by KPMLAW | Sep 5, 2020 | Court
According to the August 31, 2020 edition of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, the following courts have had their plans approved for the resumption of jury trials beginning in September: Henrico Circuit Court Norfolk Circuit Court Stafford Circuit Court Alleghany Circuit Court The plans for these courts are posted on the home web page of Virginia’s Judicial System linked here. Additional information is included on the Virginia Judicial System web page, including a “court by court” listing of Notices, Orders, Announcements, etc. related to individual courts. This information can be found here....
by KPMLAW | Aug 25, 2020 | KPMBlog, News, Profiles, Uncategorized
Written by Henry U. Moore, Esq. Edited by Bill Pfund, Esq. It is not an uncommon scenario in general liability cases for multiple plaintiffs to be injured in one accident – this is especially common in motor vehicle cases. Under Virginia law, each injured party has their own separate cause of action for their own physical injuries and emotional distress resulting from those injuries. However, the lines can become blurred between causes of action when a plaintiff makes a claim that they suffered emotional distress damages from witnessing the injuries to another party. For instance, this scenario can arise in a motor vehicle accident where more than one person in the same car is injured, and one plaintiff claims he suffered emotional distress from witnessing the injury or death of his fellow passenger. These are commonly referred to as negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) or “bystander” claims, and they are very hard to establish under Virginia law. Virginia is in the minority of states that do not allow recovery for solely emotional distress experienced by family members or bystanders in close proximity to the injury or death of another – even if that ‘bystander” is himself involved or injured in the accident. Rather, a plaintiff must show that they suffered accompanying physical injury resulting from the emotional disturbance or distress. In Hughes v. Moore, 214 Va. 27 (1973) the Virginia Supreme Court laid out this rule for bystander claims that is still in force in the Commonwealth. There, a driver ran his car off the road, struck a vehicle parked in the plaintiff’s driveway, and crashed into the...
by KPMLAW | Aug 20, 2020 | Court
The Declaration of Judicial Emergency has been extended through September 20, 2020. The full text of the order can be found...
by KPMLAW | Jul 29, 2020 | Court, KPMBlog, News, Updates
The Newest Order from the Virginia Supreme Court extending Declaration of Judicial Emergency through August 30, 2020 can be found here. Jury Trials remain suspended. Each Circuit Court is to send its individual plan to the Virginia Supreme Court for approval by a three Judge Panel from the Virginia Supreme Court. The Period of Judicial Emergency has been extended to August 30, 2020. Please note, tolling provisions for statutes of limitations and case related deadlines ended July 20, 2020 (see Seventh Order Extending Declaration of Judicial Emergency in Response to COVID-19...
by KPMLAW | Jul 8, 2020 | Covid, KPMBlog, News, Profiles, Uncategorized
Written by Gary Reinhardt, Esq. The Bureau of Insurance strongly encourages insurers and other licensees to be flexible and take into consideration the hardships and constraints many individuals and businesses are experiencing during this unprecedented public health emergency. For this reason, the Bureau encourages those it regulates to consider taking the following actions, consistent with prudent insurance practices: Insurers should consider relaxing due dates for premium payments, extending grace periods, waiving late fees and penalties, and allowing payment plans for premium payments to otherwise avoid a lapse in coverage. Insurers should also consider cancellation or non-renewal of policies only after exhausting all other reasonable efforts to work with policyholders to continue coverage. (Bureau of Insurance bulletin, March 27, 2020) The Bureau of Insurance (BOI) is not mandating that insurers provide flexibility with this statement, merely that insurers “should consider” not canceling policies if insureds have COVID-19 related issues that hamper premium payments. However, some insureds are taking advantage of the extensions of insurers and using this to shop rates or just take a break from premium payments. If insureds do not renew a policy, an insurer does not have to jump through all of the cancellation hoops contained in title 38.2 of the Code of Virginia. If an insured does not respond to an offer to renew, the policy lapses and the insured has no coverage as of the timeframe contained in the policy. Almost if not every insurer initially conditions renewal on receipt of premium when the insurer makes its first offer of renewal. This condition on receipt overrides any claims that simply mailing the premium prior to...
