The VLW Blog

Another federal judge ruled today that the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. And U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida went a step further than his counterpart in Virginia, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in Richmond. He ruled that the entire act is [...]

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Evan Bayh, the former Indiana governor and senator, has joined the Washington office of McGuireWoods LLP, where the firm says he will serve as a strategic advisor to its most significant clients. He will counsel clients whose business goals are affected by the actions of Congress and the executive branch and by state government, the [...]

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A bill to bring Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys and their assistants under the pension plan for police officers has died in a House subcommittee. Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant requested House Bill 1594. While prosecutors don’t face the same risks as officers, he said, they do encounter stress and threats on the job. He also [...]

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It’s official. When it comes to the time limit for removal of a multiple-defendant case from state to federal court, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is sticking with the “McKinney Intermediate Rule.” The McKinney rule requires a notice of removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b) to be filed within the first-served defendant’s 30-day [...]

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Richmond Law Dean John Douglass, soon to return to the professorial life, will be succeeded by someone from this list, according to the school: Wendy Perdue, Professor of Law and Associate Dean at Georgetown University Law Center. Joel Reidenberg, the Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law at Fordham School of Law. [...]

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Newport News Circuit Judge Aundria D. Foster has notified the court that she will retire on April 1, 2011. Although her term does not expire until 2012, she is stepping down due to a family medical situation. Judge Foster’s departure will leave an open seat in the 7th Judicial Circuit. Newport News Chief Judge H. [...]

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A domestic violence call that turned into an overnight standoff with police ended Friday morning with the death of Chesterfield lawyer Richard C. “Rick” Ferris II. Officers were called just before midnight for a report of a domestic dispute, according to a police spokesman. Arriving at Ferris’ home, officers reportedly heard gunfire from inside. Ferris’ [...]

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Virginia has avoided automatic liability to a New York college based on the failure to file a timely answer to a lawsuit over hiring of a James Madison University basketball coach. A New York judge last month vacated his earlier finding of default judgment against the commonwealth and JMU in the lawsuit filed by Marist [...]

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The 2,145-member Fairfax Bar Association has chimed in with the pleas for filling Virginia judicial vacancies. An FBA resolution this week urges General Assembly members to fully fund all vacant judgeships and to reject the governor’s plan to use $5 million from the State Bar Fund for general spending purposes. Unfilled judgeships “are creating undue [...]

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The Alexandria Bar Association adds its voice to the clamor over the legislative proposal to realign Virginia’s judicial districts and circuits with a two-page resolution adopted last week. Merging the circuits for Alexandria and Arlington County would cause an undue hardship, the resolution states. “[T]he residents of Alexandria and Arlington have unique and diverse needs [...]

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