Rudy’s 50 years as a Gentry Locke attorney was celebrated in 2017.
ROANOKE, Va. (June 12, 2018) – The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Roanoke Retired Partner J. Rudy Austin has been named to the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame, a Virginia Lawyers Weekly awards program designed to recognize Virginia’s most significant senior lawyers. Rudy was formally recognized at the Hall of Fame event on June 12.
“We are thrilled for Rudy, who is highly deserving of this honor,” said Gentry Locke Managing Partner Monica Taylor Monday. “He is an unwavering example of the ethical practice of law, with innumerable career accomplishments.”
Membership in the Hall of Fame is reserved for Virginia lawyers who are 60 years of age and older. Inclusion is determined by career accomplishments, contributions to the development of the law in Virginia, contributions to the bar, contributions to the commonwealth of Virginia, and efforts to improve the quality of justice in Virginia.
Rudy has been a leader of Virginia bar associations, serving as president of the Roanoke Bar Association and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, and as chair of the Sixth District Ethics Committee and the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board. In 2007, he received the Virginia Association of Defense Attorney’s (VADA) highest honor – the Award for Excellence in Civil Litigation. He is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation, and the Virginia Law Foundation. He was also an Emeritus Master of the Bench in the Ted Dalton American Inn of Court.
Rudy recently retired from his position as a senior litigation partner at Gentry Locke. In a career that began in 1967, his experience included the practice areas of insurance defense, insurance coverage, workers’ compensation, construction, and legal ethics. During his 50 years with Gentry Locke, Rudy was consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants. He also has been one of a select group of lawyers recognized by Chambers USA for Virginia Litigation: General Commercial, was noted as a Litigation Star in General Commercial and Insurance Litigation by Benchmark Litigation, and was consistently noted by Virginia Super Lawyers for Civil Litigation and Defense. At the firm, Rudy was highly esteemed as a virtual encyclopedia of legal knowledge who devoted thousands of hours to mentoring young lawyers at Gentry Locke. The example he sets is still the bedrock of the firm’s culture.
Here is our ad congratulating Rudy for this accolade:
About Gentry Locke
With more than 55 lawyers practicing across a range of disciplines, Gentry Locke brings uncommon thinking and deep experience to the legal and business challenges of companies, institutions, organizations and individuals—a commitment the firm has met since 1923. Operating from offices in Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va., Gentry Locke serves clients in Virginia and across the U.S., as well as worldwide as a member firm of the ALFA International Legal Network. Meet the firm’s dynamic attorneys and learn more about its fierce drive to achieve success for its clients by exploring this website.
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ROANOKE, Va. (May 29, 2018) – The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Kelsey M. Martin has joined the firm’s Roanoke office as an associate. Kelsey will practice on the Employment & Labor team. In her practice, Kelsey will advise business owners and management on employment matters. She will also defend federal and state court claims involving employment-related issues, including claims related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII, Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, affirmative action plans, noncompete agreements, trade secrets, and related matters. Kelsey […]
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While its name may suggest it is a vestige of Virginia’s legal history, a motion craving oyer remains a powerful, but limited tool in Virginia practice. When a plaintiff sues based on a written contract or other document but fails to attach it to his complaint, a defendant should consider “craving oyer” of the document. “[A] motion to crave oyer is a request of the Court to require that a document sued upon, or a collateral document which is necessary to the Plaintiff’s claim, be treated as though it were part of the Plaintiff’s pleadings.” Ragone v. Waldvogel, Poe and […]
Using Sworn Testimony in Support of a Motion for Summary Judgement in Virginia Circuit Courts One of the biggest distinctions between federal practice and Virginia practice is that, in Virginia practice, summary judgment cannot be based upon deposition testimony. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all previously given sworn testimony is off-limits. Rule 3:20 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia states, in part: No motion for summary judgment or to strike the evidence shall be sustained when based in whole or in part upon any discovery depositions under Rule 4:5, unless all parties to the action shall […]
On May 30, 2018 two Gentry Locke partners will present a CLE to Virginia CLE attendees at Virginia CLE’s Charlottesville, Virginia headquarters. Michael J. Finney and Alicha Grubb will present alongside an attorney from a Charlottesville firm, Jonathan T. Blank. The event website page describes the session thusly: Our experienced speakers will address this complex issue from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s point of view, highlighting the issues at stake and sharing practical tips to assist your representation of your client’s interests. Among the issues they will address are: How strong is the presumption of the corporate veil? What can a […]
