The VLW Blog

Twelve of the 18 opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia today are criminal cases – and another one was a sexually violent predator case. Defendants prevailed in eight of the criminal cases and the SVP opinion was a split decision. In the SVP case, Commonwealth v. Garrett, the court ruled that the trial judge [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia issued decisions in two medical malpractice cases today. One, as expected, was a published order ruling that Eastern Virginia Medical School Academic Physicians and Surgeons Health Services Foundation does not have charitable immunity.Judges in Norfolk had ruled in three separate cases that the foundation has such immunity before the Supreme [...]

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Have you defamed a coworker when you say she faced conflict on the job because she was not always to work on time? Fact versus opinion in the workplace was before the Supreme Court of Virginia this morning when the court heard oral argument in two defamation cases. First up was Butler v. N.E.W. Customer [...]

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Richard Bonnie told members of the Mental Health Law Reform Commission today that the commission took a gigantic first step in the 2008 General Assembly session “but it was a first step.” Bonnie, the University of Virginia law school professor who chairs the commission, said it will monitor the changes approved by the legislature and [...]

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Circuit Judge Samuel E. Campbell today denied a defense request to allow former quarterback Michael Vick to plead guilty to state dog-fighting charges by video conference. The judge agreed with Surry County Commonwealths Attorney Gerald Poindexter that Vick should have to enter his pleas in person, according to the Daily Press.  The county will pay [...]

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Some free speech advocates want to know how things go if you wear an Obama T-shirt or a McCain button to the polls on Tuesday.  As you have no doubt heard, the State Board of Elections says it is against the rules to wear campaign clothing into the voting booth.  You may be asked to [...]

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The New York Times has an analysis of the appointments by President George W. Bush to the federal appellate courts. During Bush’s tenure, the percentage of appellate judges appointed by Republican presidents has gone from 50 percent to 62 percent, and 10 of the 13 federal appellate courts now have majorities appointed by Republicans, The [...]

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Trust us, you don’t want to know the details, although we have the opinion of Attorney General Bob McDonnell on the interplay of state and federal election laws as they pertain to overseas military voters. The bottom line: Federal law preempts state law that appears to require the printed name and address of the person [...]

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A group of legal leaders in Virginia says the state needs to get a handle on what it pays for liability claims against state employees.  Members of the Boyd-Graves Conference, which makes recommendations for improvements in civil practice, renewed a call on Friday for a legislative study of claims paid under the Virginia Tort Claims [...]

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CareerBuilder.com just published its annual survey on employee absenteeism. Turns out some 33 percent of workers have phoned in sick when they really weren’t. The nationwide survey included more than 6,800 workers and 3,300 employers. The most common reason for playing hooky? The worker just didn’t feel like going to work that day (34 percent). [...]

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