The VLW Blog

(AP Photo/Richmond Times Dispatch, Bob Brown) William C. Mims was formally invested today as the 100th person to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. “Just as they have all the other times I’ve appeared before the court, my hands continue to shake,” Mims told a packed courtroom just after his wife [...]

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Could your Web browsing habits be putting your firm at risk? Clicking on an unfamiliar link, opening a questionable attachment or downloading a corrupt application could potentially install malicious software onto your computer, expose confidential data and cost you or your company hundreds of thousands of dollars. But if you think that these sorts of [...]

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Justice John Paul Stevens made official today what he had given strong indications that he planned to do for almost a year: retire from the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s the text of his letter to President Obama: My dear Mr. President: Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to [...]

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Last week while I was out in my yard, I found a magnolia leaf with a curious marking. So, now Mother Nature is copyrighting her leaves? Would this fall under artistic works? Maybe discovery or invention? Most definitely an innovation and creative expression. I mean, who else has the market on trees? (The Big Guy [...]

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Seven Virginia families who claimed their homes were damaged by tainted Chinese drywall have won a $2.6-million award against a Chinese manufacturer. The 108-page decision by New Orleans federal Judge Eldon Fallon is expected to serve as a guide for setting damages for thousands of other homes affected by the sulfur-emitting wallboard. In his opinion, [...]

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The life of a Virginia governor is one of unending public appearances, with a little excitement thrown in from time to time. That’s the impression, anyway, from the hundreds of photographs of Gov. Bob McDonnell, now available on his own Flickr page. As evidence of the excitement part, here’s a shot of the governor airborne [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to hear an appeal of a Loudoun County case that prompted personal injury lawyers to square off on the issue of asking for more damages when refiling after a nonsuit. On April 1, the high court granted a writ in the Loudoun County case, Spear v. Metropolitan Washington [...]

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The Fairfax Bar Association is urging members to tell county supervisors not to cut money for five circuit court law clerks. A proposed letter to the county leaders warns of “draconian” delays in case handling if the proposed budget cut goes through. According to a memo prepared by the FBA, the court is considering reducing [...]

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Federal judges in the Eastern District’s “rocket docket” sometimes chide lawyers for their procedural skirmishes to maneuver cases in and out of federal court. But one judge’s “procedural fencing” is another judge’s artful lawyering. Richmond IP lawyer John W. Dozier Jr. has a Web site for his firm, Dozier Internet Law PC. Unfortunately for Dozier, [...]

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U.S. District Judge Norman Moon has again declined an invitation to pull a cloak over the process of civil litigation in his court. Moon last week refused to seal records of a settlement in a Fair Labor Standards Act case where an accountant claimed he’d been denied overtime pay for 27 years. Moon said the [...]

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