The VLW Blog

An Amelia County Sheriff’s Office employee can pursue her age discrimination complaint, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Dec. 9. In Ray v. Amelia County Sheriff’s Office, the appellate panel vacated a Richmond U.S. District Court’s dismissal of 45-year-old Linda Ray’s ADEA complaint. Ray alleged she was dismissed because Sheriff Jimmy E. Weaver [...]

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One of my memorable legal experiences was helping to sue a small-town psychic.  Imagine my surprise, a dozen years later, to learn that “Miss Stella” has become a well-known psychic scammer on both coasts. I hadn’t given “Miss Stella” a thought in years.  It was 1996 when my firm’s client won a $65,000 judgment against [...]

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You can’t give us information about judges and order us not to disclose it, members of the House Courts of Justice Committee told representatives of the Supreme Court of Virginia this morning. At issue are judicial performance evaluation reports on judges up for reelection this year. The Supreme Court entered an order in August telling [...]

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Robert E. Shepherd Jr. (right), a longtime professor at the University of Richmond law school and an expert on juvenile law, died last night, according to a report from UR Law Dean John G. Douglass. Prof. Shepherd was 71. A graduate of Washington and Lee University and its law school, Prof. Shepherd entered the Army [...]

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Call it the odd trio.  Three free speech advocacy groups that don’t always see eye-to-eye have found common ground to challenge Virginia’s ban on campaign apparel at the voting booth. A lawsuit challenging the campaign button ban was filed this week by the (typically liberal) ACLU of Virginia, the (typically conservative) Rutherford Institute, and the [...]

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Major creditors in Michael Vick’s bankruptcy case object to his disclosure statement, saying the statement lacks detail on his finances and on his prospects of returning to the NFL. The Daily Press reports that the disclosure statement, submitted last month, showed millions in unexplained cash withdrawals and transfers over the last two years. “With such large [...]

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I was in a convenience store the other day and the clerk looked into her drawer with puzzlement. “What’s this?” she asked as she pulled out three large coins. I recognized them immediately from my coin-collecting days as a kid: They were Eisenhower dollars, one of the nation’s many failed efforts to develop a one-dollar [...]

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Things must be a little prickly in the Chesterfield County Courthouse. Judy L. Worthington, clerk of circuit court, has filed a petition for a writ of prohibition and a writ of mandamus against Chief Judge Michael C. Allen over the designation of Aubrey M. Davis Jr., an attorney and former prosecutor in the county, as [...]

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Patrick C. Muldoon, who live in Giles County and practices patent law in Washington, DC, has launched an uphill battle for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.  The Roanoke Times points out the incumbent, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling already has strong party support for a reelection bid. 

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A federal judge said Monday he probably won’t order Virginia election officials to count late absentee ballots from overseas military personnel but wants a solution before the next election. The Associated Press reports U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams has urged a settlement conference.

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