Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Va. bill to ban unauthorized GPS tracking advances

By The Associated Press
Published: February 9, 2012
Tags: General Assembly

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The problem encountered by Del. Joe May’s constituent seemed simple enough to solve.
The citizen had taken his car in for service and was shocked when the mechanic found a GPS device attached to the undercarriage. The car owner learned that the tracking device had been surreptitiously placed there by a private [...]

State facing over three dozen judicial vacancies

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 8, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships, Supreme Court of Virginia News

Without extra funding, Virginia courts will be shorthanded by at least 37 judges by the end of this year, with another 12 mandatory retirements coming in 2013, the Supreme Court of Virginia has told state legislators.
The numbers are included in the court’s presentation to members of the General Assembly’s money committees as they consider how [...]

Evidence rules pass Senate, stall in House 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Rules of Evidence

Legislation to adopt Rules of Evidence for Virginia passed the full Senate yesterday, but stalled in a House subcommittee, whose members retooled the measure to firm up legislative control of the process for changing the rules over time.
The Virginia Senate passed Senate Bill 94 on a 37-3 vote.
As introduced by Del. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, [...]

Deeds strikes bill to ban court before panel votes

By The Associated Press
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Virginia Court of Appeals News

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds saved the Senate Courts of Justice Committee the trouble of killing his bill to abolish the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Deeds almost jokingly called his bill “real reform” in presenting it to the incredulous panel.
Fellow Democratic Sen. Dick Saslaw asked rhetorically why not also try to abolish [...]

Courts want to keep building option, tech fees 

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 6, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Supreme Court of Virginia News

The Supreme Court of Virginia is pushing back against an effort to strip judges of their power to order courthouse construction.
A state Senate bill aimed at easing financial burdens on localities includes a provision intended to restrict the ability of judges to order building of new courthouses.
The bill is based on a governor’s task force [...]

Nurse practitioner bill is before legislature 

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 27, 2012
Tags: General Assembly

A plan to make nurse practitioners part of collaborative health care teams leads the list of health care legislation at the 2012 Virginia General Assembly.
The nurse practitioner plan, a compromise forged over a year of dialog among doctors and nurses, puts an end for now to the NPs’ long standing efforts to get out from [...]

Senate holds judicial interviews 

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 23, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judge Michael S. Irvine, Judge Norman A. Thomas, Judgeships, Justice Donald W. Lemons

There was nary a whisper about Hernandez at Friday’s judicial interviews conducted by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
Even though committee control switched this year from Democrats to Republicans, the Senate followed the same practice as last year’s courts committee and declined to question sitting judges about whether they deferred dispositions in criminal cases [...]

Real estate brokers would be protected from fraud claim 

By Paul Fletcher
Published: January 19, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Real Estate

Real estate brokers would be protected from civil or criminal liability for running a false advertisement about property if the inaccurate information came from the owner, under a bill pending in the House Courts of Justice Committee.
House Bill 724, patroned by Del. David E. Yancey, R-Newport News, adds a code section exempting real estate brokers [...]

The VBA Legislative Agenda for the 2012 session 

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: January 17, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Virginia Bar Association

Highlights of legislation backed by the Virginia Bar Association, the Boyd-Graves Conference, the Virginia Family Law Coalition and the Virginia Alternative Dispute Resolution Joint Committee.

Rules of Evidence. The Boyd-Graves Conference strongly supports passage of the Virginia Rules of Evidence as approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Protection of Trustee acting at the direction of [...]

Bill seeks bar membership for law profs, court won’t block 

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: Ethics, General Assembly, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar

Some Virginia law professors would be eligible to practice law even though they have not passed the bar exam under a bill introduced at the General Assembly.
The proposal has been advanced by Washington & Lee University law Prof. A. Benjamin Spencer with the backing of the Virginia State Bar Council and several statewide bar groups. [...]