The VLW Blog

The Senate voted 23-17 today to drastically increase filing fees in general district and circuit courts to provide money for sheriffs and commonwealth’s attorneys.
Proponents of Senate Bill 329, patroned by Sen. Richard H. Stuart, R-Westmoreland, contend there is no other to generate about $50 million and save the jobs of about 1,400 deputy sheriffs.
Critics countered [...]

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Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center hopes to compete with a nearby hospital for the right to build a new cancer service, but first it has to overcome missing a deadline for its application.
The hospital had planned to compete if Mary Washington filed a plan for a cancer center. However, when Mary Washington filed an application in [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia is hearing the appeal of a group of disabled Virginians who claim they don’t have equal access to the state lottery.
The complaint alleges that many lottery outlets are in violation of both national and state disabilities acts by not making their facilities wheelchair-accessible, and therefore denying handicapped individuals equal access [...]

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Scott Hoover has made good on his threat to sue the state over alleged fraud in sales of scratch-off lottery tickets. The business professor’s lawsuit, filed in Richmond Circuit Court by Roanoke attorney John Fishwick, claims that the state lottery has taken in “millions of dollars in sales of tickets falsely promising the chance [...]

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You’ve briefed and argued your Virginia circuit court case. Weeks go by and the judge still has it under advisement. Your client wants to know what’s taking so long.
The remedy under the Virginia Code: tell it to the Chief.
That’s right. Under Virginia Code § 17.1-107, if Chief Justice Leroy Hassell, or his designee on the [...]

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Virginia Lawyers Weekly is pleased to announce a new benefit for subscribers.
Starting today, you’ll be able to get a full-text copy of any Circuit Court opinion from 2007 onward that we digest in the paper for FREE.
Full-text PDF copies are available through the archives on our Web site, http://valawyersweekly.com/
The opinions will be available to any [...]

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Alfred M. Tripp, the Norfolk circuit judge who has not been on the bench since October, has resigned, according to his lawyer.
The reason?
Tripp’s lawyer, Carl Eason, isn’t talking, citing client confidentiality.
The Virginian-Pilot quotes one source as saying that Tripp had been barred from the courthouse.
The reason?
Again, no one is talking, at least [...]

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By accepting a $2,000 check from the defendant to cover medical bills, the plaintiff is not entitled to the $800,000 he later sought in a personal injury lawsuit.
A Rockingham County Circuit Court jury returned a defense verdict in the case of Shifflett v. Shifflett, based on accord and satisfaction.
The suit stemmed from injuries received at [...]

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A California court consulting firm will help Richmond Circuit Court judges develop a new case management system.
Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. recently wrote Richmond Chief Judge Walter W. Stout III that he has selected Christopher Crawford of Justice Served for the work.
The Richmond circuit has been the only one in the state in which [...]

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