Gentry Locke employment law partner Todd Leeson recently published an important article for business executives. The article was inspired by contrasting images of women in an upscale steakhouse. Todd implores executives to take action to ensure a culture of respect in the workplace. Read the formatted PDF of the article Reprinted with permission from the April 27, 2018 edition of CorporateCounsel© 2018 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Picture an upscale steakhouse in a bustling downtown of a mid-size southern city—a swanky joint where every night hundreds of patrons happily pay $50+ for a delicious steak, and $15 for […]
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ROANOKE: MAY 10 – Full The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center LYNCHBURG: MAY 14 The Craddock Terry Hotel and Event Center Human Resources is buzzing along at the speed of NOW. Is your company able to keep up? Gentry Locke’s Employment Law Team will help your company be prepared for and inoculated against some of the most potent viral movements we’ve ever seen. Register now to learn about the most click-worthy issues affecting businesses this year! Registration is open for Lynchburg (May 14) Professional Credits: As a SHRM Recertification Provider, Gentry Locke is recognized by SHRM to offer 6.5 hours […]
ROANOKE, Va. (April 23, 2018) – The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Powell M. “Nick” Leitch, III has joined as a partner in Gentry Locke’s Medical Malpractice practice group. He previously served as a partner at LeClairRyan. “We have an enormous amount of respect for Nick, and are so pleased that he will bring such a wealth of experience to our medical malpractice team,” said Gentry Locke Managing Partner Monica Taylor Monday. “We welcome him to our firm and look forward to further servicing our clients with him aboard.” “Gentry Locke is an esteemed […]
Gentry Locke attorneys Ben Byrd and Nick Leitch will present a seminar to Virginia Tech/Carilion School of Medicine’s 4th-year students on Monday, April 30 at the Riverside complex in Roanoke. The “Law and Medicine: Physicians in the Courtroom” course will deal with the various ways in which the lives of these physicians can intersect with the legal system throughout their careers, both in terms of being witness-advocates for their patients, as well as expert witnesses and/or witnesses on their behalf in medical litigation. Attorneys Byrd and Leitch will be joined by Professor Tim MacDonnell of Washington & Lee School of […]
ROANOKE, Va. (April 17, 2018) – Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that 28 of the firm’s attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2018 Virginia Super Lawyers® list, a national legal ranking. Attorneys were nominated by their peers and recognized for their outstanding professional achievement in several legal practice areas, including civil litigation, appellate law, criminal defense, business litigation, business/corporate law, construction litigation, land use and zoning, employment & labor law and litigation, personal injury, professional liability, and tax law. Of those selected, 18 of the firm’s attorneys from the Roanoke and Lynchburg offices were named as Virginia Super […]
ROANOKE, Va. (April 11, 2018) – The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Roanoke Retired Partner J. Rudy Austin has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the Roanoke Bar Association (RBA) Frank W. “Bo” Rogers, Jr., Lifetime Achievement Award. Austin will be formally presented with the award at the RBA Law Day Luncheon on May 1. “This is a tremendous honor that recognizes Rudy’s remarkable career, and sustained contributions to the profession and the bar,” said Gentry Locke Managing Partner Monica Taylor Monday. “Rudy is a model lawyer who has upheld the highest ideals […]
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On May 9, 2018 and May 15, 2018 Gentry Locke partner Benjamin D. Byrd will present a CLE session to members of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA) at their 2018 May Tort Seminar. Ben’s presentation will cover 4:10 Examinations as they relate to challenging medical evidence presented by Defendants. The session covers the Virginia state court rule, not the federal rule.
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The results of client matters depend on a variety of factors unique to each matter. Past successes do not predict or guarantee future successes.Gentry Locke for the Defendant United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia We represented a large national bank in a long-term disability (LTD) claim arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The plaintiff was a bank employee until she ended her employment due to physical disabilities. She was paid LTD benefits until the results of an independent medical examination revealed that her current symptoms no longer supported a finding of total disability. Accordingly, her LTD benefits were terminated. The plaintiff brought a claim for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA against the bank in addition to a more […]
Gentry Locke Partner Bill Gust will be a featured speaker at two upcoming conferences geared toward employee-owned businesses. “Mitigating Cyber Security Risk from a Fiduciary Perspective” will be presented at the ESOP Association Mid-Atlantic/Carolinas Chapter’s Spring Conference in Charlottesville, VA on Friday, March 9, 2018, and also at the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Learn more about the events and register to attend by clicking on these links: Charlottesville event Atlanta event
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On March 9, Gentry Locke Partner Bill Gust will speak at the ESOP Association Mid-Atlantic/Carolinas Chapter’s 2018 Spring Conference. Bill’s topic will cover “Cyber Security Risk From a Fiduciary Perspective.” Gentry Locke is a Bronze Sponsor of the chapter’s 2018 Spring ESOP Conference and Golf Tournament. This year’s conference offers a great line-up of expert speakers, roundtables, and workshops designed for all levels of employee-ownership. For more information or to register, click here.
