The VLW Blog

The House Courts committee has killed a bill designed to keep evidence in district court civil cases from the eyes of circuit judges hearing the cases on appeal. House Bill 284 took aim at circuit judges inclined to prejudge a district court case before hearing the evidence in new proceedings. When a lower court decision [...]

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On the heels of the Senate courts committee’s judicial interviews last Friday, both legislative courts committees have certified incumbent judges for possible re-election by the General Assembly this week. Supreme Court Justice Donald W. Lemons has been certified for another 12-year term on the high court, and Fauquier prosecutor James P. Fisher has been approved [...]

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Culpeper Circuit Judge John G. “Jack” Berry is giving up his robe to return to private practice. Berry, who has served on the 16th Circuit bench since 2008, is stepping down to run the Charlottesville office of Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, Virginia’s largest personal injury law firm. Berry will join the firm on Feb. [...]

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If you have a legal document to file in circuit court by Dec. 30, you better check your local courthouse to see if the court will be open. Many courts will close that day, two days before New Year’s Day, but some may not. Virginia circuit courts are on their own in determining whether to [...]

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A veteran prosecutor may have to run for re-election as a write-in candidate after a judge rejected his bid for a court order to get his name on the ballot Thursday. Richmond County Circuit Judge Harry Taliaferro dissolved his temporary injunction and allowed the county registrar to report the names of qualified candidates to the [...]

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Update: (9/8/11, 3:50 p.m.) Judge Harry Taliaferro has upheld the local electoral board’s decision invalidating Wayne Emery’s petition. According to the Northern Neck News, Emery plans to file further injunctions immediately. A 16-year Virginia prosecutor could be unseated this year because his election paperwork was found to be defective after the registration deadline passed. Richmond [...]

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The contractor for the Clarksville bypass on U.S. 58 is due $12 million, $9.2 million less than he originally was awarded, Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles E. Poston has ruled. The Virginia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that Poston had erred in excusing AMEC Civil LLC from the formal requirements of [...]

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The General Assembly is expected to fill circuit court openings in Virginia Beach and on the Eastern Shore during today’s meeting. Disagreements between Democratic and Republican lawmakers had prevented officials from electing judges in these circuits, according toThe Virginian-Pilot. A deal has reportedly been reached. Under the agreement, former Del. Glenn Croshaw is expected to [...]

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A former attorney who surrendered her law license after she admitted she stole as much as $450,000 from the firm of Marks & Harrison has been indicted on eight felony embezzlement charges. Kyle Cornelia Leftwich was charged last week by the Richmond Metropolitan Multijurisdictional Grand Jury, according to Assistant Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert J. [...]

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Sen. Henry L. Marsh III suggested today that a series of hearings this summer on a proposal to realign the state’s judicial circuits and districts might not be wise politically. “You can have too much democracy,” he said at a meeting of the Committee on District Courts, one of the judiciary’s two top policy-making bodies. [...]

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