The VLW Blog

The couple who gained notoriety after crashing a White House state dinner have once again filed for divorce. Pleadings filed by both sides in the breakup of the celebrated Salahis of Warren County offer accusations of abuse and adultery, including details of Michaele’s backstage encounter with rock guitarist Neal Schon. The Northern Virginia Daily has [...]

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Judge James W. Haley Jr. has announced his plan to retire from the Court of Appeals of Virginia on March 1. His retirement will give the General Assembly an opportunity to fill his seat on that court during the 2012 session. Haley was elected to the Court of Appeals in 2005 after serving 15 years [...]

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A mother whose child was fathered by her live-in boyfriend through assisted conception cannot prevent the father from asking a court to recognize his parental rights, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled today in Breit v. Mason. Under the Virginia statutory scheme that governs parentage through sperm or egg donation, a donor is not the [...]

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The holidays and the new year mean electronic upgrades for many lawyers. Experts warn there’s a risk in disposing of your old phones and tablets without proper safeguards. Just yanking the SIM card is not enough, data security specialist Lee Reiber posts on Ride The Lightning. He said he recently examined a bunch of used [...]

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A lawyer in the Spotsylvania County commonwealth’s attorney’s office is charged with driving under the influence after being involved in a three-vehicle accident. The Free Lance-Star reports Amy Marie Harper, 38, of Fredericksburg has been suspended by boss Bill Neely, the Spotsylvania County commonwealth’s attorney, after the Friday night accident. Harper also was charged with [...]

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In the wake of federal budget cuts, legal aid officials in Virginia say they face layoffs of up to 20 lawyers and 10 support staff without additional public or private relief. The expected cuts for legal aid agencies that now employ about 125 lawyers result from Congressional budget slashing. Grants to state legal aid programs [...]

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Headline writers have a thankless job. Having to grab the gist of a story in a few minutes, writing an accurate description that fits the space and – with luck – coming up with something that puts a smile on the reader’s face. We have celebrated the notable achievements of our comrades in the latter [...]

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Henrico Circuit Judge Catherine Currin Hammond has received the 2011 Women of Achievement Award from the Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association. The award is presented annually to a woman who has contributed pro bono services and volunteered to improve the community. Hammond currently serves as chief judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit in Henrico County. [...]

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A robbery suspect allegedly tried to hire a hit man to kill a Virginia Beach judge who rejected a proposed plea bargain. David Hugh Hance, already in jail on an attempted bank robbery charge, has been accused of soliciting for capital murder, reports The Virginian-Pilot. Virginia Beach Circuit Judge Les Lilley was the intended target. [...]

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Washington and Lee University has named Nora V. Demleitner (right) as the new dean of the W&L law school. Demleitner, 45, is currently dean of the Hofstra University law school; her appointment is effective July 1, 2012. She is the 17th dean in the 145-year history of the law school and the first woman to [...]

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