News & Publications (14)

USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap for FY 2020

The US Citizenship & Immigration Services has met the H-1B visa cap for both the “regular” quota of 65,000 and the “advanced degree” quota of 20,000 for fiscal year 2020. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap.

The USCIS alert reads as follows:

April 12, 2019

Tags: Immigration Law, H-1B, USCIS

Material Misrepresentation on an Employment Application as a Defense to Workers' Compensation Claims

A Resource to Utilize in Workers' Comp Defense

March 29, 2019

Tags: Newsletters, Litigation, Workers' Compensation, Articles, evidence

Virginia Legislative Alert: SB1619 Virginia's New Spoliation Law

New Section Added to Virginia Code §8.01-379.2:1

On March 7, 2019, the Virginia legislature passed S1619, which added a new section to the Virginia code addressing spoliation at § 8.01-379.2:1. Governor Ralph Northam signed the new legislation into law on March 21, 2019.

S1619 creates an affirmative duty to preserve evidence that a party should reasonably foresee as being relevant to a future lawsuit. The law instructs courts to examine all of the circumstances when determining when the duty to preserve evidence is triggered. Courts must evaluate when the party in possession of the evidence (1) had notice litigation was likely, and (2) realized that the evidence in question would be relevant to the lawsuit.

The Legislature Provides Two Different Spoliation Remedies

The legislature also provided two different spoliation remedies. First, S1619 provides that when

March 26, 2019

Tags: Government Law, Litigation, Virginia Legislative Alert, spoliation, evidence

Defending Negligence Per Se Claims Under Virginia Law

From The Journal of Civil Litigation, Published Quarterly by the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, VOL. XXX, NO. 4, Winter 2018-2019. It appears here with permission.

March 20, 2019

Tags: Litigation, VADA, Negligence Per Se

Virginia Legislative Alert: SB1486 Allows Depositions to be Used in Support of Summary Judgment - Not Quite

Amendment to Virginia Code §8.01-420.

On February 21, 2019, the Governor signed a Bill amending Virginia Code Section 8.01-420. Virginia Code Section 8.01-420 expressly states that depositions cannot be used in support of a Motion for Summary Judgment. The recently enacted amendment to this statute allows depositions to be used, but only in the limited situation where the

March 14, 2019

Tags: Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Virginia Legislative Alert

Virginia Legislative Alert: Bad Faith Bill SB1117 Stuck in Committee, But Virginia Bill SB1293 Sent to Governor.

Bill SB1117 Stuck in Committee

In reaction to the Supreme Court of Virginia’s 2017 decision in Manu v. GEICO Cas. Co., 293 Va. 371 (2017), a bill was introduced to the General Assembly in 2018, seeking to impose bad faith on UM/UIM insurance carriers. In 2018, the proposed legislation died in a Senate committee. In 2019, another substantively identical UM/UIM bad faith bill was proposed, SB1117.

February 21, 2019

Tags: Insurance Coverage, Virginia Legislative Alert

McCandlish Holton Attorneys Obtain Defense Verdict for Mutual Insurance Company in Jury Trial

Matthew Haynes and Brennan Morrissett obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a mutual insurance company in a Virginia Circuit Court jury trial. The plaintiff/insured filed a 1^st party suit against his homeowner’s insurer alleging breach of contract.

Plaintiff sought to recover more than $250,000 in alleged personal property losses and additional living expenses he claimed resulted from a fire that completely destroyed his residence. Plaintiff sought these amounts eighteen months after the fire, and in addition to

January 29, 2019

Tags: News, Litigation, Local Counsel, Updates, verdicts, Insurance Coverage

Case Analysis: Falling Asleep Behind the Wheel

By: Esther King, Esq.

January 24, 2019

Tags: Employment Law, Workers' Compensation, Updates, Street Risk Doctrine

GDPR Issues in U.S. and International Litigation and Arbitration

On November 30, 2018, I had the privilege of serving as a panel member on an International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) presentation addressing GDPR in International Dispute Resolution. The other panel members were: Robert Bond, of Bristows, in London, England; Alexandra Simotta, of Six-Group, in Vienna, Austria; and Janis Block, of CMS in Cologne, Germany. The panel’s objective was to explore the issues arising under the GDPR in international dispute resolution, whether in arbitration or court litigation. My responsibility was to offer a U.S. trial counsel’s response to the subject. This article shares a few of the ideas raised during the panel, and a few which have occurred to the author in response to hearing from my fellow panel members.

January 24, 2019

Tags: Litigation, Business Law, GDPR, Arbitration

2018 Annual Review of Virginia Workers' Compensation Trends

By: Amanda Tapscott Belliveau, Esq.

December 18, 2018

Tags: Employment Law, Workers' Compensation, Updates

News & Publications

USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap for FY 2020

Material Misrepresentation on an Employment Application as a Defense to Workers' Compensation Claims

Virginia Legislative Alert: SB1619 Virginia's New Spoliation Law

Defending Negligence Per Se Claims Under Virginia Law

Virginia Legislative Alert: SB1486 Allows Depositions to be Used in Support of Summary Judgment - Not Quite

Virginia Legislative Alert: Bad Faith Bill SB1117 Stuck in Committee, But Virginia Bill SB1293 Sent to Governor.

McCandlish Holton Attorneys Obtain Defense Verdict for Mutual Insurance Company in Jury Trial

Case Analysis: Falling Asleep Behind the Wheel

GDPR Issues in U.S. and International Litigation and Arbitration

2018 Annual Review of Virginia Workers' Compensation Trends

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