The VLW Blog

The University of Virginia law school is hosting a blog just for law students hoping to land a judicial clerkship.  Much of the advice on the first post at The ‘Shipping News would be well taken by anyone looking for work.

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Richmond-based LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., the country’s third largest title insurer, is filing for Chapter 11 protection.
As part of the Chapter 11 plan, the company expects to sell its two principal underwriting subsidiaries, Lawyers Title Insurance Corp. and Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company, to Fidelity National Title Insurance Company and Chicago Title Insurance Company [...]

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The Virginia Housing Development Authority recently earned honors from a national organization for its efforts to promote environmentally friendly apartments.   The National Council of State Housing Agencies recognized Virginia’s program with one of its special “Going Green” awards.
VHDA’s Green Building Incentive Program encourages construction of more environmentally friendly housing though a tax credit program [...]

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Attorneys need not be unduly concerned about the financial strength of the banks that hold their trust accounts – at least until December 2009.
On Nov. 21, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved regulations making non-interest bearing accounts an exception to the $250,000 limit on its coverage for deposits in a single institution.
The original proposal frightened [...]

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That description of a recent Norfolk Circuit Court case on the court’s Web site sounds like those English class assignments on collective nouns: a pack of hounds, a congress of baboons, a charm of hummingbirds.
In fact, Judge Everett Martin Jr.’s Nov. 14 opinion confronted a collection of experts the parties wanted to bring to court [...]

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Over three-quarters of the people who responded to this past week’s Web poll report that they, or their firms, will be cutting back on the holiday gifts they give to clients, colleagues or associates.
Some 78 percent of those who answered said they were curtailing their gift-giving.
Anecdotally, a lot of people seem to be taking a [...]

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What does it take for a dissatisfied divorce client to sue his lawyer? His own opinion may be enough.
A husband unhappy with the outcome of his case responded to his lawyer’s bill with a claim for legal malpractice. The lawyer said that without an expert witness, the client had no case.
The defendant, James Cottrell, raised [...]

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In the continuing serial, As the Housing Market Downturns, the latest episode sees yet another Northern Virginia condo buyer try to bail on his contract.
When last we left our unhappy buyers, one group that bought condos in 2005 at purchase prices of a half-million and up got a break in Ahn v. Merrifield Town Ctr. [...]

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Scott Hoover apparently will have to go it alone in his quest for reimbursement from the Virginia Lottery.
Hoover is the Washington & Lee University professor who challenged the state lottery system on its advertised odds for certain scratch-off games.  He claimed that he had no chance of winning the grand prize advertised on his lottery [...]

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Judge Cleo E. Powell was sworn in formally this afternoon as the newest judge of the Virginia Court of Appeals. She had served previously as a general district and circuit judge in Chesterfield County.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine appointed her in August to fill the vacancy created by his elevation of Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. [...]

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