The VLW Blog

Roanoke Valley lawyers have offered separate endorsements for a vacant circuit court judgeship that might be funded by this year’s General Assembly. The Salem/Roanoke County Bar Association Friday endorsed Frank W. Rogers III of Roanoke for the circuit court seat. In February, the Roanoke Bar Association endorsed David B. Carson for the position, with Rogers [...]

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Virginia may be the first state in the country to require nursing homes to have liability insurance. Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation March 13 to require minimum limits of liability insurance coverage for nursing homes. Sen. William M. Stanley, R-Moneta, sponsored similar bills for three years before the measure won approval this year. “It’s one [...]

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A lawyer who claimed regular Christian prayers at Pittsylvania County board meetings violated the First Amendment has won a court injunction against the practice. U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski Wednesday issued a permanent injunction barring the board of supervisors from repeatedly opening meetings with prayers associated with any one religion. The practice has the unconstitutional [...]

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An amended complaint alleges the college student who disappeared from a 2009 Charlottesville rock concert was disoriented from a head injury, but was denied any help from a concert security crew. The Harrington family’s lawsuit alleges the security company’s indifference to her plight started a chain of events that led to her death. Lawyer Lee [...]

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Both prosecutors and defense lawyers agree the Richmond conviction of Brandon Cooper is tainted by the prosecution’s failure to turn over evidence that might have helped Cooper’s defense. The two sides disagree about whether Cooper should face a new trial. Prosecutor Christopher Jones failed to disclose that an alleged eyewitness who fingered Cooper as the [...]

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A shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag and identifying the wearer as “Daddy’s Little Redneck” was just one of the sartorial choices school officials banned for Candice Hardwick, a South Carolina public school student. She also sported other shirts embellished with the Confederate flag and announcing her identification with “Southern Chicks,” “Dixie Angels,” “Southern Girls,” “Black [...]

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Two Virginia legislators seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general will face off this Wednesday. The debate between Delegate Robert B. Bell and Senator Mark D. Obenshain is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the George Mason University law school in Arlington. Former Governor James S. Gilmore III will moderate. The event, sponsored by the Virginia [...]

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Despite the “truly tragic” circumstances of a child’s devastating head injury in a car crash, a federal appeals court panel has upheld a jury verdict denying recovery from the maker of the child’s car seat. Lawyers for Samantha Musick and her family sued the car seat manufacturer for $50 million claiming her brain injury was [...]

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Nearly five years after the General Assembly made it possible for localities to help public defenders keep pace with prosecutors, only one Virginia local government provides money to supplement defender salaries, a state official said. That one community – Alexandria – is among 25 Virginia localities with public defender offices. By contrast, more than two [...]

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Two Virginia widows are suing for the way businesses have handled remains of their husbands. A Chesapeake woman claims she experienced nightmares and panic attacks after finding another decedent in her husband’s casket when she arrived for a viewing last April. Candace Wagner said the viewing for the late James “Jim” Wagner was delayed for [...]

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