The VLW Blog

A brokerage firm has won an injunction against a stockbroker who allegedly stole away with big clients and their money when the broker jumped ship for another financial services firm. The former senior account executive, Rodney Gray, signed an employment agreement when he left Fidelity Global Brokerage Group Inc. for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, according [...]

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In a victory for defense attorneys fighting discovery battles with prosecutors, the Supreme Court of Virginia has reversed a sharply split Court of Appeals, expanding the scope of material that the government must turn over to defendants in criminal cases. In Bly v. Commonwealth, the commonwealth conceded it withheld exculpatory evidence that undermined the trustworthiness [...]

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Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has appointed a panel to investigate a disputed school board election in Caroline County where the apparent winner is the secretary of the local Electoral Board. Other candidates in the special election for a school board seat claimed Luther Morris was ineligible to campaign, according to a report in The Free [...]

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Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, reports no movement in his effort to derail a $51-million renovation project at the federal building in Roanoke, headquarters of the Western District federal courts. Goodlatte, who has criticized the project as wasteful and ill-planned, told Roanoke lawyers he met recently with two of the federal judges who work at the [...]

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Another attempt at the “Ambien zombie” defense has come to naught at the Virginia Court of Appeals. As we noted last month, some sleep-inducing drugs such as Ambien apparently can cause users to take to the streets while still in a sleep-like state. That may have been what happened to Joshua Shortt, but the courts [...]

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An age-discrimination case based on a demand for “21st Century skills” is set for trial in Richmond federal court this month. The case turns on what a school superintendent meant when he justified replacing the school system’s 60-year-old chief public information officer with her younger male assistant. The superintendent said he wanted “21st Century communication [...]

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Republicans have wasted little time throwing hats into rings after GOP state legislators were elected to Congress last week. Roanoke lawyer Greg Habeeb announces today he will run for the House of Delegates seat to be vacated by Rep.-elect Morgan Griffith, the current House majority leader. Rocky Mount lawyer Bill Stanley was even quicker on [...]

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Just in time for flu season, the Supreme Court of Virginia has released its “Pandemic Influenza Bench Book for Virginia’s Court System.” It’s a 314-page prescription for dealing with an outbreak of infectious disease that could threaten the orderly operation of the justice system in the commonwealth. Southampton Circuit Chief Judge Westbrook J. Parker chaired [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has provided a safe harbor for prosecutors to advise police about questioning a willing defendant even after a defense lawyer has been appointed. It was a hot topic for Virginia prosecutors. A 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed police interrogation even after a right to counsel attached in some cases [...]

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A Roanoke County challenge to seizure of money and equipment from an “Internet parlor” has the attention of both the amusement industry and federal and state law enforcement officials. Represented by state Sen. John Edwards, Ronnie Bennett is suing the Roanoke County prosecutor and police asking a judge to order the return of computers, business [...]

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