The VLW Blog

The House of Delegates Tuesday gave unanimous approval to a plan for subtle but effective changes in Virginia’s actual innocence process. The actual innocence reform bill had been sent back to the House Courts Committee Jan. 28 after delegates voted against a floor amendment that would have allowed a second petition for actual innocence in [...]

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Without debate, the Virginia House of Delegates Friday approved a package of tort reform measures hammered out last month in talks among business interests, trial lawyers, and doctors. The bundle of bills now goes to the Senate, where the Courts Committee already has approved a handful of similar proposals. The House tort reform package includes [...]

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A broad spectrum of tort reform measures – many reflecting compromise among stakeholders – is expected to be presented to legislators today for action at the General Assembly. Negotiators say the tort reform package negotiated by business interests, trial lawyers and physicians will be unveiled at a House Courts subcommittee this afternoon. The centerpiece of [...]

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A bill that would have reinstated the office of appellate defender for Virginia went down to defeat in the Senate Courts Committee Monday. The 8-to-5 vote to “pass by” Senate Bill 738 closely followed party lines. Republicans generally were opposed to the measure while Democrats favored restoring the position. The appellate defender handled appeals of [...]

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An effort to open Virginia State Bar membership to law professors with recent practice experience is advancing again in the General Assembly. The plan would allow law professors to become active members of the bar if they have engaged in the full-time practice of law for five of the last seven years. Their law license [...]

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Questions from lawmakers this week signaled a lot of interest in the ongoing study that could lead to changes in judge assignments around Virginia. Responding to a question from Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, Virginia Supreme Court Executive Secretary Karl Hade said it was “premature” to expect any hints from the National Center for State [...]

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Largely suppressing any public disagreement, the Virginia General Assembly last Tuesday reversed last year’s rejection of an openly gay judge candidate with the election of Tracy Thorne-Begland to a full term on the Richmond General District Court bench. Thorne-Begland was among a slate of 44 incumbent trial court judges elected by the Assembly. As a [...]

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The Senate Court of Justice Committee has approved raising the mandatory retirement age for Virginia judges from 70 to 73. The panel, by a ten-to-five vote, approved the measure offered by Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, and incorporated a similar bill offered by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke. Petersen said the bill would save money by delaying [...]

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In a block vote, the Virginia House Courts of Justice Committee today certified candidates interviewed in December and today for judicial posts they currently occupy. That includes Richmond General District Court Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland, an openly gay former prosecutor appointed to the bench by Richmond Circuit Court judges last summer. A vote by the courts [...]

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A bill to restrict circuit court judges’ right to fill a seat on the district court bench has been tabled by a House Courts of Justice subcommittee. House Bill 1338 would change Va. Code § 16.1-69.9:2 to add that no person could be appointed on an interim basis to fill a vacant district court seat, [...]

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