General Assembly | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Focus turns now to unfilled judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 25, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge Teresa M. Chafin, Judgeships

As the dust settled from the 2012 General Assembly, the empty seat on Richmond’s general district bench was not the only funded judgeship left unfilled.
While the House of Delegates’ vote to block the election of Richmond prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland to a judgeship made headlines around the country, there were other vacancies left unfilled and nominees [...]

Chafin elected to Court of Appeals

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 17, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judge Teresa M. Chafin, Virginia Court of Appeals News

Tazewell County Circuit Judge Teresa M. Chafin was elected to the Court of Appeals of Virginia on May 15.
Her election was the highest-level seat to be decided in a post-midnight General Assembly session that produced controversy and acrimony over the denial of a judgeship to a gay lawyer.
Chafin was one of nine candidates up for [...]

Hopewell patches together bench following judge’s stepping aside

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 4, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, General District Courts, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser

The move last month by retired Hopewell General District Judge Kenneth W. Nye to step aside temporarily from hearing cases has brought a wave of local lawyers to the bench as substitute judges.
Nye relinquished the bench April 23 in the wake of a letter from Hopewell Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard K. Newman detailing complaints about Nye, [...]

Assembly passes budget, courts are spared cuts

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 18, 2012
Tags: General Assembly

By Peter Vieth
Virginia courts have been spared more than $10 million in continued spending cuts under the General Assembly’s compromise two-year budget.
The House of Delegates earlier this year approved a spending plan calling for $5.3 million in across the board reductions for the “Judicial Department” in each year of the two year budget. The measure [...]

Busiest courts to get judges, save one

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 17, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, General District Courts, Judgeships, Virginia Court of Appeals News

The state budget approved last week by the General Assembly would pay for judgeships in the commonwealth’s busiest courts, with one exception.
The spending plan hammered out by the House-Senate conference committee includes money for filling a vacant general district judgeship in the Shenandoah Valley. That seat, in the 25th District, has a caseload per judge [...]

Legislators grab judgeships for home turf despite greater needs elsewhere

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 16, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judgeships

Two members of the General Assembly took care of their own when deciding which jurisdictions in Virginia would get judges in budget conference negotiations.
House and Senate budget conferees last week decided to unfreeze 23 judgeships across the state and looked to caseload statistics to determine where the need was greatest (see the chart).
But two members [...]

Assembly likely to act on judgeships this week

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 16, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Judgeships

The General Assembly will reconvene tomorrow, April 17, to act on the conference budget proposal hammered out by conferees from the Senate and the House of Delegates.
The number of judgeships to be filled apparently has been negotiated. The budget compromise plan would unfreeze 23 judgeships at trial courts around Virginia and pay for 61 [...]

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 pointed comments [...]

Shipyard bill may have unintended consequences

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 4, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Maritime, Workers' Comp

A controversial bill to remove state workers’ compensation protection for some shipyard employees could have the unintended effect of increasing negligence claims and lawsuits arising out of shipyard accidents, workers’ comp lawyers warn.
Virginia shipyards narrowly won General Assembly approval of their plan to limit most shipyard workers to compensation under federal laws, eliminating coverage under [...]

Obenshain takes heat over Hernandez bill

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 3, 2012
Tags: General Assembly, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.— A Republican state senator got grilled as he spoke to an audience of criminal defense attorneys and defended legislative limits on judges’ authority to defer and dismiss criminal charges.
Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg – an announced attorney general candidate – also fielded pointed questions about mandatory minimum criminal penalties from [...]

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