SARINA L. DAVIS, ADMX. v. MOUND VIEW HEALTH CARE, INC., No. 33104 (BENJAMIN, J.)(Davis, C.J., dissenting)(November 9, 2006). Plaintiff appealed an order of the Circuit Court of Marshall County that dismissed her medical malpractice/wrongful death lawsuit for failure to adhere to the pre-suit requirements of the Medical Professional Liability Act. Declining to address the constitutional challenges to the Act, and holding in syllabus point 3 that if an order dismissing such a suit does not specify that the dismissal is without prejudice, the dismissal will de deemed to be without prejudice, and the action may be re-filed after compliance with the pre-suit notice of claim and screening certificate of merit provisions of W.Va. Code 55-7B-6.

SAMANTHA SELLS v. ARNOLD RAY THOMAS, ET AL., No. 32969 (Per Curiam)(November 9, 2006). Plaintiff Samantha Sells appealed an order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Kenneth Chittum, Esq., on plaintiff's legal malpractice claims. Holding that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the defendant's failure to pursue an underinsured motorist claim prior to settlement with the tortfeasor caused the plaintiff to suffer a loss constituting legal malpractice, and reversing the grant of summary judgment.

IN RE: THE PETITION OF BLAKE A. CARTER, A MINOR, BY CHRISTINA KARAWAN FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO BLAKE KARAWAN, No. 33064 (Per Curiam)(Benjamin, J., dissenting)(November 9, 2006). Biological father appealed an order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County that granted the name change petition of Blake Andrew Carter, thereby taking his stepfather's surname, as requested by the child's mother, Christina Marie Karawan. Reversing, and holding that the evidence did not establish a settled purpose by the biological father to forgo all duties and relinquish all parental claims, and accordingly the name change should have been denied.