Publisher's Notebook

Lots of news was committed this week, with the statewide GOP sweep on Election Day and an interesting batch of opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia on Thursday. Here’s the weekly recap:

Expungement

There’s a word you don’t hear very often in a political campaign. But in a Northern Virginia House of Delegates race, the incumbent Dem, Paul Nichols, was hopping mad that his GOP challenger, Richard Anderson, ran ads that Nichols had been arrested for, among other things, assaulting a cop. Nichols hit back that a judge had dismissed all charges and that he had had the records expunged. A special prosecutor is investigating whether Anderson’s campaign broke the law. (News & Messenger). By the way, Anderson prevailed on Tuesday night, by a 200-vote margin.

Hamilton goes down

Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, has been in the headlines for several months, and not in a favorable light. He became the subject of a House ethics investigation after it became public that he sought a job at Old Dominion University while he was seeking the appropriation that funded the position. After 21 years, voters told him to sit down and sent a political rookie, consumer lawyer Robin Abbott to Richmond. (The Virginian-Pilot)

High court highlights

The Supremes dropped 20 opinions on Nov. 5, one of which was a mulligan on a case from Henrico County involving a teen’s death and the duty owed by one set of parents to another for the girl’s safety. In Kellerman v. McDonough, the high court reheard the case then reached essentially the same result. The matter now will proceed to trial. (The VLW Blog)

The high court also censured Virginia Beach J&DR Judge Ramona Taylor for thwarting a juvenile’s right to appeal a bond ruling. (The VLW Blog)

And although former Norfolk Circuit Judge Chuck Griffith isn’t on the bench anymore, the Supreme Court still has him to kick around. In two cases in which Griffith found lawyers in contempt, the court reversed. (The VLW Blog)

Sign o’ the times

Trend Alert: We’ve been hearing anecdotally all year long that large law firms have been staffing their cases more leanly to cut costs to clients. Where before there might be four lawyers on a big case (a lead partner, a junior partner, a senior associate and a briefcase toter), now you’ll find maybe two lawyers instead. Then along comes a report that some firms are sending younger, less experienced associates to court to save money for clients. (NPR)

Miller tapped

The judges in the Eastern District have selected Newport News lawyer Douglas E. Miller to be the new federal magistrate judge based in Newport News and Norfolk. He succeeds U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Bradberry, who is retiring. (The Virginian-Pilot)

County takes a $9 million hit

The owners of a mobile home park in Campbell County were awarded a $9 million verdict by a jury; the park owners claimed that chemicals from a county landfill next door had polluted the drinking water of park residents. A claim for attorneys’ fees is pending. (The News & Advance)

Here’s what was happening this past week…

The week may have been a day short, if your office observed Columbus Day on Monday. Judging from the number of cars in downtown Richmond that day, it doesn’t look like Columbus is getting that much respect, even if he gets a federal holiday.

The Latest on the Northern Virginia Episcopal Church Spat

The Supreme Court of Virginia has granted a writ to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, which lost a lawsuit over millions of dollars in property. Nine congregations in Northern Virginia, unhappy with the direction of the dicocese and the national Episcopal church, broke away, taking their buildings and property with them. A Fairfax circuit judge said they could do that. Now the high court gets a say. (Washington Post)

Clemency for The DC Sniper?

John Allen Muhammad, the convicted DC sniper sitting on death row, will seek clemency from Gov. Tim Kaine next week, according to his lawyer. Good luck on that one. (News & Messenger)

Tommy and Bill and William and Mary

The attorney general’s office usually represents the commonwealth’s colleges, but the College of William & Mary has its own stable of lawyers, including Sen. Tommy Norment. Norment’s pay from the College – he gets $160K a year to serve as a part-time teacher and legal advisor – had him in the headlines this week. Expect to hear more from AG Bill Mims on this story, which won’t be going away soon. (The Virginian-Pilot)

A Win for the First Amendment

The taxpayers in Buchanan County will be little poorer, thanks to their county school board, if a verdict holds up on appeal. Three years ago, the school board voted to bar a newspaper publisher from school property; he said they were retaliating for critical news coverage and responded with a lawsuit claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights were violated. A federal jury in Abingdon agreed with the guy and gave him $200,000. The board’s lawyer will be heading to the 4th Circuit. (Bristol Herald Courier)

Sign o’ the Times in Southside

Down in Martinsville, Commonwealth’s Attorney Joan Ziglar will have to furlough all employees in her office for 17 days under a city budget cut plan. The city was hit hard by budgets cut made by Gov. Tim Kaine. (Martinsville Bulletin)

Comings and Goings

Item 1. There’s no surprise here. Tim Heaphy has been unanimously confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Western District. (Main Justice).

Item 2. Richmond City Attorney Norman Sales announced he’ll retire from that job at the end of the year, after four years in the post. Sales, 51, says he plans to continuing working, just not for the city. (Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Item 3. Sands Anderson Marks & Miller will be leaving the Wytestone Plaza Building at the corner of 8th in Main in downtown Richmond and moving to the Bank of America building down the street after the turn of the year.

Digging Out

Roanoke lawyer Chip Magee, appointed as receiver for the bankruptcy practice of Anne Marie Miller, whose office was essentially shut down by court orders. Magee said it may take two years to sort things out. (Roanoke Times)