Several notable opinions have been filed in recent weeks, with more to come in the next few days as the Court ends the January term. Full summaries of all opinions will be posted soon, but until then, civil and family court practitioners may wish to note the following important new decisions regarding:

• new causes of action for spoliation of evidence
• affirmation of process for assessing child support after termination of parental rights
• modification of prior case law regarding relation-back of amended complaint
• circuit courts are preferred court of first resort in seeking original jurisdiction relief over matters arising in family court
• guidelines for resolving privilege claims for documents of health care peer review organizations
• allocation of retirement benefits using the deferred distribution method

The Court today refused a petition to compel a lower court to reinstate a lawsuit filed by two groups challenging the validity of state-sanctioned video lottery in West Virginia. The lower court dismissed the suit because the petitioners failed to comply with a state statute requiring 30-day notice be provided prior to suing a state agency. A press release is available at this link, and the order refusing the case is available here.