In Virginia, victims of medical malpractice are entitled to know the dollar amount and other terms of liability insurance covering a defendant healthcare provider. However, as a general rule such victims and their lawyers are prohibited from disclosing such insurance coverage at trial. Virginia’s approach to...
Mr. Waterman celebrated with family and old friends in Winchester, Virginia. But he returns to Williamsburg on Sunday the 2nd and to the office on Monday the 3rd. The year in general and January in particular will be an active one for his medical malpractice docket....
Mr. Waterman and his legal assistants wish clients and everyone else in Hampton Roads and throughout Virginia a very merry holiday season. Hopefully all will have a wonderful time with family and friends. Hopefully too all will be safe over the break. Take care behind the...
By letter dated December 21, 2010, the trial judge in the brain injury case of Gagnon v. Burns, No. 08-572 in Circuit Court for Gloucester County, Virginia, directed an additional hearing prior to entry of Final Judgment. The continuing issue is Defendant Burns’ joint and...
On December 16, 2010, Mr. Waterman filed Plaintiff’s Supplemental Motion and Memorandum for Joint and Several Liability in the brain injury lawsuit of Gagnon v. Burns, Case No. 08-572 in Circuit Court for Gloucester County, Virginia. He found substantial new legal authority for a negligent...
On December 10, 2010, when the insurance company representatives failed to recommend paying policy limits to the vehicle accident victim by the deadline given, Mr. Waterman sent the case to suit. The next business day, December 13th, the insurer belatedly tendered its policy limits. Its policy...
On December 10, 2010, the Newport News Division of Bankruptcy Court for United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia entered companion Orders in Chapter 7 proceedings for discharge, In re Christine D. Newsome, No. 10-51792-SCS, and In re James S. Newsome, Jr.,...
On December 2, 2010, another insurance company re-victimized a vehicle accident victim of its insured. In a clear case of liability and significant damages in York County, the offender’s insurer low-balled the Virginia victim motorist. For years, insurance companies and other defense interests have massaged public...
On December 1, 2010, Mr. Waterman reached a settlement agreement on a local vehicle accident claim without having to file suit. It was a two-car collision in Newport News, Virginia, involving residents of Yorktown and Newport News. The vehicle accident victim initially was treated in the...
On November 11, 2010, Mr. Waterman settled a vehicle accident claim arising in Newport News, Virginia, involving residents of Newport News and Hampton. Suit had been filed on the two-car accident within the statute of limitation, but the lawsuit did not have to be served...
On November 15, 2010, Mr. Waterman settled another Virginia vehicle accident. This two-car collision occurred in Albemarle County, involving residents of Norfolk and Afton. The vehicle accident victim received medical treatment in Charlottesville, Williamsburg,, and Portsmouth, Virginia; Memphis, Tennessee; and Chula Vista, California. Despite all of...
On November 9, 2010, Circuit Court for Gloucester County, Virginia, heard the brain injury case of Gagnon v. Burns, No. CL08-572. The judge tentatively refrained from entering a Judgment Order to await hearing of Plaintiff’s pending motions for relief from automatic stays enjoyed by the...
On November 8, 2010, The Daily Press and dailypress.com headlined “Woman’s death sparks lawsuit against Gloucester surgeon”. That media coverage is of Mr. Waterman’s $4,350,000.00 wrongful death suit Martha Sue Norville, Executor of the Estate of Ethelone M. Chamber, Deceased v. Melvin Wayne Ressler, M.D.,...
Virginia law protects successful wrongful death, brain injury, and other personal injury litigants by requiring defendants to file “an appeal bond or irrevocable letter or credit in the penalty of $500, or such sum as the trial court may require”. Va. Code. Ann. §8.01-676.1 (emphasis...
Va. Code Ann. 46.2-1156.1 promotes the safety of certain children in vehicle accidents involving pickup trucks. It forbids the transportation of minors under 16 years of age in the rear cargo area of any pickup truck on a Virginia highway. However, some organized parades and...
