The VLW Blog

Three former mental health staffers will share a “finders fee” of $1.37 million for their help in uncovering billing fraud at a residential treatment unit for boys. The three were the first to alert government officials to phony Medicaid claims at the Keystone Marion Youth Center. After an investigation, the owner of the facility agreed [...]

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Gov. Bob McDonnell has appointed Hopewell lawyer Nathan C. Lee to an unfilled vacancy on the 6th Circuit bench. Lee will assume the position opened by the January retirement of Judge Samuel T. Campbell. During the 2012 General Assembly, the House nominated Lee for the seat, but the Senate did not name a candidate. “Nathan [...]

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Leading Virginia trial lawyer William B. Poff of Roanoke died Wednesday morning after a long illness. Mr. Poff had been a “role model for lawyers all over this state for more than five decades,” said Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne of Richmond, speaking at a ceremony in April. Payne helped to honor Mr. [...]

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A dog trainer who claimed he was defamed by online accusations of animal abuse was entitled to tell a jury how many people “liked” the offending Facebook page, a federal judge has ruled. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris said the jury’s “grossly excessive” $60,000 punitive damages verdict in favor of the dog trainer should [...]

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A Springfield lawyer who took up with a gambling man 15 years ago has lost her law license for a year based on a federal felony conviction. Sharon R. Connelly told a federal judge in 2007 she had no idea her friend, Raj Kumar Bansal, was running a gambling operation until he pleaded guilty to [...]

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The outcome of a fatal Fairfax County crash highlights the difficulty of getting a reckless driving conviction based on texting at the wheel. A 2009 law that makes texting while driving a minor traffic infraction actually weakens the case for a reckless driving charge, prosecutor Ray Morrogh tells The Washington Post. Lawmakers promise to seek [...]

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A soldier from Fort Lee will get a U.S. Supreme Court hearing in his custody dispute with his ex-wife, who moved with their five-year-old daughter to her native Scotland In August, the high court granted a writ and scheduled oral argument for Dec. 5, 2012, in the case of Chafin v. Chafin, No. 11-1347. Sgt. [...]

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