On May 21, 2012, Mr. Waterman filed Petition for Rehearing of Appellee/Cross-Appellant in Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754 in the Virginia Supreme Court, the $6,100,000.00 brain injury jury award on appeal from the Circuit Court of Gloucester County, Virginia. It alleges manifest errors of law vis-à-vis: (1) Burns...
The Spring 2012 issue of The Safety Report marquees vehicle accidents. Its cover story is “Distracted Driving: 1 Second Can Change Everything”. The article notes that distracted driving is responsible for almost 450,000 vehicle accidents, including more than 5,000 wrongful death (or 16% of all fatal crashes in 2009), annually –...
On April 20, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the non-suit rights of car crash victims. Specifically, Lewis v. McIlroy, No. 110485 (Va. Apr. 20, 2012) held that the tolling provision of Va. Code Ann. §8.01-229(E)(3) applied whether plaintiff refiled suit within 6 months after or before entry...
In May, 2012, Mr. Waterman obtained a $100,000.00 settlement for a Newport News car accident victim. Trustgard Insurance Company paid its liability policy limits of $50,000.00 and State Farm paid its underinsured motorist (UIM) policy limits of $50,000.00. The offending driver was cited for failure to yield, causing...
On May 8, 2012, Mr. Waterman implemented the Court-approved settlement of a minor’s car accident claim against the offending driver insured by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Like his mother, the child was a guest passenger in the victim family automobile being driven by his father...
On December 29, 2009, young Jacob Fletcher Boarman-Spivey of Williamsburg, Virginia, rear-ended another vehicle which rear-ended yet another vehicle on South England Street. That multi-car collision injured Mr. Waterman’s client, who claims over $23,000.00 in medical expenses after the same. The offending motorist’s insurer, Safeco, has $100,000.00...
Virginia Business magazine recently published its “Virginia Business List of Leaders” for 2012. Mr. Waterman’s law office (Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein, L.C.) was named under “Law Firms”. Id. at 89. Patten Wornom in Newport News boasts 24 lawyers, making it the largest law firm based on the Peninsula....
On April 30, 2012, brain injury victim Gregory J. Gagnon filed Notice of Intent for rehearing as Appellee/Cross-Appellant in Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754 in the Virginia Supreme Court; and as Appellant in Gagnon v. Burns, No. 110767. On April 25, 2012, Appellant Travis Burns filed Notice of Intent...
On July 9, 2009, Rayford Lavaughn Parrott of Williamsburg, Virginia, followed too closely and rear-ended Lottie V. Merritt-Lewis in a car crash on Lafayette Street, knocking her car over a curb, through bushes, and into a parked car. During the following 2 years, the victim incurred medical...
On April 20, 2012, the Associate Press reported the Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion in Burns v. Gagnon 283 Va. 657 (2012), Mr. Waterman’s brain injury appeal of his $6,000,000.00+ verdict in Gloucester Circuit Court, Virginia. Dailypress.com headlined “Virginia Supreme Court orders new trial in Gloucester school fight lawsuit,” and...
Virginia Business magazine recently published its “Virginia Business List of Leaders” for 2012. Notably, it documents under “Hospitals” that the Hampton Roads health systems Mr. Waterman sues for medical malpractice vis-à-vis their patients actually are “big business” – financial goliaths making hundred of millions of dollars of patient revenues...
On April 20, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court opined “we reverse in part and remand the case to the circuit court for a new trial limited to Gagnon’s gross negligence claim against Burns” in Mr. Waterman’s brain injury appeal, Burns v. Gagnon, 2012 Va. LEXIS 93, *35 (Apr....
Trial is the monthly magazine of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”) www.justice.org, formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association (“ATLA”), of which Mr. Waterman has been a member for decades. The cover of its April, 2012 issue headlines “DAMAGES: WORKING TOWARD MAKING YOUR CLIENTS WHOLE”. The lead...
Askew v. Collins, No. 110323 (Va. Mar. 2, 2012) is a special caseof defamation and offset. The Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court entering judgment on the full jury verdict of $350,000.00. First, “as a matter of law, the jury needed no proof of damages suffered...
Commonwealth v. Blaxton, No. 102360 (Va. Mar. 2, 2012) involved the Sexual Violent Predators Act (“SVPA”), Va. Code Ann. 37.2-900, et seq. Defendant committed rape, forcible sodomy and attempted sodomy on a crime victim. Since his criminal sexual abuse rendered him a sexually violent predator, the Virginia Supreme Court held...
