The VLW Blog

Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. told the annual meeting of state court judges today that he will step down after two four-year terms as head of the judicial branch. The announcement came during the chief justice’s annual State of the Judiciary address at the meeting in Norfolk. Hassell said there was an understanding [...]

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The Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed today the embezzlement convictions of former Louisa County priest Rodney Rodis. A jury recommended that Rodis serve a total of 200 years on 10 embezzlement counts stemming from the theft of more than $200,000 from two parishes that he served. The trial judge suspended all but 13 years of [...]

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What do you do on appeal after your criminal trial has been converted to a civil proceeding? The Supreme Court of Virginia left that question open today in an unpublished order dismissing an appeal because the assignment of error challenged a holding in a criminal aspect of the case, Martinez v. Commonwealth, Record No. 092111. [...]

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Chief U.S. District Judge James Jones of the Western District clearly was unimpressed with one medical malpractice plaintiff’s efforts to preserve a $150,000 offer of judgment in the face of damaging disclosures. Information about the plaintiff’s painkiller habit was a “bombshell” said the judge, describing efforts to minimize the impact of the disclosure as “pure [...]

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A broken sidewalk in the town of Chatham might mark the intersection of property law, local government, and torts. It seems there is a nasty break in the pavement in front of the historic and beautiful Pittsylvania County courthouse. According to the Star-Tribune, it’s bad enough that several residents have tripped and fallen. Some lawyer [...]

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Denounced by plaintiffs’ lawyers, the groundbreaking decision in Spear v. Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority has found few friends in the Virginia judiciary. The latest judge to reject the “once-and-for-all ad damnum” rule of Spear is Franklin County Circuit Judge William Alexander. Roanoke lawyer Pete Katt reports Alexander on Monday rejected a defense motion to dismiss [...]

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An officer who stopped a car for its cracked windshield was vindicated today by the Virginia Court of Appeals. Virginia Beach Officer D.C. Meeks admitted he was more interested in the driver than the windshield. He was tailing the car on May 2, 2009, on a tip the driver was drunk. Spanning two feet, from [...]

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Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. says he will appoint a subcommittee of the Committee on District Courts to help develop a policy designed to save $3 million a year in court-appointed attorneys’ fees. Commonwealth’s attorneys suggested the money could be saved if they adopted a general rule of not seeking jail time for misdemeanor [...]

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Richmond lawyer William C. Wood can take a lot of personal satisfaction in how Virginia family law practice has grown in scope and complexity since he pioneered his specialty practice in Henrico in 1966. One of the deans of the domestic relations bar, Wood yesterday accepted the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Virginia State [...]

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Orange County Circuit Judge Daniel Bouton has refused to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at blocking a Walmart-based shopping center near a historic Civil War battlefield. In the 10-page opinion, available here, Bouton finds local citizens have standing to challenge the project and rules that a hearing on the merits is required to resolve critical claims. [...]

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