The VLW Blog

Members of the Virginia State Bar’s executive committee appeared to be generally supportive of the Fastcase online research service at a meeting yesterday.
Jon Huddleston, VSB president-elect and chairman of a VSB task force evaluating Fastcase, acknowledged, “We have a product that does have shortcomings,” especially in the way it tracks citations of a case in [...]

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Those British writers must find us Virginians terribly amusing.  And when we’re not, they are not above making us amusing.
Take this article about Barack Obama that appeared today on the website of the British tabloid The Independent.  With a dateline of Roanoke, the story caught our eye with references to “Billie Jo’s breakfast joint” where [...]

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Former Caroline County Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Latney Jr. has made a deal with the Virginia State Bar to settle ethics charges against him.
Under an agreed disposition, Latney has received a public reprimand with terms for violating rules relating to the safekeeping of client property and responsibilities for nonlawyer staff. Latney’s longtime secretary embezzled an estimated [...]

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Talk about a train wreck.
Here are the latest numbers on the devastation caused by Stephen Conrad, the Prince William County lawyer who systematically settled without authorization and pocketed the proceeds from the personal injury cases of his clients:
-         $4 million stolen
-         $455,366 in legal fees and expenses for the receivership that is winding up Conrad’s [...]

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Some high level state employees are already feeling the pinch of the unexpected decline in state revenues announced this week.  A spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell confirms a report that each of the top ten lawyers at the AG’s office has taken a voluntary 2-percent salary cut.  The reductions amount to $25,000.  Other office [...]

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If you change the locks when your spouse moves out, be prepared to pay some rent.
In McIlwain v. McIlwain, the Court of Appeals today upheld an award to a wife of one-half the fair market rental value of a couple’s home for the six-year period after she moved out.
The Hanover County couple owned the jointly [...]

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The Virginia State Bar will close its Alexandria office when its lease expires in September 2009.
VSB Executive Director Karen A. Gould said the closing will save about $200,000 a year. The office has four attorneys and two support staff who prosecute lawyer disciplinary cases.
The attorneys in the office have been given an option of teleworking [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has ordered that documents in four wrongful death cases settled by mediation be unsealed. In the Spotsylvania County Circuit Court case, Perreault, Adm’x v. The Free Lance-Star, the parties had sought to keep the terms of wrongful death settlements a secret.
The cases involve allegedly tainted heart medicine blamed for [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia took away today a $16 million judgment for a
Richmond grocer who contended that the country’s third-largest grocery supplier forced his companies out of business.
Last June, a Richmond Circuit Court jury awarded Jonathan F. Johnson $15.5 million for constructive fraud and $500,000 for emotional distress. The panel agreed with Johnson’s claim [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia changed its collective mind in a big way in ruling today the state’s felony anti-spam law unconstitutional.
In March, the court rejected an overbreadth challenge to Virginia Code § 18.2-152.3:1 on a 4-3 vote but subsequently granted a rehearing in the case.
Today, Jaynes v. Commonwealth, the last opinion by the [...]

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