The VLW Blog

Sen. J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax, who had been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2013, took himself out of the running late yesterday.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, he explained his reasons.

He said he had been getting many inquiries, which he did not discourage.

But “[t]o run for public office, a lot of pieces must be in place: family, financial, professional and spiritual. A candidate must also have a vision which is congruent with the moment…. Timing is everything,” he said.

“2013 is not my time,” he said.

“I’m very blessed right now to have a growing family, a busy law practice and a seat in the Virginia Senate,” he added. “Those obligations, plus additional ones with church and community, will take up my time for the next two years.”

A candidate for statewide office must “24/7 at least a year prior. I can’t make that commitment right now. I can’t even make it in the next 2-3 months,” he said.

Even though he won’t be in the race, Petersen said that he wants to be engaged. “ I have a lot of ideas, both substantive and political, which I’d like to offer” the eventual Democratic nominee, he said, thanking everyone who had encouraged him to run.

- Paul Fletcher

Court-appointed lawyers could face disappointment on fees for some cases next month. The money for fee cap waivers is running out again.

The budget for the fiscal year that ends in June included $4.2 million for extra pay for court-appointed lawyers in time-consuming cases. The Supreme Court had processed $3.7 million for waiver payments as of May 8, according to a memo from the court. There was just $343,730 in the account as of Thursday, reported Executive Secretary Karl R. Hade.

At the current rate of payment, the waiver money will run out in early June, Hade said. Once that fund is exhausted, vouchers submitted with court-approved waiver payments will be automatically reduced to the basic fee, without the waiver amount.

The waiver drought would last only until July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

In a similar scenario, the fee cap money ran out in mid-April in 2010.

NORFOLK — Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser shone a light on court staff in her 2012 State of the Judiciary address delivered May 15 in Norfolk.

The chief justice opened Virginia’s annual Judicial Conference with a summation of achievements and milestones during the past year.

Virginia’s 4,500 judicial branch employees handle over 4 million court proceedings annually, Kinser said. She celebrated funding for 34 judicial vacancies this year, as well as money for 61 new district court clerk jobs and 10 new foreign language interpreters.

The additional positions will bring staffing levels in all district courts to 80 percent of model staffing guidelines. But pay still lags, Kinser said, when comparing the average district court employee salary to the average salary of other state employees.

She lauded funding of the weighted case load study and said the court has contracted with the National Center of State Courts to begin gathering information from Virginia courts, with a deadline of Nov. 15, 2013, to deliver a report to the General Assembly.

Under a 2011 grant from the State Justice Institute, the court has set up a mentoring program for new judges, and has trained 52 experienced judges to team up with new judges, one-on-one, for each new judge’s first year of service on the bench.

In-house training programs are in place at multiple levels of the judiciary branch, with 18 court employees having participated in a three-day “faculty development program” to give them the skills to design and deliver training. Kinser also reported that dissemination of “best practices” through a number of juvenile and domestic relations courts has led to a 32 percent statewide decrease in the number of children placed in foster care during the past six years.

Kinser’s expressions of gratitude to court personnel echoed throughout the conference, as numerous presenters thanked staff from the Office of the Executive Secretary for their hard work, not only to support the annual conference, but year-round. The OES celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, Kinser said.
–Deborah Elkins

Tazewell County Circuit Judge Teresa M. Chafin was elected to the Court of Appeals of Virginia in an early morning General Assembly session that left confusion and controversy about other judicial appointments.

It appeared that the Assembly elected Fredericksburg lawyer Wesley G. Marshall to the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, but the action could not be immediately confirmed.

In a widely reported vote, the House of Delegates denied a judgeship for an openly gay prosecutor after a 1 a.m. debate.

Tracy Thorne-Begland, Richmond deputy commonwealth’s attorney, had been nominated for a general district court seat. His election was challenged by a conservative advocacy group and by Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William County.

The House vote on Thorne-Begland’s bid for the bench was 33 to 31, with 10 abstentions, reports The Washington Post. He would need 51 votes in the 100-member House to win election.

The 31 nay votes all came from Republicans, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Thorne-Begland, a Richmond prosecutor for 12 years, had been approved for the judgeship by both the House and Senate courts committees.

The House debate over his nomination lasted for over an hour, reported Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke. “The fireworks didn’t really start until after midnight,” he said.

Two former delegates were elected to judgeships. Clifford “Clay” Athey, R-Warren County, was approved for a circuit court seat, and Clarence “Bud” Phillips, D-Dickenson County, was elected to a general district judgeship. Both retired last year from the House.

Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Finch was elected to a juvenile and domestic relations judgeship, replacing Marc Long who moves to the circuit court bench.

We will continue updating this post throughout the day as information becomes available.

By Peter Vieth with additional reporting by Deborah Elkins

UPDATE:

Arlington attorney Louise M. DiMatteo was elected to the circuit court bench in Arlington, according to Del. David Albo, R-Springfield. Four funded judgeships were left unfilled, he said, apparently because of disagreement between the House and Senate. Online legislative information shows conflicts in judicial nominees in both Hopewell and Halifax County.

