News & Publications

McCandlish Holton is thrilled to announce our 16th Annual Workers' Compensation Seminar! The seminar has become one of the premier industry events in the Mid-Atlantic Region-- a full day of useful information and continuing education free to adjusters, risk managers, nurse case managers, and brokers. The event will take place September 27, 2017 at The Westin Richmond.

Employers need to keep in mind that, while tempting, mandatory post-accident drug/alcohol testing is no longer permitted.  Effective August, 2016, new OSHA reporting rules require employers to establish a reasonable procedure for employees to report workplace accidents and injuries – free from intimidation or retaliation.

Jennifer Minear was elected to serve as the AILA Second Vice President for the 2017-2018 term. Ms. Minear is a director in the Immigration Practice Group, where her practice focuses on employment-based immigration, with a particular emphasis on the healthcare sector, including J-1 waiver and green card processing for foreign medical graduates.

On Friday, April 27, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court decided Manu v. GEICO Casualty Company, Record No. 160852, 2017 Va. Lexis 70 (Va. April 27, 2017), a "bad faith" opinion significant to insurers that issue family automobile policies in Virginia.

By: Lauren Ebersole Hutcheson, Esq.

Historically, in Virginia, an employer’s pecuniary liability for medical, surgical and hospital treatment has been limited to the prevailing rate in the community to determine the reasonableness of the charge pursuant to Va. Code 65.2-605. The uncertainty of the prevailing rate in the community resulted in numerous claims filed by medical providers against employers and carriers for reimbursement of write-offs. As of March 2016, Virginia was one of only 7 states to be without a standardized fee schedule.

On Monday, April 17, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it received approximately 199,000 H-1B petitions during the first five business days of April (April 3-7, 2017) exceeding the statutory cap on available H-1B slots. As a result, USCIS conducted a random computer generated selection process, or “lottery,” to determine which H-1B petitions filed during this period would be accepted.

Virginia case law has consistently held that in order to prove an “injury by accident,”  a claimant must show: 

“(1) an identifiable incident; (2) that occurs at some reasonably definite time; (3) an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in the body; and (4) a causal connection between the incident and the bodily change.”  Chesterfield Co. v. Dunn, 9 Va. App. 475, 476, 389 S.E.2d 180, 181 (1990).  “Repetitive activity” or “repetitive trauma” injuries are not covered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act.   However, in Van Buren v. Augusta County., 66 Va. App. 441 (2016), the Court of Appeals held that a firefighter who noticed neck and shoulder pain after a 45-minute rescue suffered an injury by accident.  The Commission followed that decision in Dugger v. Riverside Regional Jail Authority, JCN VA00001117636 (Jan. 3, 2017), holding that the claimant proved an injury by accident where she noticed a swollen knee after engaging in 4 hours of physical tactics training.   Those decisions suggested a fundamental change in the definition of “injury by accident.” 

In Virginia, there are certain advantages to defending a case in federal court. First, in Virginia state court, motions for summary judgment may not be based on deposition testimony. For attorneys seeking a case-dispositive ruling prior to trial, the state court evisceration of the summary judgment process thwarts such efforts. Second, the disclosure and qualification process for expert witnesses are far more stringent in federal court. Through robust expert disclosure requirements and the application of Daubert to experts who are properly disclosed, Virginia federal courts place a premium on well thought out and executed expert strategies.

Knowing most defendants would prefer to remove a claim to federal court, plaintiffs frequently attempt to include a non-diverse employee in a premises liability suit to prevent

By: Eva C. Roffis, Esq.

Typically, an injury sustained by a worker at a social or recreational event is not compensable. However, numerous factors must be examined in order to determine whether the claimant’s accident arose out of the employment.

On January 27, 2017, the new administration issued an Executive Order which suspends "entry into the United States" of individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days (and possibly longer).