D. Va. Nov. 23, 2016), United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia sitting in diversity in Charlottesville, Virginia construed Va. Code §38.2-2206(G) expansively in favor of vehicle accident victims. Specifically, the Federal Court in Hall held that...
By Order entered November 29, 2016, Norfolk Circuit Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel against Sentara for its Surgical Informed Consent Policies and Procedures in the medical malpractice lawsuit, Copeland v. EVMS Academic Physicians and Surgeons Health Services Foundation d/b/a EVMS Medical Group, et al.,...
Trial is the monthly journal of American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”). Its issue cover for December, 2016, is emblazoned “PREMISES LIABILITY”. There are 4 lead articles: “CHARTING YOUR LIABILITY COURSE,” about cruise ship slip-and-falls, id. at 20-25; “7 Factors...