VADA’s Lisa Clement takes group approach

Editor’s Notebook: Richmond Bar welcomes Justice Kagan

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 21, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Federal Courts, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. Supreme Court

Don’t hesitate to engage with your interlocutor if you appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, advised Justice Elena Kagan. That’s exactly what she did in her Sept. 20 appearance before the Richmond Bar Association. She opened with gracious compliments for the Richmond legal community, acknowledging that it takes bench and bar to keep the Eastern [...]

New dean: High costs of legal ed due in part to practice programs

By Peter Vieth
Published: September 13, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Law Schools

ROANOKE – Blame demands for a more practical law school experience for at least part of the rise in the cost of legal education. So says Nora V. Demleitner, the new dean of Washington & Lee University’s law school. More clinical programs and smaller class size are driving up the price of law school, Demleitner [...]

Judges split over new interlock law for DUIs

By Peter Vieth
Published: July 30, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Criminal, DUI, General District Courts

Virginia judges have split in their application of the new ignition interlock law for first-time DUI offenders. Some judges have applied it only to cases in which the offense occurred after the law went into effect on July 1. Others have applied the new law to cases in which the driver was stopped before July [...]

Rules of Evidence a ‘sea change’ for trial practice

By Peter Vieth
Published: July 11, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Judge Randy I. Bellows, Rules of Evidence

Judging from the recent buzz, it looks like Virginia lawyers are just beginning to grapple with the difference the new Virginia Rules of Evidence, effective July 1, will make at trial. The new Rules represent a “sea change” in trial practice, according to one expert. Having a black-and-white rule in an evidence code will put [...]

Va. Beach also wants more say on study

By Peter Vieth
Published: June 29, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly

Lawyers and legislators in Northern Virginia aren’t happy at the lack of representation for their region on a Virginia Supreme Court committee appointed to oversee recommendations on court realignments, as reported last week. (See “NoVa wants more say on court study panel,” VLW, June 25). It turns out they are not alone. Virginia Beach leaders [...]

NoVa wants more say on court study panel

By Peter Vieth
Published: June 22, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly, General District Courts, Judge Thomas D. Horne, Judgeships, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser

Northern Virginia lawyers and legislators are pushing for more representatives from their region on the committee that will oversee a study of how judges should be allocated in Virginia. The Fairfax Bar Association and 31 General Assembly members have sent separate letters to Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser asking her to appoint additional members from [...]

Lawyers react to new tough-on-crime laws

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 12, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Criminal, DUI, General Assembly, Traffic Offenses

ROANOKE – Lawyers who ignore the General Assembly should not complain about the new batch of tough-on-crime laws limiting judges’ discretion and creating backlogs in traffic court. That’s one legislator’s reaction to complaints from courthouse lawyers about the 2012 General Assembly. A meeting April 10 of the Roanoke Bar Association offered the latest airing of [...]

Monday leads in bar nods for appeals court

By Paul Fletcher
Published: February 24, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, Judge Josiah T. Showalter Jr., Judge Lorraine Nordlund, Judge Teresa M. Chafin, Judge Victor V. Ludwig, Judgeships, Virginia Court of Appeals News

Roanoke attorney Monica Taylor Monday is the leader in support from Virginia’s statewide bar groups for a seat on the Virginia Court of Appeals. Judge James J. Haley Jr. is retiring in March; leaders of the Senate and House of Delegates sought input from the bar groups on the pending vacancy. Eight statewide bar groups [...]

VBA steps up lobbying efforts in 2012

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 11, 2012
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly, Virginia Bar Association

ROANOKE—After hiring a new lobbying firm, the Virginia Bar Association hopes to have a stronger impact on bills of interest to lawyers in this year’s General Assembly session. “We have ramped up our lobbying effort,” VBA president Lucia Anna Trigiani told members of the Roanoke Bar Association Tuesday. The change was calculated and set in [...]