The VLW Blog

Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Jim Webb, this afternoon sent a letter to President Obama recommending Richmond lawyer John A. Gibney Jr. for a federal judgeship. The Associated Press reports that the senators cited Gibney’s more than 30 years of experience in making the endorsement.
Gov. Tim Kaine, who practiced law in Richmond for [...]

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Acting U.S. Attorney Dana Boente of the Eastern District is dropping espionage charges against two Israeli lobbyists.
As noted by the Associated Press, the case against Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman of the American Israel Public Afffairs Committee sparked criticism of the prosecution and provided fuel for Washington intrique .
Critics accused the federal government of trying [...]

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A former military contractor convicted in Virginia of stealing $40 million worth of government fuel in Iraq is helping authorities find his accomplices around the globe.
According to the Associated Press, the thefts occurred in 2007 and 2008 from Camp Liberty in Baghdad. Lee W. Dubois, who has since pleaded guilty to theft of government property, [...]

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The jam band Phish has asked a Virginia federal judge to block the sale of unlicensed merchandise.
After a five-year hiatus from touring, the band kicks off their reunion tour this weekend at the Hampton Coliseum. They filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Newport News against defendants “John Does 1-to-100″ and “ABC Corporations 1 [...]

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Alexandria U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris sentenced former CIA executive director Kyle Foggo to 37 months for corruption.
Prosecutors said Foggo used that job to award lucrative contracts to a businessman and friend in San Diego in return for expensive vacations, meals at exclusive restaurants and the promise of job after his retirement from the [...]

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Wait! There are more!
Candidates for federal judgeships, that is.
Michael R. Shebelskie, a partner in the litigation and intellectual practice in the Richmond office of Hunton & Williams, is interested in the district court seat inRichmond.
Sharon Y. Eubanks, now senior counsel in the Washington office of Holland & Knight after 22 years as a litigator [...]

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We reported recently on an attempt in Australia to use Facebook for service of process, advising archly, “Don’t try this in Virginia.”  In Northern Virginia, however, attorneys now hope to use e-mail to serve a summons on an elusive witness.
Lawyers for indicted lame duck Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., have asked Alexandria U.S. District Judge [...]

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Richmond federal judges have some observations about the new courthouse at Seventh and Broad streets on the Richmond Bar Association’s Web site. The judges think the new courtrooms are more lawyer and juror friendly, with better acoustics and technology. They encouraged attorneys to visit the courtrooms and familiarize themselves with that technology before trying to [...]

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Attorneys registered to file documents electronically in the Eastern District of Virginia must deliver or send by mail a form with their written signature and a photocopy of a government-issued photo identification to the clerk’s office in Alexandria.
If the form is not submitted by the end of the month, the ECF login and password will [...]

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Junior Johnson ran a software company called PurchasePro that was based in Las Vegas.
In 2001, PurchasePro, a publicly traded company, filed a Form 10-Q with the Securities & Exchange Commission, reporting its financial results for the first quarter of that year. The feds thought that the documents were false and misleading and contained inflated [...]

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