So, You Think You Are Going to Be Sued? – Don’t Throw Anything Out

By: Jarrad Wright

As all business owners know, litigation can happen at any time and often where you least suspect it. While good planning and policies can reduce the chances of litigation, it is impossible to predict and prevent every possible scenario. What should you do when litigation becomes a real possibility? Besides calling able counsel, one of the first things a lawyer will tell clients to do is to preserve all documents potentially related to the matter. However, in today’s age of cloud computing, disposable devices, and social media, this can be harder than it sounds.

The duty to preserve documents begins when one reasonably anticipates litigation, and courts have imposed stiff sanctions, ranging from fines to adverse jury instructions, for failing to preserve documents. So, before litigation begins it is important to preserve everything for discovery. This includes paper files, emails, social media accounts, telephones, electronic documents, databases, and servers. While often seen as a business interruption because of the time and cost, preserving documents early on will assist your lawyers in getting ahead of discovery and in many instances becomes the key to preserving valuable communications that could win your case as well as preventing sanctions.

Many larger to middle sized companies have document preservation policies in place, but these policies are often absent in companies that do not have significant litigation experience. Whether or not a written policy exists, it is imperative for a company or individual to quickly determine where potentially relevant documents may be located and how to stop any automated procedures in place that could potentially delete or destroy those documents. Many information technology systems have automatic deletion mechanisms that need to be identified and stopped. Likewise, mundane tasks such as upgrading a smart phone can becoming a liability if the evidence is not properly preserved before getting that new phone. Knowing precisely what needs to be preserved is key and conversations with experienced counsel early in the process will help identify key witnesses and documents. Experienced litigation counsel can locate specialized experts to preserve complicated databases. That said, a business even before hiring counsel can improve its situation by taking issues directives to not delete emails and to preserve all handwritten notes. Remember that when the threat of litigation suddenly arises, taking active steps to put yourself or your business in the best position is necessary. If you’d like to discuss this further, contact Jarrad Wright at Jwright@dimuro.com.

DiMuroGinsberg, P.C. has decades of combined experience in handling document preservation and spoliation cases and is knowledgeable in all aspects of these matters.

DGRead 22.05.15

So. You Think You Are Going to Be Sued? – Don’t Throw Anything Out; DiMuroGinsberg and The Rocket Docket; Stacey Rose Harris Becomes an Arbitrator

DGRead 22.05.01

Local Counsel: Your Secret Weapon; The Ultimate Employment Guidebook; “It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again”

“It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again”

By: M. Jarrad Wright

After the most recent special General Assembly session. Virginia employers, employees and citizens understanding of what will happen with Virginia’s marijuana and cannabis rules have no new clarity. As Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once said, “it’s déjà vu all over again.”

Weren’t We Supposed to Learn More About How Selling Pot Will Work?
On July 1, 2021 Virginia became the first state in the southern United States to permit recreational marijuana. While the legalization was permanent, the mechanisms setup by the General Assembly to regulate sales, to regulate licenses, and the taxing scheme is not permanent. Those provisions required reenactment from the legislature, but since that time the Commonwealth of Virginia has elected a new Republican Governor and a Republican House of Delegates. Going into the General Assembly session, there was a lot of discussion as to how a new marijuana market would be established including who would get licenses to manufacture, how the taxes would be allocated, and who would be prioritized to get dispensary licenses. At the end of the regular session, the Democrat controlled Senate had passed a bill but the Republican controlled House took no action. In effect, all of the negotiation and speculation was for naught, and Virginia companies and citizens were left where they started – guessing what the ultimate regulatory scheme would be.

What About the Changes To Cannabis Products?
Although procedurally different, a similar result has occurred with respect to cannabis products sold throughout Virginia that contain the chemical Delta-8. During the general session, the Republican House and the Democrat Senate actually came together and overwhelmingly passed a bill that redefined Delta-8 as marijuana, which would have made it illegal for non-licensed stores to sell Delta-8 products. The bill was the result of lawmakers’ concerns that children were being specifically targeted and marketed cannabis products. As such the bill began by banning the retail sale of products that depict or are in the shape of a human, animal or vehicle, as they may be appealing to children. After receiving the bill, Republican Governor Youngkin, proposed amendments to create two new intermediate misdemeanors for possession over the legal limit of one ounce. Initially, the Democrat Senate voted to reject the Governor’s proposed amendments with the new Republican Lieutenant Governor casting the tie breaking vote. However, later Senate re-voted and decided to send the bill back to committee. Therefore, despite originally being passed with overwhelming support, the cannabis bill is no longer moving forward at this time and the Virginians are back where they started the year.