Marshall confirms he was elected to the Workers’ Compensation Commission. He said he looks forward to helping that panel reduce a “fairly significant case backlog.” Marshall has represented injured workers and other accident victims since 1991.

From the minutes of the House and Senate, now posted online, here are the judges elected early Tuesday morning:

Circuit Court

• Ninth Judicial Circuit: Michael E. McGinty
• Twelfth Judicial Circuit: Steven C. McCallum
• Thirteenth Judicial Circuit: Gregory L. Rupe
• Fourteenth Judicial Circuit: Richard S. Wallerstein, Jr.
• Sixteenth Judicial Circuit: Susan L. Whitlock
• Seventeenth Judicial Circuit: Daniel S. Fiore, II
• Seventeenth Judicial Circuit: Louise M. DiMatteo
• Twenty-second Judicial Circuit: Stacey Moreau
• Twenty-sixth Judicial Circuit: Clifford L. Athey, Jr.
• Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit: Marcus H. Long, Jr.
• Twenty-eighth Judicial Circuit: Sage B. Johnson

General District Court

• First Judicial District: Michael R. Katchmark
• Second Judicial District: Daniel R. Lahne
• Sixth Judicial District: Bruce A. Clark, Jr.
• Eleventh Judicial District: Mayo K. Gravatt
• Twentieth Judicial District: Deborah C. Welsh
• Twenty-fourth Judicial District: Sam D. Eggleston
• Twenty-eighth Judicial District: V. Blake McKinney
• Thirtieth Judicial District: Clarence E. Phillips
• Thirty-first Judicial District: Tracy C. Hudson
• Thirty-first Judicial District: William E. Jarvis
• Twenty-fifth Judicial District: William Chapman Goodwin

Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court

• Second Judicial District: Tanya Bullock
• Ninth Judicial District: Wade A. Bowie
• Ninth Judicial District: Cressondra B. Conyers
• Twelfth Judicial District: J. David Rigler
• Fourteenth Judicial District: Rondelle D. Herman
• Fourteenth Judicial District: Randall G. Johnson, Jr.
• Sixteenth Judicial District: Richard E. Moore
• Twenty-second Judicial District: Brian H. Turpin
• Twenty-seventh Judicial District: Bradley W. Finch
• Twenty-seventh Judicial District: Monica Dawn Cox
• Twenty-eighth Judicial District: Deanis L. Simmons
• Twenty-fourth Judicial District: H. Cary Payne

A pro-family advocacy group has targeted a Richmond prosecutor up for a general district court judgeship in General Assembly judicial elections today.

Deputy Richmond commonwealth’s attorney Tracy Thorne-Begland has a “long history of political activism,” claims The Family Foundation in a blog entry posted Friday.

Thorne-Begland was discharged from the Navy 20 years ago after coming out as gay on national TV to challenge the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, according to The Washington Post.

Thorne-Begland has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the 13 District bench in Richmond

He declined comment to the Washington Post, but his Assembly sponsor, Del. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, said Thorne-Begland is highly regarded by both judges and defense attorneys.

Loupassi dismissed suggestions by the Family Foundation that Thorne-Begland’s political agenda makes him unfit for the bench. Many politicians are elected as judges, Loupassi said, and district court judges are unlikely to encounter cases touching on the rights of homosexuals.

Pounds added up in a good way in the 2012 Legal Food Frenzy competition, which concluded with yesterday’s announcement by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of this year’s winners of the annual contest. The latest Food Frenzy raised 1.4 million pounds of food for Virginia food banks.

Contestants are judged by weight and the prizes include awards for how many pounds of food, per participant, lawyers and legal staff can collect during a two-week period in April. The pounds-per-person metric allows law firms and legal departments to compete on a level playing field, as they gather funds and foodstuffs for local food banks.

The Norfolk firm of B. Cullen Gibson is this year’s heavyweight. The firm took overall first place by raising 18,750 pounds per employee. That figure was a big boost over their winning bid last year, when they gathered 7,500 pounds per person to win the Attorney General’s Cup.

Over its six-year history, the Legal Food Frenzy program has raised the equivalent of over 8.5 million pounds of food for Virginia food banks. Leslie Van Horn, executive director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, expressed her gratitude to the AG’s Office and to the Young Lawyers Division of the Virginia Bar Association, which keeps the program going strong.

The AG also thanked this year’s co-chairs, Chris Gill of Christian & Barton, Derek Swanson of McGuireWoods LLP and Virginia Robinson of Seyfarth Shaw.

