Jay O’Keeffe practices with Johnson, Rosen & O’Keeffe LLC. in Roanoke, Virginia, where he splits his time between appellate and business litigation. read more
By Jay O'Keeffe on Posted in Opinions and Analysis,Standards of ReviewUnited States v. Carthorne is one of my favorite recent opinions. It turns on whether the standard for showing plain error is the same as the standard for proving ineffective assistance of counsel. That’s a perfectly nerdly and compelling question in its own right, but it’s not why I like the opinion. Carthorne is a winner… Continue Reading
By Jay O'Keeffe on Posted in Standards of ReviewOne of my favorite recent SCV cases is Landrum v. Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals, Inc., 282 Va. 346, 717 S.E.2d 134 (2011). I love Landrum, in part, because it gave me an excuse to write this: This brings us to one of O’Keeffe’s Immutable Rules of Legal Practice: if you have somehow managed to irritate Justice… Continue Reading
By Jay O'Keeffe on Posted in Standards of ReviewJust came across this delightful explanation of how an appellate court treats the facts when reviewing a grant of summary judgment: We limn the facts in the light most hospitable to the summary judgment loser, consistent with the record support. In doing so, we ignore “conclusory allegations, improbable inferences, and unsupported speculation.” Roche v. John… Continue Reading
By Jay O'Keeffe on Posted in Appellate Practice,Standards of ReviewAppellate texts and practice guides recite solemn homilies about the importance of the standard of review (and with good reason–but that’s another post). We are told that that standard of review defines the strength of the lens through which the appellate court will review the lower court’s decisions. Our standard of review should not be cut-and-pasted boilerplate, we are cautioned, but… Continue Reading