John Crane, Inc. v. Hardick, No. 101909 (Va. Mar. 2, 2012) is a wrongful death case under maritime law handled by Mr. Waterman’s law firm. That asbestos case appeal addressed 3 points. First, Hardick held “the trial court erred by allowing the jury to award Mrs. Hardick non-pecuniary damages for...
Galumbeck v. Lopez, No. 102416 (Va. Mar. 2, 2012) is a medical malpractice appeal. It rejected all 4 of the defendant doctor’s assignments of error. First, Galumbeck found no juror misconduct despite a juror nodding to plaintiff, shaking the hand of his expert, and telling the expert “good job” re...
In the automobile accident case of Wakole v. Barber, No. 102176 (Va. Mar. 2, 2012), the Virginia Supreme Court held that “as long as there is evidence to support an award of non-economic damages, plaintiff is allowed to break the lump sum amount into its component parts and...
The Trial Lawyer is the quarterly magazine of The National Trial Lawyers, an organization of premier vehicle accident, medical malpractice, and other wrongful death and personal injury lawyers of which Mr. Waterman is a member. Its Winter 2012 issued is titled “Occupy the Courts,” harkening...
On March 20, 2012, Circuit Court for the City of Newport News, Virginia, entered a Scheduling Order in the medical malpractice suit of Shirley Frazier Burrell v. Riverside Hospital, Inc., et al., No. CL1101633F-15. Two-week jury trial on the merits is scheduled for November 26-December...
Trial is the monthly magazine for the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), formerly the American Trial Lawyer’s Association (“ATLA”), of which Mr. Waterman has been a member for decades. Its March 2012 issue titled “Countdown to Trial” includes Verdicts & Settlements about crime victims. One case...
In the vehicle accident case of Kocher v. Campbell, 282 Va. 113 (2011), the Virginia Supreme Court addressed the standing of plaintiff to maintain his personal injury suit. The car collision victim had filed Bankruptcy prior to filing his lawsuit. Kocher held that the action was...
On March 14, 2012, a jury in Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Virginia, found that Virginia Tech officials were liable for the 2007 fatal mass shooting of 32 on its campus. The jury in Christiansburg awarded $4,000,000.00 to surviving family members for the wrongful deaths...
Dabney v. Augusta Mutual Ins. Co., 282 Va. 78 (2011) addressed the timeliness of notice to defendant’s insurer. Augusta Mutual asserted that the insured not sending notice until 254 days after being served with the personal injury lawsuit was untimely. “Given the extenuating circumstances presented in...
In Conger v. Barrett, 280 Va. 627 (2010), the Virginia Supreme Court vindicated Plaintiff’s right to reinstate her wrongful death suit within 1 year of its dismissal under Va. Code Ann. §8.01-335(B). The court rejected the defense assertion that Va. Code Ann. §8.01-244(B) two-year limitation...
In Johnson v. Hart, 279 Va. 617, 624 (2010), the Virginia Supreme Court held that counsel did not waive objection to the adverse portion of the judge’s letter opinion by endorsing the Court’s Order “seen and consented to”. Lionizing Va. Code Ann. §8.01-384, the Court...
In the medical malpractice case of Mahone v. Sentara Hospitals, et al., No. CL10-1122 in Circuit Court for the City of Suffolk, Virginia, certain defendants filed Demurrer and Motion for Bill or Particulars while refusing to submit to discovery deposition. On March 6, 2012, Mr....
Mr. Waterman is a proud Co-Sponsor of Jamestown High School’s 11th Annual Swamp Run 5k Run/Walk on March 10, 2012. Please register now through the JHS Athletic Booster Club or Colonial Road Runners to support the school children – first 200 get free commemorative t-shirts! It...
On February 29, 2012, Mr. Waterman argued in the brain injury appeals of Burns v. Gagnon and Gagnon v. Burns, Record Nos. 110757 & 110767 in the Supreme Court of Virginia. It likely will be weeks before a written opinion is handed down. Burns is appealing...
During February 24-25, 2012, Mr. Waterman attended the “Reptile in Trial” Seminar in Raleigh, North Carolina. It featured noted jury consultant, David Ball, Ph.D.; and medical malpractice trial lawyer, Don Keenan, Esq. Ball and Keenan authored Reptile: The 2009 Manual of the Plaintiff’s Revolution. Reptile also...