04 « August « 2008 « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

VSB diversity panel wants to boost lawyer involvement

By Alan Cooper
Published: August 4, 2008

The Virginia State Bar’s task force on diversity will focus on attracting more minorities to the profession and on encouraging more minorities to participate in bar activities once they become members of it.
To that end, Joseph A. Condo, the McLean attorney and former VSB president who chairs the 15-member task force, appointed committees at the [...]

Young Lawyers Conference does better with minorities

By Alan Cooper
Published: August 4, 2008

The Virginia State Bar’s young lawyers group does much better in terms of minority participation than the bar itself.
Several members of the VSB Diversity Task force made that observation at the panel’s July 28 meeting. Minority involvement is relatively strong in the VSB’s Young Lawyers Conference, which generally covers attorneys age 36 and younger, but [...]

Obituaries

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: August 4, 2008

W. Joe Hoppe
W. Joe Hoppe, a longtime senior assistant city attorney in Richmond died July 26 of cancer. He was 62.
A graduate of the University of Virginia and its law school, Mr. Hoppe earned three varsity letters as a tight end, the last of them while attending law school.
He clerked for Supreme Court of Virginia [...]

Lawyers in the News

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: August 4, 2008

W. Reilly Marchant of Marchant, Honey & Baldwin LLP became the Richmond Bar Association’s 124th president on June 1. Marchant earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in 1975 and received his law degree from the University of Richmond in 1979. His practice focuses on employment law, general civil litigation, family law and commercial and [...]

Traffic Offenses – Driving After HO Order – Home Monitoring – Sheriff Authority

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

A defendant sentenced to one year incarceration for driving as an habitual offender cannot overturn his mandatory minimum sentence by arguing the trial court prohibited the sheriff from using home electronic monitoring for defendant; the Court of Appeals says the sentencing order merely refused to “authorize” the sheriff to consider the alternative sentence, which defendant [...]

Criminal – Sexual Misconduct – Defendant’s Grandchildren – Expert Witness

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

The Court of Appeals affirms a defendant’s 10 criminal convictions for inappropriate sexual misconduct towards his grandchildren, despite his claim the trial court should not have admitted expert testimony from a hospital social worker who served as lead forensic investigator in child sex abuse cases.
Defendant raises several issues on appeal. First, he claims the trial [...]

Workers’ Comp – Shoulder Condition – Prior Release – Causation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

The Court of Appeals affirms an award of benefits for right shoulder injury as related to a plumbing repair mechanic’s original injury that occurred when he was attempting to remove a septic tank lid that snapped in two and jolted him forward, breaking his neck.
The deputy commissioner had denied a later claim for right shoulder [...]

Criminal – Probation Violation – Sex Offender Registration – Affidavit Proof

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

An affidavit demonstrating defendant failed to register as a violent sex offender supplied sufficient proof that he violated a condition of his probation, despite his claim of a 14th Amendment due process violation, and the Court of Appeals affirms his conviction.
The only evidence of defendant’s alleged probation violation was an affidavit subscribed and sworn on [...]

Administrative – State Building Code – County Third-Party Inspectors – Certification

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

A county board of supervisors can require that third-party building inspectors be qualified engineers or architects, and the Court of Appeals reverses a contrary circuit court decision because that court erred in deferring to the State Building Code Technical Review Board’s unreasonable interpretation of USBC § 109.3.
In 1972, the General Assembly directed the State Board [...]

Employment Discrimination – Title VII – Hostile Environment – Retaliation

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2008

A female truck driver who earlier sued defendant employer for sexual harassment and discrimination in violation of Title VII cannot construct another Title VII suit for retaliation based on her “litany of minor work place slights,” says a magistrate judge in the Harrisonburg U.S. District Court.
Plaintiff claims that on the evening before the March 14, [...]

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