Ok, So What Now?
For cannabis, it means that for the time being the Delta-8 products that are sold throughout the nation can still be sold in Virginia. That said, the legislature did originally pass the measure with overwhelming support, so some regulation next year should be expected even if it is just the shapes measure.

For marijuana, the current legalization of possession under one ounce remains but important regulatory and employment issues remain undecided. Basic questions about the ultimate legal resell market such as what taxes apply, who can grow and who can sell are unknown. The original marijuana legislation included a reenactment clause requiring the General Assembly to affirmative revote in favor of the regulatory and taxing rules. Legal marijuana sales are not scheduled to being until January 2024. Both sides have nominally said that they agree with such sales, but the divide on the way to do it is large. New General Assembly election will not occur until November 2023. So, it is possible that the General Assembly will wait to act until a new chamber is formed, but such a delay would not give the regulators and government officials on the ground enough time to meet the January 2024 deadline for retail sales.
Finally, there are a lot of important questions for Virginia employers that have not been answered. For example, the marijuana law as currently enacted does not address legal issues such as whether or not a work place in Virginia can be required to be drug-free or whether an employer can mandate drug testing. Under current law employers can maintain drug testing policies for marijuana, and current Virginia law generally allows employers latitude in setting policies that allow them to test and to fire employees for legal drug use outside of working hours. On a practical level, this can be difficult in a state where marijuana use is legal and since marijuana can be detected in the body for a long time after use. Virginia has a medical cannabis oil law that prohibits Virginia employers from discharging or disciplining employees for the lawful use outside of the workplace of medical cannabis oil “pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitioner for the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee’s diagnosed condition or disease.” But for marijuana there is not similar clear statement of law to guide employers.

Local Counsel: Your Secret Weapon Or The Critical Importance of Local Counsel

By: M. Jarrad Wright

Hiring local counsel should never be an afterthought in litigation. Local counsel should be more than an automatic stamp on pleadings and a means to an end of filing pleadings in a local court. Knowledgeable and capable local counsel can make a significant contribution to the successful outcome of a case. That’s because good local counsel can provide valuable insight into a judge’s inclinations, standing orders, prior decisions and memorandum opinions that may be relevant but hard to locate. Local guidance also can provide guidance on the local rules and the unwritten local practices that can make litigation proceed in a smoother fashion without last minute surprises.

This particularly is true in a jurisdiction like the Eastern District of Virginia, which has the distinction of being the fastest federal district court in the country. Commonly referred to as the “Rocket Docket,” the Eastern District of Virginia moves at a speed that is uncommon in litigation. For example, discovery motions, including complex and momentous discovery disputes, are fully briefed and argued in one week’s time. Experienced Rocket Docket local counsel will alert primary counsel to the deadlines and nuances in the local rules that dramatically speed up a case and, then, will work to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks as the rocket speeds along.

Retaining knowledgeable local counsel also is particularly important in Virginia state courts, where local rules may not be as robust, but where the quirks of local practice still exist. Having counsel knowledgeable about filing requirements and the court’s preferences can eliminate delays and other problems that prevent a successful presentation of a case.

Knowing local procedures, however, are not the only value that good local counsel offer. Local counsel can provide valuable intelligence on the jury pool because they live in the community and interact with the people there on a daily basis. Knowing where potential jurors live and how different communities feel is critical in jury selection. Indeed, even the most logical and straightforward case can be lost if the jury goes rogue. Knowing people, neighbors, and neighborhoods is a valuable insight that is often overlooked.

The attorneys at DiMuroGinsberg, P.C. have been practicing law in the northern Virginia area for decades and have a wealth of experience in litigating civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts in Virginia, including the Rocket Docket, both as primary and local counsel. If you are or will be litigating a case in Virginia, please feel free to contact us to learn more about the numerous ways in which DiMuroGinsberg may be able to assist you in the litigation.