Fairfax Bar mulls return of written judicial evaluations

VBA marks Veteran Legal Services Month

By Paul Fletcher
Published: November 14, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Virginia Bar Association

It’s Veteran Legal Services Month, and the Virginia Bar Association is once again at work recruiting pro bono volunteers to help veterans with legal issues and raising money for projects that help them. Volunteer response was strong last November, during the bar group’s first push for help for veterans. But pro bono lawyers are still [...]

Scalia to Richmond Bar: Persuade judges with good writing, accuracy

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Practice Tips, U.S. Supreme Court

As long as there have been judges, there have been people telling you how to persuade judges, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told a crowd of 500 lawyers and judges at the annual Richmond Bench Bar conference Oct. 13. But Scalia, known for his wit on the bench, received many a laugh as he [...]

Kinser: Don’t tinker with Rules of Evidence

By Peter Vieth
Published: October 12, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Rules of Evidence, Supreme Court of Virginia News

ROANOKE–Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser urged the General Assembly to vote thumbs-up or down on the court’s newly endorsed Rules of Evidence without any tweaking of individual rules. The court presented the rules to the Virginia Code Commission earlier this month, and in remarks to the Roanoke Bar Association Tuesday, Kinser said [...]

Prosecutors say ‘no’ to changing discovery rule

By Alan Cooper
Published: August 16, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Virginia State Bar

A statewide group of prosecutors has flatly rejected amendments to the state’s rules governing discovery in criminal cases. In fact, the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys is refusing to talk about it any more, withdrawing from the discussions held by a special task force convened by the Virginia State Bar. Three of the 19 members [...]

Court’s study panel: Keep judicial map as is

By Alan Cooper
Published: July 12, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly, Judge Thomas D. Horne, Judicial Boundaries, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser

The special committee appointed by Virginia’s chief justice to study judicial boundaries says the state’s existing judicial map should stay the way it is. The reason: A fear of collateral harm to how the commonwealth’s courts operate if wholesale changes are adopted. Legislative redistricting proposals died earlier this year with the understanding that the court [...]

High school seniors have law fun in the summertime

By Alan Cooper
Published: June 27, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, Judge Jane Marum Roush, Judge Thomas D. Horne

Ahh, summer camp. Arts and crafts, bunk buddies and ghost stories around the campfire. Add to that the sound of a gavel, as a judge rules in a car crash case that involves teens texting and drinking and is, like, totally presented by teen campers. Welcome to the Leadership in the Law camp, known as [...]

Roanoke Bar honors Henry Woodward

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 25, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations

Henry L. Woodward will receive the 2011 Frank W. “Bo” Rogers Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the Roanoke Bar Association at its Law Day luncheon on May 2. Lauren M. Ellerman will be recognized as the 2011 Young Lawyer of the Year Award. Woodward has been the face of legal aid in the Roanoke Valley [...]

The Chancellor has left the building

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 14, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., Supreme Court of Virginia News

ROANOKE—Virginia Supreme Court Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., who retired Jan. 31, says lawyers should be on the lookout for what he sees as the court’s increasingly technical scrutiny of appeals. Koontz said he has observed the court become gradually stricter on procedural issues, such as the need for explicit contemporaneous objection to preserve a [...]

Roanoke’s no cell-phone policy defended by judges

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 7, 2011
Tags: Bar Associations, Judge Clifford R. Weckstein, Judge James R. Swanson, Judge Martin Clark Jr., Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Judge Samuel G. Wilson, Judge William D. Broadhurst, Roanoke Circuit Court

ROANOKE — Despite barrels of ink and megabytes of bandwidth devoted to the effect of new technology on attorneys and courts, the subject remains a hot topic whenever lawyers and judges get together. At a recent Roanoke bench-bar meeting, participants made it clear they still are getting used to the new no-cell-phone policy at local [...]