The VLW Blog

Del. Bill Janis, R-Henrico, appears to be looking out for a constituent and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is helping him out. Janis asked Cuccinelli for an official opinion on whether credit card agreements governed by Virginia law are written contracts under Virginia Code § 8.01-246, when the contract consists of a series of documents, at [...]

[Read more →]

A bill that attempts to take away the inherent authority the Supreme Court of Virginia says state judges have to defer and dismiss criminal charges cleared the House of Delegates today on a 76-22 vote. House Bill 2513, patroned by Del. C. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock and supported by prosecutors and a host of law enforcement [...]

[Read more →]

The effort to require recordation of mortgage assignments in court records is finally dead. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, managed to resurrect his proposal, Senate Bill 838, that would have required the recordation of mortgage assignments in court records yesterday. The bill had been voted down in subcommittee, 4-3, but the full Senate Courts Committee passed [...]

[Read more →]

Stephen E. Baril, a longtime litigator at Williams Mullen, has moved to Sands Anderson. “I am thrilled to be part of a firm with a litigation legacy and one that’s laser-focused on the Richmond business community and has an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. “My strength has been in business litigation, and my focus has been [...]

[Read more →]

Robert D. Seabolt, a partner in the Richmond office of Troutman Sanders LLP, has been named to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Seabolt, 55, is a litigator who concentrates his practice on antitrust enforcement and white collar defense. He was managing partner of Mays & Valentine LLP from 1993 until its merger [...]

[Read more →]

Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, won approval this morning in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee of his Senate Bill 838, which would require the recordation of assignments of debts secured by a deed of trust. The measure was defeated Thursday night on a 4-3 vote in the committee’s civil subcommittee but passed handily on a [...]

[Read more →]

A Loudoun County general district judge has refused to abide by the high court’s ruling against reopening cases of immigrants who face deportation from criminal convictions. The judge determined to reopen an old case to reconsider the guilty plea of an immigrant who now faces deportation, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that would leave [...]

[Read more →]

The House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are polar opposites on the issue of thawing the freeze on filling judicial vacancies. The Senate committee recommended spending $4.8 million, which would be enough to fill all the vacancies. Not a dime for that purpose under the House committee’s budget. The House panel would restore [...]

[Read more →]

So much for foreclosure reform. All that appears to be left of a slew of bills in the House and Senate is SB 837, which would create a civil cause of action against a person who knowingly uses a false document in support of foreclosure. That bill, with Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, as patron, survived after [...]

[Read more →]

Senators and delegates appear to agree that the time is at hand to look at redistricting the state’s judicial circuits and districts, but the members of the House Courts of Justice Committee are more insistent about making it happen than their Senate counterparts. This afternoon, the House Courts of Justice Committee reported House Bill 1990 [...]

[Read more →]