Posted in Justices on Sep 27th, 2010
In a few parting words, soon-to-be-retired Justice Lawrence Koontz of the Supreme Court of Virginia offered insights about appellate practice and his role in it at a recent meeting of the Ted Dalton American Inn of Court. As reported by Roanoke lawyer and blogger Jay O’Keefe, Koontz said the difference between trial judges and appellate [...]
">Read Full Post »
Posted in Justices, Supreme Court Opinions on Sep 20th, 2010
No, Justice William C. Mims was not announcing himself as a “strict constructionist.” He is, however, ready for some plain talk about the plain language of Virginia’s statute of repose, Virginia Code § 8.01-250. Builders depend on the statute of repose to cut off any chance for personal injury claims after five years. Mims, joined [...]
">Read Full Post »
What happens when a judge without authority to hear an ex parte petition grants it anyway and no party has standing to object to it? You have what a concurring justice calls “a procedural Gordian knot.” The knot was tied when The Wall Street Journal attempted to enter the market to publish legal advertising in [...]
">Read Full Post »
A state law that says it is not negligent to fail to restrain a child in a vehicle does not abrogate the common law duty to protect the child, a divided Supreme Court of Virginia holds today. Four-year-old Hannah Leigh Evans was seriously injured in a head-on collision after her father put her in a [...]
">Read Full Post »
Posted in Justices on Apr 9th, 2010
(AP Photo/Richmond Times Dispatch, Bob Brown) William C. Mims was formally invested today as the 100th person to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. “Just as they have all the other times I’ve appeared before the court, my hands continue to shake,” Mims told a packed courtroom just after his wife [...]
">Read Full Post »
Posted in Justices on Mar 10th, 2010
The General Assembly unanimously elected former attorney general and legislator William C. Mims this afternoon to the Supreme Court of Virginia, effective April 1. The election was a foregone conclusion after his appearance Monday before the House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees as the only candidate for the position. Our report on that appearance [...]
">Read Full Post »
