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Before this week’s article starts in earnest, we are going to have a quick quiz. So go grab your old CRT monitor and Star Trek: Nemesis movie poster, because we are going to play Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. See if you can tell which of these cases are real…and which are works of fantasy. Answers and an explanation of why you should care are below. In Illinois, an attorney managed to sue himself when he filed suit on behalf… Read More

Let’s say you just got served with a new complaint from a customer who alleges that they were hurt while on the premises of your business. An important first question in analyzing that lawsuit is whether it was filed in a jurisdiction that applies principles of contributory negligence or comparative negligence. Contributory negligence and comparative negligence are both doctrines that courts use to determine liability in personal injury cases. However, the similarities between the two doctrines end there, and which… Read More

In what has become commonplace following tractor-trailer crashes on Virginia’s highways involving heavy-duty towing and recovery services performed at the behest of the police, soon after the incident the trucking company receives an invoice from the towing company accompanied by a copy of the Virginia Bureau of Insurance’s (the “Bureau”) August 19, 2020 Administrative Letter number 202005 (the “Letter). As discussed in more detail below, the Letter purports to instruct insurance companies on what the insurance provided under their policies… Read More

“Lost time is never found again,” an insightful quote by Benjamin Franklin, apparently no longer applies in post-COVID Virginia, since the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that time lost during the pandemic shutdown of the courts can be added back to the Statute of Limitations deadlines for all claims. The Virginia Supreme Court has authority to suspend Statutes of Limitations during a judicial emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic created just such an emergency when courts were ordered to close for an… Read More

The idea of having to pay out a workers’ compensation claim can be irksome, especially when you are self-insured. This frustration can be further compounded as you learn all of the details surrounding the happening of an injury. Sometimes a compensable workers’ compensation claim truly is the fault and responsibility of a third party, and in those situations, it may even be possible to recoup some of the expenses associated with paying out a workers’ compensation claim. A little of… Read More

The longer you are in business, the greater the chance that one of your customers becomes delinquent. While you have many options to collect a debt in normal circumstances, if your customer files for bankruptcy, you have a minefield of issues to maneuver through. Don’t panic and proceed with caution. FIRST. Stop all goods in transit and arrange for their return to your facility. Once you learn that your customer has filed for bankruptcy, you should stop all goods in… Read More

Setliff Law is pleased to announce Kevin Streit is the firm’s newest partner. Kevin, who has been a civil litigator for nearly 25 years, came on board in 2020, and in that time has proven to be one of the hardest working lawyers at the firm. According to Steve Setliff, partner and owner of Setliff Law, “We are proud to add Kevin to the ranks of partner here at Setliff Law. Kevin is as fine a litigator—and trial lawyer—as you… Read More

For truckers, slang is part of the daily jargon. Whether an “alligator” (piece of trash in the roadway), “chicken coup” (weigh station) or “Bambi” (a deer near the roadway), truckers have their own terms for just about everything related to driving. Ask one about a “dream weaver” and you may see them roll their eyes and shake their heads. A “dream weaver” is a term for an impaired driver, usually evident by weaving between lanes while driving due to being… Read More