On April 18, 2018, Gentry Locke Partner Bill Gust will be presenting a session at the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Bill’s topic will cover “Mitigating Cyber Security Risk from a Fiduciary Perspective.” Representatives from employee-owned companies from around the world attend the conference, which runs from April 18–20, with preconference sessions on April 17. Gentry Locke is pleased to be a sponsor of this event. As a sponsor, we’re pleased to offer the following discount codes. Just provide them when you register on their website: $35 off main conference per attendee: 18Save35 $25 off […]
Case Studies
February 2018
The results of client matters depend on a variety of factors unique to each matter. Past successes do not predict or guarantee future successes.Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff Roanoke City Circuit Court There are two important rules in the practice of radiology: (1) a radiologist must communicate all pertinent anatomy and diagnoses on imaging studies; and (2) a radiologist must clearly and effectively communicate, leaving no room for misunderstandings by clinicians. If a radiologist does not do both of these things, patients will suffer misdiagnoses that will cause serious injury and/or death. On August 16, 2016 our client presented to the LewisGale Medical Center Emergency Department with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting after having undergone a colonoscopy the day before. Our client’s clinicians […]
The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Roanoke Partner Catherine J. Huff was named to the Virginia State Bar’s Young Lawyers Conference (YLC) Board of Governors. Huff is serving a two-year term as the 8th District Representative. The YLC was founded in 1973 as a subset of the Virginia State Bar. Its members are considered to be the voice of Virginia’s young lawyers in front of the Virginia State Bar and the American Bar Association. YLC activities include semi-annual admission and orientation ceremonies, the Virginia Domestic Violence Safety Project, a board match program, minority recruitment […]
Case Studies
February 2018
The results of client matters depend on a variety of factors unique to each matter. Past successes do not predict or guarantee future successes.Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff Warren County Circuit Court In May of 2016, our client traveled northbound on Interstate 81 in Warren County, Virginia. When our client approached an interstate crossover, a work truck for an asphalt and paving company illegally used the crossover to go from I-81 South to I-81 North. This resulted in a substantial crash which caused our client’s vehicle to catch fire. The driver of the work truck was charged with reckless driving and illegal use of a crossover, and was ultimately found guilty of both charges. Our client suffered a broken leg which required surgery, extensive […]
On May 9, 2018 Gentry Locke attorney Kathleen Wright will provide an informative presentation to attendees at an educational event for attorneys and title agents. The Spring seminar is sponsored by Chicago Title Insurance Company and will be held at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.
On Thursday, February 8, 2018, Gentry Locke Senior Counsel Cynthia Kinser will deliver the keynote address at The Success Project for Women Attorneys, an event sponsored by the Roanoke Chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. Justice Kinser’s speech will address the barriers that women attorneys still face and have to overcome in order to reach the same level of success as men attorneys.
Case Studies
February 2018
The results of client matters depend on a variety of factors unique to each matter. Past successes do not predict or guarantee future successes.Gentry Locke for the Defendant United States District Court, Western District of Virginia After being informed that our client intended to file a trade secret misappropriation case in Ohio on behalf of its business, the opposing company filed a declaratory judgment action in Franklin County Circuit Court seeking a ruling that it had not misappropriated any of our client’s trade secrets. Gentry Locke attorneys Kevin Holt and Alicha Grubb then removed the Virginia case to Federal Court and moved to have it dismissed. The Virginia Federal Court granted the motion, finding that the opposing company had improperly filed the declaratory judgment action first in “an improper attempt […]
On January 22, 2018, Virginia Lawyers Weekly noted that a medical malpractice case handled by Gentry Locke Partners Anthony M. Russell and S.D. Roberts Moore topped their list of Largest Verdicts for Virginia in 2017. The case was unusual as the wrongful death of a 55-year-old woman during surgery resulted in the surgeon and anesthesiologist blaming one another. According to the Largest Verdicts article, which requires a subscription to access, the Fairfax County jury delivered a $7 million verdict for the patient’s family on July 19, 2017 and also provided interest dating from the surgery date back in 2013. The verdict […]
ROANOKE, Va. (February 2, 2018) – The Virginia law firm of Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Roanoke Partner Jonathan D. Puvak was presented with the Emerson G. Spies Award during The Virginia Bar Association’s 128th Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia on January 19, 2018. The award is given annually to a member of The Virginia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for loyalty, dedication, and enthusiasm. Puvak was named as this year’s Emerson G. Spies Award recipient specifically in recognition of his efforts chairing the YLD’s CLE Committee. Puvak planned and coordinated continuing legal education programming for all […]
Case Studies
January 2018
The results of client matters depend on a variety of factors unique to each matter. Past successes do not predict or guarantee future successes.Gentry Locke for the Defendant Fairfax County Circuit Court Gentry Locke attorneys successfully defended a large, residential real estate brokerage firm in a breach of contract case. The plaintiff, a North Carolina consulting firm, designed new commission plans for our client’s thousands of real estate agents in the mid-Atlantic region. The plaintiff contended that it was owed $1.4 million in cumulative incentive payments based on improvement to the brokerage’s “company dollar” percentage, or profit margin, over the five-year period following adoption of the plans. However, under a plain reading of the contract and the brokerage’s financial performance, no incentive payments were […]
ROANOKE, Va. (January 1, 2018) – Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that Roanoke office attorneys Jonathan D. Puvak and Daniel R. Sullivan have been promoted to the position of Partner, effective January 1, 2018. Puvak practices on the firm’s Business & Corporate team, assisting businesses, business owners, and governmental entities with corporate governance, commercial transactions, employee benefits, and tax and real estate matters. Before attending law school, Puvak gained business and real estate development experience by working with NVR Inc., one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. He is a member and holds leadership positions with the Virginia State Bar’s Young Lawyers Conference, […]
