The VLW Blog

Former Richmond lawyer Bradley D. Wein has been handed a 45-month prison sentence based on phony letters he created to legitimize his use of a client’s money. Wein was hired by an elderly woman in 2005 to handle legal and financial matters. Authorities accused him of using her credit cards without authorization to pay his [...]

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A lawyer did not violate an ethics rule when he wrote about his cases on the Internet without client consent, a three-judge panel said today. The panel overturned a district discipline committee’s finding of misconduct under Rule 1.6, which governs confidentiality of information. In a decision announced by Portsmouth Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Melvin, [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to consider a case involving a judge’s discretion in taking a DWI charge under advisement and substituting a different charge in the ultimate finding of guilt. The underlying criminal case in Kelley v. Stamos arose before the touchstone case of Hernandez v. Com. was decided by the Supreme [...]

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The 2010 Charlottesville trial that led to a record wrongful death verdict and the apparent retirement of a prominent personal injury lawyer will be scrutinized by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The court has granted appeals sought by both sides in the case arising from the 2007 death of a 25-year-old nurse whose car was [...]

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Richmond U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne said courtroom security video helped him decide that a trial that produced a $212-million verdict against a Botox manufacturer was unfair. Payne has vacated the 2011 jury verdict and ordered a new trial. The decision turned on hand gestures used by the plaintiff’s lawyer in closing arguments. The [...]

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Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says local laws imposing special restrictions on temporary political signs are invalid. “Any ordinance that places heavier burdens or greater restrictions on temporary political signs than are placed on any other temporary signs is invalid,” Cuccinelli said in an official opinion letter dated June 1. The opinion was in response [...]

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There’s nothing like a government study to confirm the conventional wisdom. Lawyers who practice in federal court likely already know it helps to talk to the lawyer on the other side to plan how to proceed with discovery. Quickie confabs with opposing counsel are the norm, for lawyers in federal court who have to plan [...]

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Relief is on the way for one of the most overworked courts in the state. Judges of Virginia’s 11th Circuit, including Petersburg and four nearby counties, have selected Petersburg lawyer Phillip T. DiStanislao Jr. for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations bench, according to an official at the state Supreme Court. The J&DR vacancy in the [...]

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Virginia judicial leaders are getting ready to take a close look at how busy the state’s judges are. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cynthia D. Kinser has appointed an 18-member advisory committee to assist the court in its General Assembly-mandated study of trial court caseloads. At the same time, the Judicial Council of Virginia will measure [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has posted the new Rules of Evidence online as a 27-page PDF file. The Virginia Rules of Evidence, approved in a stormy legislative session, take effect July 1. Because the rules reflect an effort to simply state existing Virginia law, no major change in practice is anticipated. An official set [...]

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