The VLW Blog

An actor who made his reputation playing a slightly sleazy TV lawyer can tell a jury he did not violate a morality clause in his contract to be a celebrity spokesperson for a legal marketing campaign. Virginia Beach-based Innovative Legal Marketing LLC hired Corbin Bernsen to promote its “BIG CASE” TV advertising campaign. Bernsen gained [...]

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Donald Trump’s effort to get a bargain price on “Albemarle House,” the 23,000-square-foot former home of John and Pat Kluge, has foundered in federal court. A Charlottesville federal judge declared Thursday that the New York developer does not have a right of first refusal to buy the Albemarle County mansion, leaving Bank of America free [...]

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A 4th Circuit panel refused to disturb lower court findings that prosecutors denied due process rights for the Prince William County man accused of arranging the murder of a competing drug dealer. The three-judge panel Thursday affirmed the conclusions of U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson who pointedly criticized Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert and his staff [...]

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A former sheriff’s deputy who tried to get out of a speeding ticket by claiming he was still “on the job” was convicted of impersonating an officer. “Not fair,” he claimed, arguing the law against pretending to be a cop violates the First Amendment because it would criminalize actors in police uniforms and kids playing [...]

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Debra Farmer didn’t take the broad hint offered by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema during a final pretrial conference in Farmer’s Title VII suit against Navy Federal Credit Union, Farmer’s former employer. Brinkema recounted the state of the record and said she did not see how Farmer could survive summary judgment. Farmer forged ahead, and [...]

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It’s official: the Court of Appeals will dismiss your petition for appeal if you fail to follow the rules for assignments of error. As we reported in March, the court had asked lawyers to address whether a 2011 Supreme Court order signaled the need for dismissal when assignments of error fell short of the required [...]

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McGuireWoods’ failure to provide full disclosure of incentives for some plaintiffs was labeled an “egregious” violation of ethical rules as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a complete denial of fees for the Richmond-based firm for work on a class action antitrust case. The firm represented would-be lawyers who claimed West Publishing Corp. and [...]

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It’s a tale of two traffic stops. On June 26, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a traffic stop based on an officer’s eyeballs-only estimate of a driver’s speed in the case of U.S. v. Sowards. But last Friday, the appellate court upheld a search – same North Carolina district court, same [...]

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The gender discrimination lawsuit against Chesterfield County filed by a former human resources director has lawyers trading sharp words over discovery. Karla Gerner is on a “fishing expedition” with requests for personnel records for male former administrators in the county government, the county claims in a recent brief. The county attorney also accuses Gerner’s lawyers [...]

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Fighting a lawsuit over its use of Christian prayers in public meetings, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors is taking aim at the lawyer who brought the suit. The board has asked a federal judge to throw out the lawsuit filed by Barbara Hudson because – the board claims – Hudson is not sincere when [...]

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