Tuesday, July 19th, 2016
Gentry Locke for the Defense
Giles County Circuit Court
Gentry Locke successfully defended a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit filed by a former Narrows High School principal against The Virginian-Leader, the local Giles County newspaper.
The mayor of the Town of Narrows wrote a letter to the editor, in his private capacity, which was published by the The Virginian-Leader.
In fall 2015, the former principal filed a 23 count lawsuit claiming, among other charges, defamation. Gentry Locke represented The Virginian-Leader; the mayor was represented by separate counsel.
The Court found that the statements at issue were not defamatory, which was fatal to all claims.
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016
Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff
Western District of Virginia, Abingdon Division
On June 7, 2013, Shawn McKee presented to a hospital emergency department in Lebanon, Virginia. He was treated by Dwight L. Bailey who was, at the time, a licensed physician. Despite numerous signs and symptoms consistent with a potentially fatal condition known as a pulmonary embolus (“PE”), Mr. McKee did not undergo the required test to diagnose a PE, a CT scan. Dr. Bailey testified that the CT scanner at the hospital could not accommodate Mr. McKee’s size, which is why one was not done as he had ordered. Investigation revealed that a hospital about 30 minutes away had a CT scanner which could have accommodated Mr. McKee, but Dr. Bailey did not refer Mr. McKee to that hospital. Dr. Bailey also failed to order anti-coagulant treatment for Mr. McKee. Instead, Dr. Bailey allowed Mr. McKee to leave the hospital without treating him for a PE.
A few days later, Mr. McKee moved across the country to Idaho with his family. Mr. McKee had advised Dr. Bailey of his planned trip to Idaho while at the hospital. Long duration travel is a known risk factor for PE. Shortly after Mr. McKee and his family arrived in Idaho, he became very ill. During transport to a hospital, Mr. McKee became unresponsive and died. An autopsy determined that Mr. McKee died from a PE. Mr. McKee was 31 years old when he died, leaving behind a wife and two minor children.
The case went to trial in federal court in Abingdon on December 2, 2015. On behalf of the Plaintiff, we presented evidence of almost $1 million in economic damages. After four days of trial, the jury began deliberations. Within an hour, the jury returned with a verdict of $2.75 million dollars plus pre-judgment interest from the date of Mr. McKee’s death. The Defendants filed post-trial motions asking for a new trial, which the Court denied by Order entered May 24, 2016. The judgment amount of $2.75 million was reduced by the Court to the applicable medical malpractice cap of $2.05 million.
Friday, February 19th, 2016
Gentry Locke for the Defense
Roanoke County Circuit Court
The plaintiffs sued their insurance company, claiming the insurance company wrongly denied coverage for replacement of an 8,800 square foot roof. They claimed their roof was irreparably damaged by a hailstorm. The insurer excluded the claim on the basis that the roof had eroded and was totally deteriorated prior to the hailstorm occurring, and therefore no hail damage was compensable. After a two-day trial, the jury came back with a verdict in favor of our insurance client.
Thursday, January 14th, 2016
Gentry Locke for a national wireless carrier
Montgomery County Board of Supervisors
After months of work by our Zoning and Land Use team, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved eight special use permit applications that Gentry Locke filed on behalf of a national telecommunications carrier. The approvals granted by the Board of Supervisors authorize the carrier to upgrade existing wireless telecommunications equipment on eight cell towers located throughout Montgomery County, which will provide faster, 4G/LTE technology to consumers of two major wireless providers.
Handling one such special use permit application can be challenging. Having eight such applications pending at the same time significantly increased the degree of difficulty on this project. In the past, Montgomery County has experienced to severe weather such as ice storms and flooding. Upgrading this existing communications infrastructure makes decision an important one for the many thousands of wireless users in Montgomery County.
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Creditor.
United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia
Gentry Locke attorneys represented an unsecured creditor in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Our client was the liquidating agent for a former credit union. Our client filed a proof of claim for unjust enrichment based on an undocumented loan to the bankrupt debtor. The liquidated credit union failed as a result of fraud committed by two former executives, who have since pled guilty to federal criminal charges. One executive was the debtor’s mother-in-law.
Debtor objected to the claim stating he never received the proceeds of the loan and never benefitted from it. He claimed he was a victim of his mother-in-law’s fraud.
Following an evidentiary hearing, the Court denied the debtor’s objection to the claim and allowed the claim in full.
Tuesday, September 1st, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Defense
U.S. District Court, Western District, Roanoke division
Gentry Locke represented a municipality in a jury trial in which a former city employee alleged disability discrimination. The plaintiff alleged that his employer did not accommodate his disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. After the plaintiff presented all of his evidence, the court granted our motion and dismissed the case. The plaintiff filed but later dropped an appeal.
