Tremblay & Smith, LLP http://www.tremblayandsmith.com Personal Injury & Malpractice, Domestic & Family Law, Corporate & Business Law Mon, 17 May 2010 16:24:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Juror Feedback: Research after a verdict can educate counsel for next time http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/05/17/juror-feedback-research-after-a-verdict-can-educate-counsel-for-next-time/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/05/17/juror-feedback-research-after-a-verdict-can-educate-counsel-for-next-time/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 16:22:36 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=585 By Alan Cooper
Published: May 17, 2010

After the conclusion of a trial, lawyers often want to ask jurors a simple question: How did I do?

The lawyer who lost the case may particularly want to know how the juror reached its conclusion and why, so she can learn something that will help her when she tries her next case.

Indeed, some defense and plaintiff’s attorneys make it a practice to get juror feedback, even if it’s no more than a parking lot comment immediately after the verdict.

Sean P. Byrne, a medical malpractice defense attorney in Richmond, said, “It’s a good panel if you hear from four or five of them.”

The lack of structure or detail in such quick interviews doesn’t lessen their importance, he said. “I think it’s invaluable.”

Like Byrne, plaintiff’s attorney R. Lee Livingston from Charlottesville said he is more likely to try to talk to jurors immediately after the trial – and more often after a loss than a win.

The comments can help educate the client as well as the attorney and provide information on the possibility of an appeal, he said.

Livingston and Byrne emphasized that attorneys need to be aware of any restrictions a judge might place on such interviews. Livingston noted as an example that Western District rules generally bar any contact by attorneys with jurors during their term of service, and that term is a year.

Read more at VA Lawyers Weekly

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/05/17/juror-feedback-research-after-a-verdict-can-educate-counsel-for-next-time/feed/ 0 Plaintiff nonsuits, then adds new claims http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/03/29/plaintiff-nonsuits-then-adds-new-claims/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/03/29/plaintiff-nonsuits-then-adds-new-claims/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:29:08 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=574 From Virginia Lawyers Weekly:

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 25, 2010

An Alexandria federal judge has allowed new claims in a refiled medical malpractice suit after a nonsuit, even though the additional claims otherwise would be barred by the statute of limitations. The judge examined whether the added claims arose from the same “action, transaction or occurrence” as the earlier lawsuit. The decision stands in marked …

Read more at VA Lawyers Weekly

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/03/29/plaintiff-nonsuits-then-adds-new-claims/feed/ 0 Helping your client prepare for deposition http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/01/04/helping-your-client-prepare-for-deposition/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/01/04/helping-your-client-prepare-for-deposition/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:18:17 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=498 Most of us recognize that preparation is the linchpin of good trial work.  As one trial lawyer said, “Everything else- felicity of expression, improvisational brilliance- is a satellite around the sun.  Thorough preparation is that sun.”  Hence, we spend substantial time preparing our clients to testify at trial.  In most cases, however, the client’s deposition is his trial testimony, because most cases settle before trial.  Maximizing results for our clients may depend on thorough preparation of the client for deposition.

by R. Lee Livingston

Published in The Journal of the Virginia Trail Lawyers Association, Winter 2oo1-2002

Read the full article

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2010/01/04/helping-your-client-prepare-for-deposition/feed/ 0 Virginia Super Lawyers® magazine top attorneys in Virginia for 2009 http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-attorneys-in-virginia-for-2009/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-attorneys-in-virginia-for-2009/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:00:27 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=362 PRESS RELEASE:

John K. Taggart, III, Thomas E. Albro and R. Lee Livingston have been named by Virginia Super Lawyers® magazine as one of the top attorneys in Virginia for 2009. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers®.

The selections for Super Lawyers are made by Law & Politics, a division of Key Professional Media, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn. Each year, Law & Politics undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers,  independent evaluation of candidates by Law & Politics’ attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

Law & Politics publishes Super Lawyers magazines across the country. In addition to the magazines, Law & Politics publishes newspaper inserts and magazine special sections devoted to Super Lawyers. In 2008, Super Lawyers will reach more than 13 million readers.

Super Lawyers was first published in Minnesota in 1991. William White, attorney and founding publisher, remains the publisher today. Law & Politics is owned by attorney Vance Opperman, the former president of West Publishing.

Super Lawyers can be found online at superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-attorneys-in-virginia-for-2009/feed/ 0 A higher hurdle: U.S. high court says complaint must state ‘plausible’ set of facts http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/a-higher-hurdle-u-s-high-court-says-complaint-must-state-%e2%80%98plausible%e2%80%99-set-of-facts/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/a-higher-hurdle-u-s-high-court-says-complaint-must-state-%e2%80%98plausible%e2%80%99-set-of-facts/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:50:27 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=332 From Virginia Lawyers Weekly:

By David Frank and Alan Cooper
Published: June 15, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court has set a higher hurdle for a plaintiff filing a civil complaint in federal court.

In 2007 the court issued an antitrust case that heightened the standard of proof required to survive a motion to dismiss in federal court.

A new case makes it clear that the higher standard is applicable across the board, according to civil litigators.

On May 18, the Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Iqbal confirmed that the pleading standard first articulated in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly two years ago applies to all federal civil complaints.

The court elaborated on its finding in Twombly that a plaintiff must allege enough facts to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. The plausibility standard stops short of probability, but “it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the 5-4 majority in Iqbal.

Charlottesville attorney R. Lee Livingston questioned the plausibility concept.

“Plausible is not a term used in the law before,” he said.

Adding it to the equation does little to clarify the law, he added. It merely provides a federal judge with “a new bigger hammer to knock down a case right from the beginning,” he said.

Read more at VA Lawyers Weekly

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/a-higher-hurdle-u-s-high-court-says-complaint-must-state-%e2%80%98plausible%e2%80%99-set-of-facts/feed/ 0 Virginia Super Lawyers® magazine Top 10 Super Lawyers 2009® http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-10-super-lawyers-2009%c2%ae/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-10-super-lawyers-2009%c2%ae/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:43:08 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=373 PRESS RELEASE:

Thomas E. Albro has been named by Virginia Super Lawyers® magazine to the Top 10 Super Lawyers 2009® for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The selections for Super Lawyers are made by Law & Politics, a division of Key Professional Media, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn. Each year, Law & Politics undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by Law & Politics’ attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

Law & Politics publishes Super Lawyers magazines across the country. In addition to the magazines, Law & Politics publishes newspaper inserts and magazine special sections devoted to Super Lawyers. In 2008, Super Lawyers reached more than 13 million readers.

Super Lawyers was first published in Minnesota in 1991. William White, attorney and founding publisher, remains the publisher today. Law & Politics is owned by attorney Vance Opperman, the former president of West Publishing.

Super Lawyers can be found online at superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

]]> http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/virginia-super-lawyers%c2%ae-magazine-top-10-super-lawyers-2009%c2%ae/feed/ 0 The Best Lawyers in America® 2010 http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/the-best-lawyers-in-america%c2%ae-2010/ http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/2009/12/21/the-best-lawyers-in-america%c2%ae-2010/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:22:20 +0000 admin http://www.tremblayandsmith.com/?p=358 PRESS RELEASE:

Thomas E. Albro and John K. Taggart, III were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2010 (Copyright 2009 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 32,000 leading attorneys cast almost two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

It is important to note that the lawyers listed in Best Lawyers have no say in deciding which practice areas they are included in. They are voted into practice areas entirely as a result of the votes they receive from their peers. The subspecialties listed after their names are based on information from a variety of sources.

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