On February 24, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court entered Order in the brain injury appeal of Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754, granting Gagnon’s Motion to Strike re Section 1 of Burns’ 12/5/11 Reply Brief. Gagnon asserted that procedurally Burns had exceeded the permissible scope of...
Landrum v. Chippenham and Johnston-Willis Hospitals., Inc., 282 Va. 346 (2011) is a medical malpractice case. Therein the Virginia Supreme Court held that the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond, Virginia did not abuse its discretion in excluding expert witnesses for not obeying pretrial...
On November 4, 2011, the Virginia Supreme Court issued its opinion in the automobile accident appeal of Ruhlin v. Samaan, 282 Va. 371 (2011). It upheld the Circuit Court of Chesterfield County allowing use of the transcript of an insurer’s recorded telephone statement “to refresh...
The February 2010 issue of Trial, the monthly magazine of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”), marquees “Moving Violations”. It features such vehicle accident topics as “When Seat Belts Stop Short of Safety,” “Gear Up for Bicycle Accident Cases,” “Driving toward Justice in a Dram...
On February 10, 2012, the Supreme Court of Virginia scheduled oral argument for February 29, 2012, in Mr. Waterman’s brain injury appeal of Burns v. Gagnon and Gagnon v. Burns, Record Nos. 110754 & 110767. Each case appealed is accorded 30 minutes, split between the...
On February 9, 2012, Mr. Waterman filed Motion to Strike of Appellant/Appellee/Cross-Appellant, Gregory Joseph Gagnon, in Burns v. Gagnon, Record No. 110754 in the Supreme Court of Virginia. Burns is the brain injury appeal from the 2010 jury award of approximately $6,100,000.00 in Circuit Court...
Toward evaluating a potential medical malpractice claim, pursuant to Va. Code Ann. §8.01-413(B) Mr. Waterman sought a patient’s “records or papers” from Maryview Nursing Care Center in Suffolk, Virginia. His request was made without any suit pending and included inter alia any so-called incident reports. Through...
Johnson v. Woodward, 281 Va. 403 (2011) addressed the jurisdiction of trial courts upon entry of final orders. It was on appeal from the Circuit Court of Gloucester County. Johnson reaffirmed that under Va. Sup. Ct. Rule 1:1 “[a]ll final judgment, orders, and decrees…shall remain under...
On January 13, 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court issued its opinion in DeMille v. Commonwealth, 2012 Va. LEXIS 13, a case involving criminal sexual abuse. DeMille affirmed the judgment of Circuit Court for Fairfax County that the defendant rapist was a “sexual violent predator in...
The Bencher is the bi-monthly magazine of the American Inns of Court. Its current President is The Honorable Donald W. Lemons, presently the longest serving Justice on the Virginia Supreme Court. The January/February 2012 issue features “Samuel Leibowitz: A Courageous Advocate”. Leibowitz was acclaimed for his...
On January 19, 2012, Mr. Waterman accepted the tender of six-figure liability policy limits for a car accident by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. On October 9, 2010, State Farm’s insured drove on the wrong side of State Route 250 in Goochland County, Virginia;...
The Winter 2011-2012 issue of The Safety Report features as an article “15 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM SEXUAL ABUSE”. “Some child abuse studies have reported that as many as 1 in 3 females and 1 and 6 males report experiencing some form of...
On January 17, 2012, Mr. Waterman settled a client’s personal injury claim arising out of a two-car accident. A Mechanicsville resident broadsided a Williamsburg resident when disregarding a red light in Richmond, Virginia. The vehicle crash victim received months of treatment from healthcare providers in the...
Citing Va. Code Ann. §8.01-296, Defendant Riverside doctors emphasize that Plaintiff did not attempt to serve them at their homes in the birth-related personal injury lawsuit for medical malpractice of Andre L. Gibbons, Jr., et al. v. Riverside OB/GYN and Family Care, et al., No....
