From the client’s lips to the court’s ear

Tips from the bench at the VTLA meeting

By Peter Vieth
Published: April 15, 2011
Tags: Practice Tips, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

HOT SPRINGS—Lawyers who attended the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association convention at The Homestead earlier this month found judicial advice in good supply. Judges offered tips from the bench on a potpourri of topics: Manners. Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O’Brien urged lawyers to curb their use of colloquial language at trial. “You can [...]

High court ‘rookie’ offers do’s and don’ts for lawyers

By Paul Fletcher
Published: April 7, 2011
Tags: Justice William C. Mims, Practice Tips, Supreme Court of Virginia News

HOT SPRINGS—Lawyers appearing before the Supreme Court of Virginia only get 15 minutes of oral argument. So make sure your best and most persuasive arguments are clearly laid out in your briefs, said Justice William C. Mims. Mims celebrated exactly one year on the job April 1 with a talk to the Virginia Trial Lawyers [...]

Watch out for ‘jerk’ reputation, judge says

By Alan Cooper
Published: March 31, 2011
Tags: Judge Robert P. Frank, Practice Tips, Virginia Court of Appeals News

The advice for effective advocacy before the Virginia Court of Appeals ranged from the very general – Don’t be a jerk – to the very specific – Get your citations right. Rudeness to the court’s staff and personal attacks on the trial court or opposing counsel may earn a lawyer a reputation as a jerk, [...]

Judges to rookies: Be aware of your reputation

By Alan Cooper
Published: December 9, 2010
Tags: Judge Gary Hicks, Judge Harold W. Burgess Jr., Practice Tips, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys

Rookie lawyers begin building their reputations the moment they set foot in the courtroom. A lawyer can reassure his client by looking like he knows his way around. Before you appear in front of a particular judge, talk to a more seasoned lawyer and find out how the judge likes to run her courtroom, Henrico [...]

Appeals court has a surprise requirement: ‘bookmarked’ digital briefs must be filed

By Alan Cooper
Published: November 23, 2010
Tags: Practice Tips, Technology, Virginia Court of Appeals News

Say what? That’s what you might hear from a criminal defense lawyer who reads the Virginia Court of Appeals order granting his appeal, or the domestic relations lawyer who reads the appellate court’s acknowledgement that it has received the case record. These court documents tell the attorneys they now must file a “Digital Brief Package,” [...]

Controlling your case can mean curbing judge’s queries

By Peter Vieth
Published: November 5, 2010
Tags: Judge B. Waugh Crigler, Judge Rodham T. Delk Jr., Practice Tips

One trial judge gives a green light to lawyers wondering whether to interrupt a judge’s questioning of a trial witness if they think the judge’s questions are improper. U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Waugh Crigler was offering advice on trial practice to local government lawyers in Roanoke last month when one lawyer asked what to do [...]

Tips from four mediation veterans

By Paul Fletcher
Published: October 28, 2010
Tags: ADR, Practice Tips

HOT SPRINGS—Mediation sessions are sometimes like a “middle-school dance,” said mediator John B. McCammon. The process advances with the movement and tentativeness of kids making their way from the corners of the gym to the edge of the dance floor to a meeting in the middle of floor. The parties know they’ll get there, but “incremental [...]

Dealing with difficult claims adjusters

By Paul Fletcher
Published: October 19, 2010
Tags: Insurance, Practice Tips, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys

HOT SPRINGS–Every lawyer at some time has encountered a difficult client – the one who is demanding or unreasonable or unrealistic. Or all three. Every lawyer who does civil defense work at some time has encountered a difficult claims adjuster, the insurance company representative with the power to say thumbs up or down to a [...]

Fairfax prosecutor, defense lawyer offer view of murder case, midtrial

By Alan Cooper
Published: October 12, 2010
Tags: Bar Associations, Criminal, Judge Randy I. Bellows, Practice Tips

IRVINGTON–When Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh and criminal defense lawyer Peter Greenspun sat at a table before members of the Fairfax Bar Association, some may have wondered whether moderator Doug Kay could keep the two from tangling. The prosecutor and the defense lawyer took a break from their third multi-week capital murder trial of Salvadoran [...]