The VLW Blog

While lawyers continue efforts to determine what to do about homes afflicted with Chinese drywall and – more importantly – who must pay for remedial action, the 2011 Virginia legislature passed a pair of measures aimed at preventing more homeowners from falling victim to the tainted wallboard. Senate Bill 1294 bars the sale of Chinese [...]

[Read more →]

An Alexandria general district judge and two attorneys have expressed interest in a seat on the Alexandria Circuit bench that will open when Judge Donald Haddock Sr. steps down at the end of the year. Judge Becky Moore, Jim Clark and Timothy Battle have submitted their questionnaires to the Alexandria Bar Association, reports the Alexandria [...]

[Read more →]

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has given its stamp of approval to the nomination of U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski to the district court bench. Urbanski was first nominated for the seat last year, but the appointment languished as Congress adjourned in December. President Obama renominated Urbanski this year. Urbanski’s nomination now awaits action by [...]

[Read more →]

A Front Royal lawyer is no longer facing misdemeanor charges of abduction by a parent, after a judge dropped two counts against him yesterday. David Downes sought to have the charges dismissed with prejudice, but the judge merely dropped them at the request of a prosecutor. The charges came as part of a custody fight Downes [...]

[Read more →]

With 21 formerly frozen seats up for legislative election next month, would-be judges are making their aspirations known. The Daily Times reports four candidates have expressed interest in an Eastern Shore circuit judgeship, left open by the retirement of Glen Tyler. They are: General District Judge Gordon Vincent, and Accomack lawyers W. Revell Lewis III, [...]

[Read more →]

The term “mature consideration” probably does not apply to the process the Judicial Panel of the House Courts of Justice Committee has set up to fill upwards of 23 judicial vacancies. The plan calls for the panel to start interviewing the candidates at 3 p.m. on April 5, conclude the interviews by 6 p.m., and [...]

[Read more →]

Charlottesville lawyer Frank Buck has been cleared of an assault charge for throttling his client in a courtroom. A judge Thursday approved an accord-and-satisfaction proposal, dismissing the charge. Buck paid $81 in court costs, reports The Hook, a Charlottesville weekly. According to accounts, Buck and his client were in Juvenile & Domestic Relations court Nov. [...]

[Read more →]

It’s not easy being known as “the cable guy.” That’s what people called Frank James Moorefield Jr., whose job was collecting unpaid cable bills or removing equipment from low-income apartments in Danville. People were not happy to see Moorefield, not when he made his initial “soft call” to say pay up or else get your [...]

[Read more →]

A spreadsheet prepared for House and Senate budget conferees shows how they went about deciding which judicial vacancies to fill. The table compares the caseload of judges in circuits and districts with the average caseload per judge. With one exception, only those with a caseload 25 percent higher than the state average got a judgeship. [...]

[Read more →]