The VLW Blog

The Virginia State Bar’s deadline for candidates to request an interview for possible endorsement is tomorrow. There are two new names to add to the list of interested individuals: * Patricia Palmer Nagel, a solo practitioner in Williamsburg. * Montgomery County Circuit Judge Josiah T. Showalter Jr. There are five other previously reported possible candidates: [...]

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Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli apparently hopes to reassure doubters that a state constitutional amendment to rein in eminent domain powers will not turn into a drain on local taxpayers. A just released official opinion from the AG suggests localities will not have to compensate property owners who claim a nearby public facility is a [...]

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Some lawyer members of a House subcommittee studying proposed Rules of Evidence fear the proposed legislation would change the balance of power between the legislature and the Supreme Court. What happens to the body of common law the Rules codify, and what is the process for changing the Rules, going forward, subcommittee members wanted to [...]

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Federal Magistrate Judge F. Bradford Stillman of Norfolk will retire in September, he says. Stillman, 65, tells The Virginian-Pilot he plans to enjoy his family and his expected first grandchild. Stillman’s legal career was not so placid. As lead attorney for the company that won exclusive salvage rights to Titanic artifacts, Stillman was aboard a [...]

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A police officer is talking to a criminal defendant when the defendant offers some information and asks about a plea deal. The officer calls the commonwealth’s attorney’s office and asks if he can talk to the defendant about some horse trading. The request should set off ethical alarm bells for the prosecutor who takes that [...]

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There are a least five potential candidates for a pending seat on the Court of Appeals. Appeals Court Judge James Haley will be retiring later this year, so the General Assembly will be choosing a successor this session. Maybe. That’s if the House and Senate can get along and the evenly split Democrats and Republicans [...]

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The Virginia General Assembly reelected incumbent judges today, but did not elect two former legislators to the bench. Former Front Royal delegate Clay Athey, a Republican, was up for a seat on the 26th Judicial Circuit in Harrisonburg and former delegate Bud Phillips of Castlewood, a Democrat, was nominated for the 30th General District Court [...]

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WILLIAMSBURG–The Virginia Bar Association presented its Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism to Virginia Lawyers Weekly and Virginia Business on Jan. 20 at the group’s winter meeting. The award is given in recognition and appreciation of exceptional legal journalism. In 2010, the VBA presented the award to the Bristol Herald Courier for a Pulitzer Prize-winning [...]

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A political clash in the state Senate Tuesday delayed otherwise routine Virginia judicial elections at least until Thursday. Democrats and Republicans differed over whether to elect a slate of 49 judges that included two new faces – both former delegates. Democrats claimed they had an understanding that only incumbent judges would be up for re-election, [...]

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Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath Co., has introduced a bill to abolish the Virginia Court of Appeals. Senate Bill 630 would simply do away with Virginia’s 28-year-old intermediate appellate court effective Oct. 1, restoring the Supreme Court’s authority to hear criminal, traffic, domestic and administrative appeals. The judges of the Court of Appeals would remain in [...]

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