The question seems to hinge on the ability of Shields to act as "next friend" for his family members who could become beneficiaries of any lawsuit against Fauirfax County. As I understand things, he would have to demonstrate that they were ether mentally, physically or developmentally incapable of taking action themselves. Without knowing any other information, I am presuming that they had about 12 months to stew over the ex-wife and step-daughter not filing suit and also presuming they had the capacity and capability of hiring an attorney to represent them.
As regards that last matter - isn't it a violation of both the canon of ethics and rules of procedure for an attorney to represent relatives (at least of this close degree)?
Shields said that Hubbard [the stepdaughter] and Gail Masters [the ex-wife] have “a fiduciary duty to the statutory beneficiaries,” meaning his wife and other family members. David Masters’s mother also lives in Manassas, his father lives in Florida and he has a brother in Rhode Island. “I’m taking steps to protect them,” Shields said.
It's often a good thing to be good at Scrabble, because you know lots of strange words. One of the ones I know is
champerty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champerty - which seems to be the brand of ambulance chasing this guy is engaging in. It appears to be a misdemeanor in Virginia and could also result in revocation or suspension of the law license.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-451 stay safe.
