Va. Senate committee backs felons’ rights bill

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 [...]

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 [...]

Tort reform package is signed into law

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 28, 2013
Tags: Gov. Bob McDonnell, Tort Reform, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed a number of bills that were designed to make Virginia more business-friendly, including three advanced by the Medical Society of Virginia. The tort reform measures hammered out in early-session negotiations all have been signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell. One bill backed by doctors will make it easier to [...]

McDonnell proposes funding 12 additional judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: March 26, 2013
Tags: Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships

Gov. Bob McDonnell last Tuesday recommended adding an extra 12 judgeships to the 20 already included for funding in the budget approved earlier by the General Assembly. McDonnell’s proposal would spend $1.8 million to fill 11 vacant positions in courts that are either 40 percent or more above the state average workload or have at [...]

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 [...]

Assembly budget plans would fill more judgeships

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 7, 2013
Tags: General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judgeships

Both the House and Senate money committees are more generous to the courts than Virginia’s governor in terms of allocating money for judgeships. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees last week recommended filling more vacant judgeships than the 15 proposed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, but the House and Senate differed on where the judges [...]

Fairfax needs judges

By Peter Vieth
Published: February 4, 2013
Tags: Bar Associations, Fairfax County Circuit Court, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge Dennis J. Smith, Judge Jonathan M. Apgar, Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Roanoke Circuit Court

Lawyers and legislators from various Virginia locales, including populous Fairfax County, say Gov. Bob McDonnell missed the mark when he proposed money to fill certain judgeships. The governor overlooked areas badly in need of judicial help, in part because the available caseload numbers are unreliable, Fairfax lawyers say. Other regions – including Arlington, Charlottesville, Roanoke, [...]