The VLW Blog

Embattled Del. Phil Hamilton, R-Newport News, has resigned from the House of Delegates.
On Nov. 3, Hamilton was defeated in his re-election bid by a newcomer, consumer lawyer Robin Abbott.
Hamilton is the subject of a federal grand jury investigation and a House ethics inquiry.  Hamilton was widely condemned for accepting an education job that he helped [...]

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More news from the “it’s tough all over” department.
If you’re a law student or grad seeking sanctuary in a federal court clerkship, you’ve got a lot of competition.
Federal clerkship applications on the online OSCAR system are up 66 percent, according to a press release. A total of 401,576 electronic applications have been processed in [...]

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Localities around Virginia are working to revise noise ordinances in the wake of the decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia that a Virginia Beach noise ordinance based on a “reasonable person” standard is unconstitutionally vague.
The Virginia Beach law was used to issue citations for loud band music at the venerable oceanfront nightspot, the Peppermint [...]

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Hoping to give in-house lawyers a powerful tool to assess outside legal help, the Association of Corporate Counsel has unveiled a Web site that grades law firms on how well they perform and whether they stay within budget.
Subscribers can click here to read the full article.

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A local courthouse can be the pride of a community, or it can depress the spirit when it’s in disrepair.  One Roanoke-area lawyer says poor conditions at the Roanoke City courthouse are doing more than dampening spirits – they’re instigating his anger.
Ross Hart blogs about a non-functioning "automatic" door at the courthouse entrance that is [...]

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Shenandoah County Circuit Judge Dennis Hupp said the county board of supervisors waited too long to ask for sanctions against a former board candidate.
In a letter opinion and accompanying order last month, Hupp closed the case, declining to rule on the county’s sanctions motion against Mark Prince and his lawyer.  He held the county knew [...]

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A former records manager for Williams Mullen has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and national origin and age discrimination.
The complaint was filed earlier this month in federal court in Norfolk by Hanh Nguyen Allgood, a 53-year-old Vietnamese national, who worked for the firm from July 1989 until March 2007.
The suit, first reported by Style [...]

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The judges of the Western District of Virginia are inviting comments on the first-ever set of local rules proposed for federal courts in those parts.
Among other things, the proposed rules would require attorneys’ fee requests to be filed within 14 days after judgment.  Judges would be authorized to impose jury costs when a case settles [...]

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Reed Smith LLP, an international law firm with offices in Richmond and Northern Virginia, will cut by 20 percent the billings rates and annual salary of first-year associates in its 15 U.S. offices.
The changes affect 51 attorneys who will join the firm in January. The firm’s global managing partner says the move is intended as [...]

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Virginia Attorney General William C. Mims will join Hunton & Williams LLP when he leaves office in January.
Mims was named AG earlier this year when former Attorney General Bob McDonnell stepped down for a successful run for governor. Mims is on McDonnell’s transition team.
The firm said in this release that Mims will work out of [...]

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