The VLW Blog

South Hill’s John Boyd has earned a reputation as the voice of black farmers on Capitol Hill. After nearly losing his farm due to discriminatory lending practices, Boyd has spent the past eight years driving to Washington and speaking to numerous politicians on behalf of the National Black Farmers Association. For the past few weeks, [...]

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Starting this fall, the University of Virginia law school will offer a clinic designed to help low-income families resolve legal issues through mediation or other options outside of a courtroom. According to a press release from the law school, the Family Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic will partner with the Mediation Center of Charlottesville and focus [...]

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The following 10 people earned a law degree but moved into a different line of work instead of law practice: 1. Tony LaRussa Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Law degree from Florida State. 2. Steve Young Hall of Fame quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, now a broadcaster. Law degree from Brigham Young. 3. [...]

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Who better than a law librarian to pull together a listing of Internet sites for lawyers and other legal professionals? Tim Coggins, head of the law library at the University of Richmond, has been in demand for his power-point programs – 60 Sites in 60 Minutes – that track the growing pool of online legal [...]

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Virginia’s Eastern District Bankruptcy Court should convert its temporary judgeship to a permanent slot, according to testimony this week before a House subcommittee. The Eastern District would have six permanent bankruptcy judgeships if Congress approves conversion of a temporary judgeship set to expire in 2011, according to Judge Barbara Lynn, chair of the Judicial Conference [...]

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I was walking down Main Street in Richmond one sunny lunchtime about a week ago. It was one of those Richmond-in-June days…humid, temp around 80, not bad but you know it’s going to get ugly before long. Standing in line to get cart food were two guys in their mid to late 20s. Both were [...]

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Larry Bodine, a well-known and well-respected law firm consultant, doesn’t like Twitter. He recently kicked up a storm on the Internet, essentially arguing that the social media outlet has little value for law firms. He was in Richmond earlier this week, talking to the Virginias Legal Marketing Association. I didn’t go, but all my sales [...]

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“Cohabitation clauses” commonly show up in divorcing couples’ PSAs. Nobody wants to keep paying support to a spouse who has moved on and moved in with somebody else. But such cohabitation clauses are not necessarily “self-executing,” as the Court of Appeals reminds us today in Stroud v. Stroud. The property settlement agreement between Joseph and [...]

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It’s up and certainly spiffier. The Supreme Court of Virginia’s new interface for its Web site makes extensive use of layered menus and appears to be much easier to navigate for those with a steady hand on the mouse. Much of the information that is available is in the old format after you drill down [...]

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The New Lawyers who took and passed the February 2009 Virginia Bar Exam are now real lawyers – the swearing-in ceremony was held in Richmond on June 1. The full list of the newly minted is available here. It goes without saying that it’s a tough job market, and we wish them the best of [...]

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