In January, 2012, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) issued a 42-page report titled Hospital Incident Reporting Systems Do Not Capture Most Patient Harm, OEI-06—09-00091. As a corollary, incidents of medical malpractice may go underreported. “Hospital staff did not report...
The American Association for Justice (“AAJ”) posted TrialNews online this week. It featured a healthcare note bearing on medical malpractice. “The Joint Commission [on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (“JCAHO”)] is urging hospitals to address the ongoing problem of health care worker fatigue as it relates to...
Trial is the monthly magazine of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”) www.justice.org, formerly the American Trial Lawyer’s Association (“ATLA”), the premier national organization for plaintiff lawyers. Trial’s November 2011 issue focuses on “Products Liability” with the following articles: “Go Global for Stronger Safety Claims,”...
Trial is the monthly magazine of the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”) www.justice.org. Its December 2011 issue features an article on crime victims: “When Torts and Crimes Overlap”. “When a civil suit involves a criminal act, the perpetrator’s prosecution can be an invaluable source of information,”...
Mr. Waterman wishes everyone a very happy New Year’s Eve and wonderful 2012! May the spirit of good will carry throughout the year for your family, friends, and you! Too often celebration ends in personal injury and wrongful death by vehicle accident due to operators being...
The Fall 2011 issue of The Trial Lawyer, The National Trial Lawyers’ quarterly magazine, features as 12-page article: “2012 Mass Tort Drug Chart”. It tabulates the status of product liability litigation, principally against pharmaceutical manufacturers. The following are the 37 prescription drugs and prosthetic devices covered:...
On December 19, 2011, Mr. Waterman settled another car accident claim against the offending motorist insured of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. It is the companion claim for those of two other claimants in the same family. The victim driver was relocating his family from...
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or another holiday, Mr. Waterman wishes you a very happy one! May your family, other loved ones, and you be joyous and safe in your special celebration...
Mr. Waterman compromised a car wreck claim for personal injuries arising because the offending motorist from Yorktown traveling on Marcella Drive failed to yield the right-of-way and broadsided the victim from Newport News traveling on Executive Drive in Hampton, Virginia. It was not necessary to...
On November 23, 2011, Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria, Virginia, rejected defendant healthcare provider’s medical malpractice claim of privilege based on the 2011 Amendment of Va. Code Ann. §8.01-581.17, and ordered the hospital to produce its so-called “incident report”. The pivotal case is...
Mr. Waterman a car accident case arising out of a two-car collision involving residents of Newport News. The victim underwent healthcare treatment at Riverside Regional Medical Center and physical therapy. Suit was filed for the vehicle collision claim. But the lawsuit did not have to be...
Mr. Waterman settled for tens of thousands of dollars a vehicle accident case arising in James City County, Virginia, because the offending motorist rear-ended the victim. A lawsuit was filed in Williamsburg to protect the statute of limitation, but did not have to be served. The...
In December, 2011, the 2012 Edition of Virginia’s Best Lawyers featured on its cover Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein as Virginia’s “lawyers of the year”. Five partners were recognized individually – Mr. Waterman, Mr. Patten, Mr. Hatten, Mr. Garnett, and Mr. Shoemaker – appearing on...
On December 5, 2011, Mr. Waterman filed Reply Brief in Gagnon v. Burns, No. 110767 c/w Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754, in the Virginia Supreme Court at Richmond, Virginia. Those consolidated brain injury appeals raise issues of liability and damages on his $6,100,000.00 jury verdict...
Another issue in the consolidated brain injury appeal before the Virginia Supreme Court in Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754 c/w Gagnon v. Burns, No. 110767 is the admissibility of the key witness’ de bene esse deposition taken in the companion predecessor action that was non-suited....
In the brain injury appeal of Burns v. Gagnon, No. 110754 c/w Gagnon v. Burns, No. 110767, the Defendant claims that the prior action deposition should not be admissible because it was defended by an associate instead of a partner. However, Virginia and Federal cases...