Other top winners this year included: The “Smithfield Ham Award” for McGuireWoods LLP in the large law firm category, with 201,250 total pounds; the “Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Award” for Vandeventer Black LLP, in the large firm category with 463 pounds per person; the “Brunswick Stew Award” for Murphy & McGonigle PC, in the small firm slot, with 26,154 total pounds; and the “Shenandoah Apple Award” for Schettine & Nguyen PLC, in the small firm category with 2,005 pounds per person.

The University of Richmond took top law school honors, with 88,266 pounds total and 177 pounds per person.

A complete list of winners is at the AG’s website. Congratulations to all!
–Deborah Elkins

Deborah Love, Director of the Richmond Academy of Medicine and Access Now Inc., has been selected as Virginia Lawyers Media’s Influential Woman of the Year for 2012.

Selected by a vote of the 44-member 2012 class of Influential Women of Virginia, Love’s signal achievement in recent years has been helping to develop Access Now Inc., a network of 950 volunteer specialty physicians who provide complex care for indigent patients. Since 2008, physicians in the Richmond metropolitan area have provided over $15 million in donated care and services, including hip replacement, breast surgery, chemotherapy and treatment of eye and skin diseases.

The Influential Women program, now in its fourth year, recognizes high-achieving women in the fields of law, health care, business, education and real estate, among others.

All members of the 2012 group nominated from around the commonwealth were honored today at a luncheon in Richmond, with the announcement of this year’s top honoree at the conclusion of the program.

Gov. Bob McDonnell suggests a smaller slice of local fines and fees going to the state budget than a General Assembly proposal, but he also wants a comprehensive study of the traffic enforcement issue that has pitted local officials against state bureaucrats and legislators.

At the heart of the dispute is local traffic court money, especially from high volume traffic courts like Hopewell, Fairfax City, Falls Church and Emporia.

State lawmakers suggested taking a portion of the local fines and fees when the local revenue exceeded 40 percent of all (state plus local) fines and fees. McDonnell would amend the budget to make the trigger point 50 percent.

McDonnell also urges a $200,000 study of the entire fines and fees system and how it relates to the State Literary Fund. Under the state Constitution, all fines for offenses against the state go to the school fund. Localities keep fines for local charges.

McDonnell proposes a study by the State Inspector General, who reports to the governor.

The study proposal follows close on the heels of renewed controversy over a speed enforcement unit run by the Hopewell city sheriff, who claims his program is being unfairly targeted by the AAA, state legislators, and the head of the state police.

John W. Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, said he welcomes the study. “It will allow time for all sides to slow down, take a breath and look at what’s really happening,” he said.

By Peter Vieth

Lawyers who represent consumers notched a win last week in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case says they don’t have to hustle to court as fast as they thought.

Homeowners facing foreclosure on refis have had some modest success with claims under the Truth in Lending Act. But there’s a three-year window on a borrower’s right to rescind a refinancing loan for certain kinds of TILA violations.

In order to invoke their rescission right, buyers have to file a TILA lawsuit, Virginia federal courts have ruled.

But last week the 4th Circuit said an owner’s letter to a lender was enough to trigger the right to rescind. They remanded Rex and Daniela Gilbert’s suit on their $525,000 loan for their home in Okracoke, N.C. After the Gilberts defaulted on their loan, a substitute trustee filed a foreclosure action. The Gilberts’ lawyer sent a letter to GMAC Mortgage LLC alleging TILA violations and notifying GMAC the owners were rescinding their mortgage transaction. GMAC refused to rescind the transaction and the Gilberts’ state court lawsuit was removed to, and dismissed by, a federal court.

The 4th Circuit acknowledged a split of authority on whether a borrower had to file a lawsuit – or just provide notice – within three years of closing a loan in order to rescind the transaction under the TILA.

“Neither 15 U.S.C. § 1635(f) nor Regulation Z says anything about the filing of a lawsuit, and we refuse to graft such a requirement upon them,” wrote Judge Henry F. Floyd in the court’s published opinion in Gilbert v. Residential Funding LLC (VLW 012-2-101). The panel remanded the TILA claim along with the owners’ claims under North Carolina state law.
–Deborah Elkins

A former Falls Church lawyer who admitted stealing from the assets of an elderly Arlington couple received a suspended four-year prison sentence last month.

Erin Weber Anderson – now known as Erin Marie Weber – was ordered to repay more than $275,000 she was accused of taking while she served as guardian and conservator for the victims, according to the prosecutor in the case, Lena S. Munasifi.

Anderson’s law license – which was summarily suspended earlier this year upon her guilty plea – was revoked by the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board April 27.

A lawyer who took over management of the victims’ affairs said Anderson paid herself from the couple’s assets without clear authority to do so, while she neglected payments for an assisted living facility and a condominium owned by the couple.

The civil case over management of the accounts was resolved in 2010 when Anderson consented to an order that she repay the same $275,000 to the couple’s estates. An insurance company covered the obligation and then obtained a $309,000 default judgment against Anderson.

Anderson’s lawyer in the criminal case, Brendan D. Harold of Fairfax, declined to comment.

By Peter Vieth