The VLW Blog

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has filed the commonwealth’s response to a request for additional briefing in Virginia’s two legal challenges to the individual insurance mandate in the federal healthcare legislation.
Last week the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered supplemental briefing in the two pending cases that challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia’s Advisory Committee on Rules of Court is seeking comment on a proposed Part 9 of the rules that would establish procedures for involuntary commitment proceedings.
The committee also wants comment on civil procedure recommendations from the Boyd-Graves Conference on objections during depositions and on voir dire in civil cases.
The proposed Part [...]

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Retired Supreme Court of Virginia Justice Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr. died last night in Covington. He was 89.
Justice Stephenson served on the court from 1981 until 1997 and was active as a senior justice until 2009.
A native of Covington, earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington and Lee University and began practicing law there [...]

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An Alexandria federal judge ruled yesterday that the ban on direct political contributions by corporations to federal candidates is unconstitutional.
Senior Judge James C. Cacheris said the logic in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in Citizens United v. FEC compelled that holding. His ruling came in the context of criminal charges filed against two [...]

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A type of plea agreement familiar to Virginia federal prosecutors is unethical, according to a draft legal ethics opinion from the Virginia State Bar’s Committee on Legal Ethics.
The plea agreement at issue requires a criminal defendant to give up the right to later claim ineffective assistance of counsel. According to proposed LEO 1857, it is [...]

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Lurking among Monday’s unpublished opinions of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a cautionary tale for appellate lawyers who like to play it close to the deadline with their court filings.
A lawyer tried to explain his one-day-overdue notice of appeal by reference to an alleged computer glitch.
In his account, the attorney was counting [...]

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Prominent Richmond lawyer James C. Roberts has announced he will retire at the end of the year, ending a career noted for his skillful defense of corporations and politicians and his leadership in the bar.
Roberts, 79, is a partner at the Richmond office of Troutman Sanders. He was a managing partner at Mays & Valentine [...]

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One sign of the times is a new class of lawyers at some large law firms – with fewer hours, lower pay and no chance of making partner.
As The New York Times reports, it’s a viable option for many lawyers with few other career choices. Moreover, it’s a much more family-friendly position, with fewer absent [...]

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The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered supplemental briefing in the two pending cases that challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The appellate court has asked parties in both cases to address questions about a “tax” under the Anti-Injunction Act.
On May 10, the 4th Circuit became the first federal appellate court [...]

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A former attorney who surrendered her law license after she admitted she stole as much as $450,000 from the firm of Marks & Harrison has been indicted on eight felony embezzlement charges.
Kyle Cornelia Leftwich was charged last week by the Richmond Metropolitan Multijurisdictional Grand Jury, according to Assistant Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert J. Fierro [...]

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