Bicyclists frequently are victims of vehicle accidents, so should wear bicycle helmets to minimize wrongful death and brain injuries. Although Virginia does not have a statewide law, the following Hampton Roads and other localities have ordinances mandating bike helmets based on age: Albemarle County, City...
Halloween! It is a time for fun, particularly for young children. It also is a time for safety, particularly with young children. Parental vigilance assures that young trick-o-treaters do not become crime victims. Older children playing serious pranks, unsavory residents giving tampered snacks, and other unexpected...
On October 29, 2010, Mr. Waterman escorts his youngest daughter, Elizabeth T. Waterman, to the black-tie Gala Reception and Banquet of The John Marshall Foundation in Richmond, Virginia. There its 3rd John Marshall Medal in Law is awarded to the Honorable Harry I. Carrico, former...
Virginia’s Child Restraints law, Va. Code Ann. 46.2-1095(A), protects children under 8 years old in vehicle accidents. It requires all drivers to ensure that children 7 years of age or younger be provided with and properly secured in a child restraint device – a so-called...
Destruction or other loss of crucial evidence by a wrongdoer is not uncommon, particularly in record-laden cases of medical malpractice. At trial in August, 2010, for example, the Defendant Assistant Principal admitted that he had destroyed his pertinent calendar entries and had lost his hand-written...
Va. Code Ann §17.1-600, et. seq. provides for recovery of “costs” in litigation. §17.1-601 states the general rule that a prevailing party given a final judgment shall recover costs. §17.1-626 leaves the taxing of most costs to Court discretion....
In addition to the common law of Virginia dictating joint and several liability for the whole amount for all joint tortfeasors, the Code of Virginia dictates the same thing. Va. Code Ann. §8.01-443. A jury has no authority to dictate separate versus joint and several liability...
Virginia cases of joint and several liability for damages in tort are legion. Virginia’s damages rule of law is hornbook: In the law of damages the proximate cause of an injury may in general be stated to be that act or omission which immediately causes or...
On September 13, 2010, Virginia Lawyers Weekly headlined Mr. Waterman’s recent brain injury verdict on its front page “Lunchroom punch nets $5M award in Gloucester”. It subtitled: “One punch in the Gloucester High School cafeteria has resulted in a $5 million jury verdict against a student, his sister and an assistant...
On September 14, 2010, Circuit Court for the City of Suffolk, Virginia approved a wrongful death settlement. The case is Burr v. R.C. Paving, No. CL08-947 C/W CL08-955. The Court in Burr, which arose out of a motor vehicle accident, also apportioned the settlement proceeds among the statutory beneficiaries. By...
On September 2, 2010, the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal headlined “GHS administrator, 2 others found liable for student injuries; jury awards $5M”. Trial in the brain injury case of Gagnon v. Burns, No. CL08-572 in Circuit Court for Gloucester County, Virginia, is the subject. The G-M G-J article recounts how Assistant Principal Burns admitted he...
On September 7, 2010, Mr. Waterman and his co-counsel settled a medical malpractice case of brachial plexus injury caused during shoulder-dystocia delivery for $987,500.00. It is understood to be the largest settlement payment of its kind in Virginia ever....
On September 1, 2010, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association posted “Kid Injured in School Fight Awarded $5Mil” under “LAWS/CASES” of VTLA Eclips. This listserve covered Gagnon v. Burns, the Virginia brain injury trial in Gloucester Circuit Court, No. CL08-572. Also on September 1st, the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal posted “GHS administrator, 2 others...
On August 29, 2010, PilotOnline.com and HamptonRoads.com headlined “Gloucester student wins $5M for lunchroom-fight injuries.” The post covers the brain injury verdict on Friday in Gagnon v. Burns, No. CL08-572 in Circuit Court for Gloucester County, Virginia. Defendant, Assistant Principal Travis Burns, enjoys $6,000,000.00 of liability insurance coverage through...
On August 28, 2010, Richmond Times Dispatch headlined “Gloucester student injured in lunchroom fight wins $5 million” about Mr. Waterman’s brain injury case. It also subtitled “Jurors have awarded a former Gloucester High School student $5 million for permanent injuries he suffered in 2006 lunchtime fight” and “The jury on Friday...
