The VLW Blog

If you’ve heard him speak at conferences around Virginia, you know the quick mind and salty wit of now-retired Campbell County Circuit Judge Sam Johnston.  You may have chuckled at stories like the melon ball account, recalled here by Paul Fletcher. If you want more, or if you’ve missed the experience so far, relief is [...]

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A 58-year-old executive who was fired after company management allegedly said it needed “new talent” gets another chance to prove his age discrimination complaint in Charlottesville federal court. Dean Inman, an engineer and former vice president of Klockner Pentaplast of America, said that when company president Michael Tubridy fired him, Tubridy told him he did [...]

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In a surprise ruling Thursday, a federal district court blocked the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing ‘red flags’ identity fraud regulations against lawyers. The American Bar Association argued a new identity theft prevention law was not intended to apply to law offices.  U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton agreed in a ruling from the bench yesterday.  [...]

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Some economic reports say the economic downturn has been harder on men than on women, who still are concentrated in more stable service sectors of the economy. It depends on which service sector you mean. In law, not so much, according to a survey released earlier this week by the National Association of Women Lawyers. [...]

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McGuireWoods is taking it step-by-step in hiring of this year’s summer associates, according to a report. The Above The Law blog says it’s received word that 11 of 48 McGuire summer associates have received hiring letters, while the remainder have been told to hang around for possible additional hiring decisions. A source within the firm [...]

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today unanimously approved the nomination of Virginia Supreme Court Justice Barbara Keenan for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Keenan is President Obama’s second nominee for the 4th Circuit, where five seats remain open on the bench.  The nomination of U.S. District Judge Andre Davis of Maryland remains pending [...]

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Here are a couple more cases for your Batson file. Can a prosecutor strike a prospective juror she suspects would have trouble understanding complicated DNA evidence? It’s a question the Court of Appeals had to back away from, even after the Supreme Court of Virginia had granted a delayed appeal to a convicted rapist. Responding [...]

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The man acquitted in the hit-and-run death of a Roanoke lawyer has been found guilty of all charges in an assault on a Floyd County woman. Jeffery Young was accused of running down the Floyd victim with his car in a January 2008 incident that occurred just two days after lawyer Tom Farrell was struck [...]

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Faced with criticism from the ACLU and other sources, the Chesterfield County supervisors reportedly have dumped a proposed ordinance that would have permitted inspectors to enter rental units without first getting warrants. The ACLU of Virginia said the supervisors voted unanimously against the measure last evening. Under the proposed ordinance, building owners in designated districts [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has revised Whitehead v. Commonwealth but hardly in a way that addresses concerns raised by the attorney general’s office. In a decision in June, the Supreme Court refused to consider alternative theories for upholding a conviction of receiving stolen property because they were raised for the first time on appeal. [...]

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