Mediation, from grass roots to governor’s mansion

Looking back on 2011: The year in legal news

By Paul Fletcher and Peter Vieth
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Charlottesville Circuit Court, General Assembly, Gov. Bob McDonnell, Judge Edward Hogshire, Judge Thomas D. Horne, Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn, Law Schools, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Sanctions, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia State Bar

The reversal of a 20-year-old noncompete case lead the case news from Virginia Lawyers in 2011. Much of the first half of year featured news from the General Assembly. Officials at the Virginia State Bar sparred with legislators over $5 million that Gov. Bob McDonnell wanted to take. And the Hernandez case – which allowed [...]

At debt’s doorstep

By Peter Vieth
Published: December 5, 2011
Tags: Law Schools

Anyone considering law school should take an unflinching look at themselves and what they hope to do with a law degree, experts say. Enticements for those considering a law school education remain as strong as ever, despite the worst job market for lawyers since the mid-1990s and declining salaries for new lawyers. That said, law [...]

Breyer pays tribute to Merhige at UR law school

By The Associated Press
Published: October 7, 2011
Tags: Law Schools, U.S. Supreme Court

Unlike politicians, judges cannot let popularity influence their decisions, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer said Thursday. “Congress is the expert on popularity,” Breyer told an invitation-only gathering of lawyers, judges and academics at the University of Richmond School of Law. Breyer spoke at a ceremony dedicating the law school’s moot courtroom in memory [...]

Bucking the trend

By Alan Cooper
Published: August 1, 2011
Tags: Law Schools

Law school applications are down about 10 percent from last year, nationwide and in the commonwealth. But two Virginia law schools – the University of Richmond and Regent University – are bucking that trend. Applications at UR are up 13 percent this year. That increase coincides with a substantial bump in the school’s ranking by [...]

Moon dismisses challenge to new health care law

By Peter Vieth
Published: December 1, 2010
Tags: Federal Courts, Health Care Bill, Judge Norman K. Moon, Law Schools

U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon of Lynchburg dismissed a challenge to President Obama’s health care plan last week. In a 54-page opinion, Moon rejected the argument by Liberty University lawyers that the Constitution’s Commerce Clause bars any law requiring most Americans to obtain medical coverage. “I hold that there is a rational basis for [...]

Reality Check

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 29, 2010
Tags: Law Schools

The decline in the job market for law school graduates has generated a bitter backlash against the business of legal education. Law schools are being accused of running Ponzi schemes and worse as students claim they were lured into expensive programs that leave them with only a mountain of debt and a useless degree. The [...]

Virginia law firms are hiring, but at lower pay and in lower numbers

By Alan Cooper
Published: November 22, 2010
Tags: Law Firms, Law Schools, New Lawyers

New lawyers entering the job market are still having a rough time finding full-time legal work. The results from our annual New Associates’ Salary Survey are in, and the picture isn’t great, but at least it’s better than last year. The hiring profile of Reed Smith LLP, the Pennsylvania-based international law firm with offices in [...]

William & Mary to honor late Marine Lewis Puller Jr.

By The Associated Press
Published: November 11, 2010
Tags: Law Schools

(AP) — The College of William & Mary’s Law School is naming its veterans’ legal clinic after the late Marine officer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lewis B. Puller Jr. The Williamsburg college plans to hold a Veterans Day ceremony today to dedicate the Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic in memory of Puller, an [...]

Law schools jostle for bar-pass rankings

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 1, 2010
Tags: Law Schools, Virginia Board of Bar Examiners

The University of Virginia law school again led the way in its Virginia bar pass rate for the July exam, but only by a slim margin. U.Va.’s overall bar pass rate was 89.8 percent, with William & Mary’s law school close behind at 89.7 percent. In fact, William & Mary topped U.Va. for first-time test [...]