The VLW Blog

One win, one loss this week for Tidewater area nightclubs struggling to stay open in the face of enforcement action.
In Virginia Beach, where the city took the Encore Lounge to court over a pattern of violence, Circuit Judge Patricia West today ordered the bar’s license suspended pending further ABC hearings.   As The Virginian-Pilot reports, it [...]

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Dropping tax receipts and the governor’s proposed cuts could cost Northern Virginia school systems tens of millions of dollars.
The Washington Post reports that, beginning in July, Fairfax County schools could receive $48 million less than the system had been due from the state’s approved budget. Prince William County could lose up to $40 million, and [...]

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Recently retired York/Poquoson Circuit Judge N. Prentis Smiley passed away on Christmas day after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 70.
A graduate of Lynchburg College and the College of William & Mary law school, Judge Smiley was in private practice for nearly 30 years before being appointed circuit judge in 1995. He ended his [...]

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A Manassas man may be re-tried after the Court of Appeals reversed convictions of capital murder and abduction, The News & Messenger reports.
Anthony Dale Crawford was convicted Feb. 9, 2007, of killing his estranged wife in 2004. In May 2007, he was sentenced to two life sentences plus 67 years for capital murder, abduction with [...]

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Bruce Pelkey, a former Regent law professor, has lost his law license for “blatant dishonesty” arising out of a romance and business deals that both went sour.
The Examiner reports that Pelkey got ex-girlfriend, Linda Cavalli, to contribute about $32,000 of her own money to a group of international companies the two ran in the [...]

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Just as we finish wiping our eyes after our annual viewing of George Bailey’s rescue by the community he served, now comes word that Bedford Falls has been sold.
No, not the fictional Bedford Falls, the setting for Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.”  This Bedford Falls is a 43-unit subdivision in Gloucester County, featuring streets [...]

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Spotsylvania County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Shaia will serve as special prosecutor for obstruction of justice charges against three Richmond police officers.

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Thacher Proffitt & Wood, a 195-lawyer firm based in New York, will close down Dec. 31, reports Bloomberg.com. The firm, which had operated for 160 years, had seen its work in structured finance dwindle after the subprime mortgage crisis. Over 100 lawyers from Thacher Proffitt, including 40 partnres, will leave Jan. 1 for another firm.

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Citizens hit with an $80,000 attorneys’ fee award after petitioning for removal of local elected officials are asking the ACLU to handle their appeal. The Daily Press reports some legal scholars think the citizens have a good case.

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Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, next month will become the No. 2 Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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