Monday, August 24th, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff
United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia – Roanoke Division
Our client, a Vietnam Veteran, went to the Salem Veterans Administration Medical Center (“Salem VAMC”) for vascular surgery on his leg. During the course of the surgery, the surgeon did not properly identify our client’s anatomy, thereby causing a blood vessel injury. Our client’s healthcare providers at the Salem VAMC knew, or should have known, that it was critical to assess our client’s leg after the surgery to ensure there was proper blood flow. They did not do so and watched as our client’s leg died in front of them. Our client required an amputation and his life has been forever changed. As our client’s healthcare providers at the Salem VAMC had immunity from being sued for their medical malpractice, we were forced to sue the United States of America under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Tuesday, August 18th, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Defense
Fourth Circuit of Appeals
Plaintiffs were two counties that brought a fraudulent inducement and breach of contract lawsuit against a corporation and two individuals. The corporation, which is now defunct, had designed and installed emergency radio systems for the counties. The counties claimed that the company and its representatives had defrauded the them, but they never specified how. Our clients argued that they breached no contract and did not defraud the counties. As a result of the lack of required detail in the counties’ pleadings, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia dismissed all claims against the individuals, as well as the fraudulent inducement claim against the company. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal in an unpublished, unanimous panel opinion.
Friday, August 14th, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff
Roanoke City Circuit Court
There are two main rules on the Greenway, which is a shared-use pathway in the Roanoke Valley: (1) travel in a predictable and consistent manner; and (2) look before you turn. These are rules that reasonable and prudent people follow throughout the day whether driving, riding, walking, jogging, or running.
Unfortunately, on June 11, 2012 a runner, by his own admission, chose to violate both of these rules when he made a U-turn at a dangerous location on the Greenway without giving any warning or looking before he turned. His justification for doing so was that he assumed no one was around him because he did not hear anything. But our client, who was riding her mountain bike at a safe speed and trying to safely pass the runner on the left as required on the Greenway, had loudly called out “on your left” before trying to pass the runner.
So why didn’t the runner hear our client? What the runner failed to disclose, and our client found out in litigation after deposing the runner and subpoenaing his medical records, was that he had long-standing hearing loss for which he wore hearing aids, but he chose not to wear his hearing aids on the day of the collision. Interestingly, the runner’s hearing loss was particularly bad for women’s voices and our client was a woman. As a result of the runner’s decisions on that day, he turned to the left into the pathway of our client, who had the right-of-way, and collided with our client. Our client was thrown off her bicycle and she landed directly on her head, causing a traumatic brain injury with bleeding and bruising to her brain, as well as a significant scalp laceration.
The evidence convincingly showed that our client was not traveling at an unreasonable rate of speed because (1) our client did not suffer any other injuries; (2) her bicycle was not damaged at all; (3) the runner did not suffer any appreciable injuries—in fact, the runner jogged back to the gym after the collision; and (4) our client and the runner landed on the ground where the collision occurred.
The runner refused to accept personal responsibility for the collision. Therefore, our client was forced to go to Court to protect her rights, and affirm the rights of all individuals who safely use the Greenway. If the runner’s argument were accepted, it would never be safe for anyone to use the Greenway because any person could travel in an unpredictable and inconsistent manner on the Greenway without looking before doing so. This would jeopardize the safety and health of all users of the Greenway, including children and the elderly.
Over two full days, the Court and the jury heard from the lawyers for both sides, from many witnesses, and received numerous pieces of evidence (including the Guidelines of the Greenway and photographs of the location of the collision, which our client introduced into evidence). The Court found that there was merit for a jury to decide the case. Thereafter, a jury of seven citizens of the City of Roanoke unanimously found that the runner was liable for causing the collision and compensated our client in the amount of $300,000 with interest from the date of the collision. The jury’s compensation of $300,000 included approximately $90,000 in medical expenses and lost wages, as well as compensation for our client’s traumatic brain injury and permanent scalp laceration. The runner’s homeowners’ insurance company paid the verdict in full. While our client will never be the person she was before this collision, she will use the compensation she received to help with her permanent injuries, and she hopes that this case result may prevent this from happening to someone else.
Monday, July 20th, 2015
Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff
Roanoke City Circuit Court
Our client had a broken arm in which she had a rod placed to allow the bone to heal. A medical rule is that a doctor must never manipulate a broken bone unless the broken bone has been fully healed for a good amount of time. Even though the rod was relatively recently placed and our client’s broken arm had only healed approximately 30%, the defendant orthopedist chose to remove the rod and then manipulate our client’s arm. As the defendant orthopedist did this, he heard a loud snap and later discovered that he had re-broken our client’s arm. The re-breaking of our client’s arm caused her many problems, including permanent loss of range of motion and pain. The defendant refused to accept responsibility for his error and his insurance company (The Doctors’ Company) refused to discuss settlement (it is The Doctors’ Company policy not to discuss settlement in any case), so our client was forced to proceed to Court to obtain justice. The Court found that the case had merit to allow a jury to decide it. After three days of hearing many witnesses, argument from counsel, and numerous pieces of evidence, a jury of seven individuals from the City of Roanoke unanimously found that the defendant committed malpractice that caused significant injury to our client.
