
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991                   TAG: 9102210413
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

HOUSE OKS RAIL SUIT BILL BY LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE

A bill seeking to stem the flood of railroad damage suits from across the

country into Hampton Roads courts won handy passage Wednesday in the House of Delegates.

By an 81-16 vote, the House approved the measure that would allow Virginia judges to dismiss lawsuits filed by out-of-state railroad workers injured outside Virginia. Judges had that right until 1978, when the assembly took it away.

Railroad lobbyists contend injured workers flock to Hampton Roads because of sympathetic juries, and that a handful of local lawyers, particularly former state Sen. Willard Moody of Portsmouth, have built lucrative practices representing the workers.

by CNB