The Library

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on February 11, 2008. A formatted PDF is available by under the Additional Reading section. Q: Who makes health care decisions for me should I become incapacitated? A: In the absence of an advance medical directive made by a patient, a physician may provide or withhold treatment upon the authorization of a court-appointed guardian or committee. If there is no such court-appointed guardian or committee, then family members in descending order of relationship to the patient may authorize treatment. The order of relationship is as follows: spouse, adult child, parent, then […]

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on January 28, 2008. A formatted PDF is available under the Additional Reading section. Q: Are all construction contractors doing business in Virginia required to be licensed? A: Whether you are a construction contractor or the owner of a construction project, this is a question of frequent interest. Knowing the answer will help any party involved in a construction contract to avoid the pitfalls of unlicensed contractors. Virginia law requires that all persons or entities providing contracting services valued more than $1,000 be licensed with the Department of Professional and Occupational […]

The full article is available in pre-formatted PDF format under the Additional Reading section. Published in the Richmond Law Review, November, 2007. Introduction This article looks back on important Virginia labor and employment law developments during the past year, including significant case law and legislation. Contract issues continued to dominate state-law employment litigation in Virginia, especially disputes regarding the enforceability of restrictive covenants. Section II of this article is devoted to some of the more significant employment contract cases considered by Virginia state and federal courts this past year. Section III discusses recent Virginia cases in which courts have considered […]

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on December 3, 2007. A formatted PDF is available under the Additional Reading section. Economic Incentives for Sustainable Real Estate and Development Practices Federal, state, and local governments are responding at an ever-increasing rate to our country’s growing concern for our impact on the environment. Many incentives and programs provide businesses and individual landowners the ability to make environmentally conscious land use and development decisions without sacrificing profitability. Conservation easements allow landowners to realize significant tax benefits while preserving and protecting the agricultural, scenic, or natural resources of their land from […]

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on September 10, 2007. A formatted PDF is available under the Additional Reading section. Q: I am considering leasing commercial space. The landlord has given me his standard “form” lease. How do I know whether the terms are reasonable? A: First of all, there is no such thing as a generic “form” lease. I will touch on a few of the more common provisions commercial tenants should consider negotiating in order to protect their interests. Right to Cure (Correct) a Default. “Failure to pay rent within 10 days after the due […]

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on June 26, 2007. A formatted PDF is available under the Additional Reading section. The most important equipment on your company’s trucks may be the tires. The phrase “where the rubber hits the road” is particularly important when discussing 18-wheelers. The following seven tips should decrease the likelihood of an accident caused by truck tires: Check for correct air pressures. Drivers should have an accurate pressure gauge and be instructed to check the tires on their truck each day. Conduct a visual inspection of your vehicle’s tires prior to operation. Look […]

This article appeared in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on May 7, 2007. A formatted PDF is available under the Additional Reading section. Q: Our company has a confidentiality policy that, among other things, prohibits employees from discussing their pay with other employees. Is such a policy lawful? A: Probably not. Most employers have policies in their employee handbooks or otherwise concerning the business need to keep certain information “confidential.” A recent federal appeals court decision, however, found that one company’s policy was overbroad and unlawful. Cintas Corporation published the following policy in its employee handbook: We honor confidentiality. We […]

This article was published in the Blue Ridge Business Journal on April 23, 2007. Many contractors, suppliers, and owners hear and use the phrase “put a lien on property” and wrongly think that filing a mechanic’s lien provides instant relief to the party seeking to be paid. That is hardly the case, as there are few areas of the law so fraught with rules and issues that make recovery on a mechanic’s lien quite difficult. Mechanic’s liens provide a means by which contractors and suppliers may obtain a security interest in real property they improved, and ultimately compel the sale […]

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) went into effect on December 1, 2006. Barely a month later, on January 12, 2006, United States District Judge Glen E. Conrad entered the first significant opinion in the Western District of Virginia interpreting the new amendments. Judge Conrad’s decision in DE Technologies, Inc. v. Dell Inc., Civil Action No. 7:04CV00628, involved patent infringement claims against Dell. The primary issue before the court was whether Dell had produced certain electronic documents “as they are kept in the usual course of business” or in a […]