by KPMLAW | Jul 8, 2020 | Court, KPMBlog, News, Updates
The 7th Order Extending Declaration of Judicial Emergency in Response to COVID-19 Emergency can be found here. The new date through which the extension applies is August 9, 2020. Included in the new Order is the following: Plans for restarting jury trials, as required by Paragraph 16 of the Sixth Order, shall be submitted by Chief Circuit Court Judges to the Chief Justice. Jury trials may be held as soon as the plan has been submitted and approved by a panel of three Justices in consultation with the Office of the Executive Secretary. No jury trials shall occur in any locality in the Commonwealth for the duration of this Order, unless and until the plan applicable to the locality has been approved by the panel. The tolling period as a result of the Judicial Emergency for such statutes of limitation and deadlines shall be limited to March 16, 2020 through July 19,...
by KPMLAW | Jul 2, 2020 | KPMBlog, News, Profiles, Uncategorized, Updates
It’s a new day in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Bill Pfund reviews new laws affecting the insurance industry as well as those of general interest in the presentation below. View the slides or click here to watch the recording. ...
by KPMLAW | Jul 2, 2020 | KPMBlog, News, Profiles, Uncategorized
Written by Randall C. Lenhart, Jr. Edited by Bill Pfund Virginia does not require motor vehicle liability coverage for its motorists. Instead, Virginia motorists are free to choose whether or not to purchase liability insurance for their vehicles. But if they decide not to insure their vehicles they must pay a $500 “uninsured motorist fee” at the time of registration of the uninsured vehicle. Virginia does require though that all certified motor vehicle liability policies issued or delivered in the Commonwealth provide minimum insurance coverage to the insured in the amount of $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and in the amount of $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident. Virginia also requires minimum coverage of $20,000 for property damage. These minimum limits are codified in Virginia Code § 46.2-472 and have been set in the current amounts for over 30 years. Earlier this year, SB 664 was introduced which would have increased the minimum motor vehicle liability insurance coverage limits from $25,000 to $100,000 in cases of bodily injury to or death of one person, from $50,000 to $200,000 in cases of bodily injury to or death of more than one person in any one accident, and from $20,000 to $40,000 for property damage coverage. The Senate Transportation Committee amended the Bill to reduce the increases from $25,000 to $35,000 in cases of bodily injury to or death of one person and from $50,000 to $70,000 in cases of bodily injury to or death of more than one person...
by KPMLAW | Jun 26, 2020 | KPMBlog, News, Profiles, Uncategorized
Written by Delia deBlass, Esq. Edited by Bill Pfund, Esq. When a foreign object is found in a food product, a Plaintiff will typically bring their claim under a products liability action. Plaintiff has the option of bringing two different, but intertwined claims: negligence and/or breach of implied warranty of merchantability. But is there a difference in the claims, and does it matter? Negligence in this instance is a well-known concept, in that the Plaintiff has to prove duty, fault, causation and damages. There are three different types of negligence that can apply with products liability: (1) negligent design; (2) negligent manufacture; or (3) negligent failure to warn. With foreign objects in food, negligent failure to warn is most often pled. A negligence claim will focus on the conduct of the food product supplier in failing to warn users of dangers that could come about by the product’s use. That being said, a plaintiff can also bring a breach of implied warranty of merchantability claim. The implied warranty of merchantability is a claim that has roots in both Virginia case law and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) as adopted by Virginia. Article 2 of the UCC deals with consumer transactions. Section 2-314 of the UCC provides the definition for merchantability of goods, which states that (among other things) merchantable goods must be “fit for the ordinary purpose for which such goods are used” and “adequately contained, packaged, and labeled”. (See UCC §2-314 (2)(c), (2)(e).) The elements of a breach of implied warranty of merchantability are that goods sold were unreasonably dangerous for use to which they...
by KPMLAW | Jun 23, 2020 | Court, KPMBlog, News, Updates
The Sixth Order Extending Declaration of Judicial Emergency In Response to Covid-19 Emergency entered by the Virginia Supreme Court was entered yesterday. Highlights are offered below. You can review the entire Order here. The Declaration of Judicial Emergency is EXTENDED until July 19, 2020 Statutes of Limitations and case related deadlines (except for discovery deadlines) continue to be tolled during period of Judicial Emergency. While video conferencing and telephonic hearings are preferred, Courts may hear in-person non-emergency matters and non-jury cases if they determine it is safe to do so. Still not necessary for a party to obtain the agreement of any other party to bring a pre-trial motion before the court set a non-jury trial. Facemasks required Continuances and excuses for failure to appear shall be liberally granted for reasons resulting from impact of Covid-19 Jury trials remain suspended and no jury trials shall take place for the duration of this Order. Jury trials after July 19 are subject to a further period of suspension if the Declaration of Judicial Emergency is extended. Judge Lemons has appointed a Task Force to address the reinstatement of jury trials in the...
