Litigation

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Attorney Paula D. Norkaitis, Senior Litigation Counsel in the Tom Bolt & Associates, P.C. Litigation Practice Group,  recently was successful in arguing a case for the principle of abatement with regard to criminal convictions in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Norkaitis had represented defendant, Edwardo Carmona, Jr., who was convicted at trial of first degree murder by a jury before the Honorable Michael Dunston. Carmona was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 4, 2008. Continue Reading Supreme Court Concurs with TBA Attorney Argument on Abatement

A hearing officer on Thursday ruled that the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs had the right to fine two companies and revoke their solicitors’ licenses for doing sidewalk promotions in downtown Charlotte Amalie.

In August, Caribbean Fun Stay and K&R Promotions filed two actions against DLCA pertaining to their solicitors’ licenses. One was an administrative complaint against DLCA, arguing that Commissioner Kenrick Robertson overstepped his bounds by fining the two companies and revoking or denying their solicitors’ licenses. The second was a complaint in District Court, arguing that DLCA denied the two companies their due process rights – the constitutional guarantee to be treated fairly and not unnecessarily deprived of rights or property.Continue Reading Hearing Officers Supports Revocation of Barker Licenses

Tom Bolt, American Bar Association Delegate at Large, announced on Wednesday that the The American Bar Association Division for Public Education’s National Online Youth Summit. The program offers students in the Virgin the chance to study, research, and analyze an issue, and discuss it online with high school students throughout the United States. The theme of this year’s Youth Summit is “Environmental Law & Public Policy: From Grassroots to Government”. 

Bolt who has served as a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates for over twenty years said “This topic is of great interest to all people, especially today’s youth in the Virgin Islands.  The program will focus on grassroots and government efforts to create a national environmental policy, current environmental laws, and some of the political and social responses to resource management and environmental change across time.  Our students will have the opportunity to analyze key legislation and Supreme Court decisions dealing with the environment, and global warming in particular, as well as the role of the Executive branch in administering environmental laws."Continue Reading Virgin Islands Attorney Announces National Youth Summit

Presiding Judge of the Virgin Islands Superior Court Rhys S. Hodge addressed the quarterly meeting of the Virgin Islands Bar Association on Thursday, September 21st in the District Court of the Virgin Islands jury room.  Judge Hodge noted that the VI Superior Court would be moving the court into the "technology age".

He said he supports the ongoing effort of the Court Administrator to implement a computerized case management system and has established a date certain, the first quarter of 2007, to have the public access module available online.  There was some discussion amongst the members of the Virgin Islands Bar as to the implementation of e-filing and the necessity of training and double-tier system for attorneys who were not techologically savvy. The public module would allow the public access to the court’s calendar as well as court records.  

Continue Reading Presiding Judge Heralds VI Court Entering Electronic Age

Wise business owners and managers in the Virgin Islands, as elsewhere, effectively reduce operating costs and avoid legal problems by using preventative law practices. The legal health of a business in America’s Paradise must be monitored and kept up to date with changes in the law. As on the mainland, Virgin Islands businesses can avoid disputes, injuries and damages by engaging a business attorney before these issues arise as current problems. This article attempts to give a brief overview of the value of preventive law through the use of the legal checkup. Your lawyer will help you to adopt the strategies that apply to your particular business. Preventive law practices are also much less expensive when compared against the legal problems that develop down the road when a business is left unchecked.

A legal checkup or audit is akin to an accountant’s financial audit or a physician’s medical examination. Often a legal check up can be conducted simply by answering the questions about your company on a form prepared by your lawyer. Other instances may require more in depth “due diligence” with respect to your company depending on the answers given on the questionnaire or the complexity of your company’s corporate structure. Continue Reading Preventive Maintenance for Your VI Business