The Library

Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff A Virginia Circuit Court Our client’s husband was admitted to a rehabilitation facility for treatment following a stroke. He required feeding through a tube in his stomach. While at the rehabilitation facility, the feeding tube became dislodged and was improperly replaced. This resulted in the tube feedings entering the stomach, ultimately causing the death of our client’s husband.

Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff City of Martinsville Court Our client needed her gallbladder out and went to a general surgeon. A rule with respect to general surgery is that a surgeon cannot clip and cut any anatomy unless the surgeon is positive about the anatomy that he/she is clipping and cutting. There is a procedure known as the “critical view of safety” that, if used appropriately, positively identifies the anatomy that should be clipped and cut while removing a gallbladder. While the general surgeon was removing our client’s gallbladder, she was unsure of the anatomy and did not utilize […]

Gentry Locke for the Plaintiff. Tazewell County Circuit Court Our client underwent a hysterectomy performed by an OB/GYN in July 2008 which resulted in a vesico-vaginal fistula. This caused her to continuously leak urine. The same OB/GYN who performed the hysterectomy tried to correct the fistula surgically, but the surgery failed due to improper technique and not having the appropriate specialist assist with the surgery. Our client leaked urine constantly for the next 6 months until a urologist repaired the fistula. Our client filed suit against the OB/GYN and her professional corporation. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour before returning a verdict for our […]

Gentry Locke for the Company/Defendant. Federal Court in Roanoke, followed by Arbitration Team Carriers, a company based in Covington, Virginia, has prevailed in a labor arbitration case filed against it by the United Steelworkers Union (USW). The litigation began with the USW filing a Complaint in Federal Court in Roanoke. The Court issued a partial preliminary injunction that enjoined the Company from taking certain action until an arbitrator ruled on a grievance filed by the USW against the Company. After the Court announced its preliminary ruling, the USW issued a national press release accusing the Company of “failing to live […]

Gentry Locke for the Defense. Appomattox Circuit Court The plaintiffs (home owners) filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the defendant mortgage company’s interest in their house. They argued that the lien was obtained by fraud due to a national home mortgaging online system. Represented by Gentry Locke, the defendant, a mortgage company, asked the court to dismiss the case. After briefing and oral argument, the Court dismissed the case permanently, judging that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim, and that the plaintiffs lacked standing.

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore for the Plaintiff. Fredericksburg City Circuit Court Our client, a 49-year-old man, presented at a hospital to receive an epidural steroid injection to his lower back, to be performed using CT fluoroscopic guidance. Approximately sixty seconds after the injection of Kenalog, the Plaintiff began to experience paralysis. Evidence revealed that the Defendant had injected the steroid into an artery, causing a stroke in the Plaintiff’s spinal cord leading to permanent paralysis. After a four-day jury trial, the jury returned after 2.5 hours of deliberations with a $6.4 million verdict for the Plaintiff.

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore for the Defense. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division This product liability case arose when the plaintiffs were injured in an industrial explosion. The plaintiffs and their employer, a hazardous materials removal company, were hired to inspect ducts for possible aluminum dust, which is combustible. Plaintiffs found dust in one duct and attempted to remove the dust using ungrounded vacuuming equipment. They claimed the explosion started in an inert external baghouse, and had two experts who opined the same. The Court excluded their expert opinions as unreliable. The summary judgment for our client was based […]

Tazewell County Circuit Court Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore for the Plaintiff, along with Co-counsel Tom Scott of The Street Law Firm. While at Clinch Valley Medical Center on April 19, 2008, our client developed priapism, a urologic emergency which required immediate evaluation by a urologist. Our client’s attending physician failed to timely obtain a urologist to evaluate him and, as a result, the priapism went untreated for approximately 16 hours. This caused permanent erectile dysfunction. After more than 3 days of evidence, a jury of 7 women and 1 man deliberated for approximately two-and-a-half hours before returning a verdict for our […]

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore for the Defense Salem City Circuit Court In a residential construction dispute, a contractor sued homeowners for $385,000 for alleged unpaid extra work. Gentry Locke represented the homeowners in defense of the lawsuit. After a six day jury trial, the jury only awarded the contractor a de minimus amount of approximately $6,000.