The VLW Blog

The prominent Richmond-based law firm of LeClairRyan is losing founder and name partner Dennis M. Ryan as he returns to the world of corporate management. Ryan will leave the firm in April to become executive vice president at Richmond’s Health Diagnostic Laboratory. Ryan was a business leader before going to law school in the late [...]

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The Virginia State Bar Criminal Law Section presented its 2012 Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award last week to Alexandria Public Defender Melinda Douglas. The award was presented on Feb. 3 during the section’s 42nd Annual Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. The award is named for the former Virginia Supreme Court chief justice who promoted the [...]

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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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Hampton Roads attorneys John M. Cooper (pictured above, left) and James G. Hurley Jr. (right) have formed a new personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, in Norfolk. Hurley has most recently been practicing as the Hurley Law Firm and Cooper was previously a partner with Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton in Virginia Beach. Cooper currently [...]

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Three bankruptcy attorneys are joining the Richmond office of Sands Anderson PC today. Roy M. Terry Jr., John C. Smith and Elizabeth L. Gunn are moving from Durrette Crump PLC, and they will bring experience as trustees and as counsel for both debtors and creditors to the firm’s business group. Terry is a Chapter 7 [...]

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Former lawyer Kyle Leftwich, who was convicted of keeping fees from social security cases she was expected to share with her partners, was sentenced to more than three years in prison. But Henrico County Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. allowed her to remain free pending appeals. Leftwich was convicted in September of embezzling $450,000 from [...]

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Roanoke City Attorney William “Bill” M. Hackworth has been named the 2011 recipient of the Edward J. Finnegan Distinguished Service Award from the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, Inc. The statewide award is presented each year to an individual who has made significant contributions to local government or the LGA. Hackworth was honored for his [...]

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WASHINGTON D.C. – The legal department of Verizon Communications Inc. was honored Sept. 22 with a Community Service Award, presented by the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association at its 7th annual awards program at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. Under the leadership of General Counsel Randal Milch and Associate General Counsel John Frantz, Verizon [...]

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Two Virginia-based law firms have been named among the top 50 Best Law Firms for Women. McGuireWoods and Hunton & Williams, both based in Richmond, earned spots on the 2011 list. The survey, now in its fourth year, is published by the National Association for Female Executives and Flex-Time Lawyers. The 50 winning firms were [...]

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A Henrico County judge rejected arguments that Kyle Leftwich’s diversion of social security fee checks should be viewed as no more than a civil dispute with her law firm. Leftwich, a former associate with Marks & Harrison, endorsed Social Security checks made out to her for representing disabled clients, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. But [...]

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