Tort reform bills passed by Assembly

Chief justice makes plea for filling judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser

ROANOKE – The head of Virginia’s court system is raising the volume on her call for more money from the state government. “The time has arrived to fund and fill all vacant judgeships,” proclaimed Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser in her state of the judiciary speech May 14. Kinser said the administration [...]

New law: Agency appeals easier

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: General Assembly

Lawyers who practice before state agencies may have an easier time getting circuit court judges to take a fresh look at their cases under a new law approved by the 2013 General Assembly. Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, said he sponsored Senate Bill 944 to give administrative law practitioners a better shot at an even-handed [...]

Hospitals must bill health insurance first

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 19, 2013
Tags: Bar Associations, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Insurance

Trial lawyers hope a new Virginia law will put an end to a hospital billing tactic that threatened to take a bite out of accident victims’ compensation. The General Assembly passed, and Gov. Bob McDonnell signed, a bill requiring hospitals to bill patients’ private health insurance, when available, rather than holding out for a larger [...]

Assembly funds, but fails to fill, 12 judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 12, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships

After budget wrangling with Gov. Bob McDonnell and a post-midnight session of judicial elections, the 2013 Virginia General Assembly filled less than half of the 49 judicial vacancies in the commonwealth. The unfilled openings include 12 seats that had been funded following a contentious back-and-forth among the House, the Senate and McDonnell. The governor now [...]

Assembly approves most of governor’s amendments

By The Associated Press
Published: April 8, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell

(AP) The Republican-controlled General Assembly accepted amendments Wednesday by Gov. Bob McDonnell that bar insurers in the federally run health insurance exchange that will operate in Virginia from covering abortion. Lawmakers also cut some costs from the transportation funding measure that will likely be his legislative legacy. They also affirmed his amendments tightening the operational [...]

Assembly approves judgeship money, elects judges

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 4, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Judgeships

The Virginia General Assembly approved Gov. Bob McDonnell’s recommendation to add 12 additional judgeships to those funded in the coming two-year budget and then elected judges to a number of those vacant seats before departing the Capitol early Thursday morning. The failure to elect judges to some of the funded judgeships leaves those seats open [...]

Assembly trims judge funding plans

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships, Loudoun County Circuit Court, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Beach Circuit Court

The budget approved by the General Assembly Saturday provides money for unfreezing only five extra judgeships in addition to the 15 proposed in Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposal. Earlier this month, the House and Senate introduced budget plans that were far more generous to the judiciary. The House proposed filling an extra 17 judgeships and the [...]

Doctors’ Comp: Physicians who treat hurt workers resist low network fees

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 25, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Virginia Court of Appeals News, Workers' Comp

There is constant tension between doctors and workers’ compensation carriers over how much to pay medical providers to treat injured workers. The stakes are high because payment for care runs into the multi-millions of dollars for employers. The score was split this month, with a win each for providers and carriers handed down in recent [...]

Obtaining rights to ‘digital assets’

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 18, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Social Media, Technology

The grieving parents of a teen who took his own life hit a roadblock in a search for clues to help them understand the family tragedy. A widow is stonewalled as she tries to manage her own bank accounts when her husband died unexpectedly. These and similar stories have prompted lawyers and lawmakers at the [...]