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There is something powerful about a recorded statement. President Richard Nixon, Washington Mayor Marion Barry, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Pentagon employee Linda Tripp, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen are all notorious names associated with secret recordings. Politics has taught us that recording people can help us catch the dirt, and modern technology has made recording easier than ever. In defense and claims work, recorded statements are often used early in claims to capture a potential… Read More

On December 16, 2020, the EEOC released guidelines concerning Covid-19 vaccines in anticipation of their imminent availability. In general, the EEOC has advised that employers can require employees to receive a Covid-19 vaccine or provide proof of vaccination in order to return to or attend the workplace. In certain circumstances, an employer can bar an employee who refuses a Covid-19 vaccine from the workplace. The EEOC released answers to various questions regarding the workplace and Covid-19 vaccines, summarized below: Is… Read More

“Enemies List” - Not a good idea in Virginia unless you want to be sued On November 6, 2020, Alexandria Orcasio-Cortez tweeted: “Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? I foresee decent probability of many deleted Tweets, writings, photos in the future.” In response, Hari Sevugan, former Democratic National Committee press secretary and ex-deputy campaign manager for Pete Buttigieg, tweeted: “. . .WH staff are starting to look… Read More

In GEICO v. Moore, the Supreme Court of Virginia memorably held that “[c]ontracts of insurance . . . are not made by or for casuists or sophists, and the obvious meaning of their plain terms is not to be discarded for some curious, hidden sense, which nothing but the exigency of a hard case and the ingenuity of an acute mind would discover.” 266 Va. 155, 164, 580 S.E.2d 823, 827 (2003). That phrase succinctly captures Virginia jurisprudence on interpreting… Read More

The Dirty World of Staged Trucking Accidents – And How to Protect Your Fleet On November 10, 2020, a New Orleans personal injury attorney, Danny Patrick Keating, Jr. became the 33rd defendant charged in an ongoing investigation by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana into crime rings that stage accidents with tractor-trailers and commercial carriers. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2020/11/10/590210.htm. Charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, Keating, if convicted, faces a maximum term of five years imprisonment… Read More

The Comp. defense, bar, a generally dry bunch, is all atwitter over the recent opinion by the Virginia Court of Appeals in Mizelle v. Holiday Ice Inc. and Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance Company. In that case the Virginia Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion of limited precedential effect, affirmed a denial by the Full Commission of benefits to a driver injured where he attempted to reorient so that the trailer he was hauling had gotten out of line and… Read More

It is no secret that nuclear verdicts are on the rise in accident litigation across the United States. These “runaway” or “nuclear” verdicts are jury awards that exceed $10 million, and they are a major obstacle facing the trucking industry today. On June 23, 2020, the American Transportation Research Institute (“ATRI”) released a report confirming that verdict awards for plaintiffs over $1 million have drastically increased in number and size over the years. The report, “Understanding the Impact of Nuclear… Read More

“Drive time” can refer to the length of time it takes to get somewhere (I can already hear my toddler whining “are we there yet?”), a popular sports-talk radio show in Arkansas (the southern drawl of the callers-in undeniably exhorting that Malzahn lucked out from that shoulda-been fumble), or, in trucking circles, an aspect of the ever-present and ever-confusing Hours of Service rules. On September 29, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made four categories of changes effective. So,… Read More