The VLW Blog

James V. Meath, a partner in the Richmond office of Williams Mullen, was elected chairman by the firm’s board of directors yesterday. He succeeds Julious P. Smith Jr., who has become chairman emeritus.
Meath served as chair of the Williams Mullen’s labor and employment practice from 1984 to 2004, and is currently vice chairman of the [...]

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Stephen E. Baril, a longtime litigator at Williams Mullen, has moved to Sands Anderson.
“I am thrilled to be part of a firm with a litigation legacy and one that’s laser-focused on the Richmond business community and has an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
“My strength has been in business litigation, and my focus has been on the [...]

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Robert D. Seabolt, a partner in the Richmond office of Troutman Sanders LLP, has been named to the newly created position of chief operating officer.
Seabolt, 55, is a litigator who concentrates his practice on antitrust enforcement and white collar defense. He was managing partner of Mays & Valentine LLP from 1993 until its merger with [...]

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Evan Bayh, the former Indiana governor and senator, has joined the Washington office of McGuireWoods LLP, where the firm says he will serve as a strategic advisor to its most significant clients.
He will counsel clients whose business goals are affected by the actions of Congress and the executive branch and by state government, the firm [...]

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Richmond-based law firm McGuireWoods LLP remains the lone defendant in a securities fraud lawsuit in Kansas after its motion to dismiss was rejected by a federal judge last month.
The action was filed by the trustee in the bankruptcy case of Ethanex Energy Inc. The suit claims McGuireWoods partner Louis Zehil unlawfully profited on sales of [...]

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LeClairRyan has added 16 intellectual property lawyers, a dozen of whom will open an office in Rochester, N.Y., from the international law firm of Nixon Peabody.
The other four lawyers will join LeClairRyan offices in Washington, Alexandria, Chicago and San Francisco.
Gary LeClair, chairman and CEO of LeClairRyan, said the additions will give the firm more [...]

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McGuireWoods LLP is establishing a Texas presence by acquiring a nine-member litigation boutique, Nickens Keeton Lawless Farrell & Flack LLP, with offices in Houston and Austin, effective Jan. 1.
Another Houston litigator, Ron Franklin of the Houston firm of Franklin, Cardwell & Jones, also will join McGuireWoods.
McGuireWoods Chairman Richard Cullen said, “Establishing an office in Texas [...]

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A federal judge in Los Angeles has slashed McGuireWoods’ attorneys fees from $12 million to $500,000 in an antitrust case against West Publishing Corp., citing an “egregious breach of ethical duties.”
The class action suit, filed by consumers who were allegedly overcharged for the BAR/BRI exam review course, settled for $49 million in 2007.
According [...]

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Troutman Sanders LLP expected to do well by doing good for the city of Richmond.
The law firm agreed to build its new office building on the James River in exchange for an abatement in the taxes on the increase in the assessed value of the property after the project was completed.
The city in return would [...]

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Roanoke-based Woods Rogers PLC has announced the opening of a new office in Charlottesville, where the firm has not had a physical presence for more than five years.
Partner Rusty Schundler, formerly of Roanoke, will head the Charlottesville office, with Mac Thompson and Peter Rosden also aboard.
In addition to its Roanoke headquarters, Wood Rogers also has [...]

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