The VLW Blog

The judge hearing the pair of $10-million wrongful death lawsuits based on the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings has narrowed the claims as the cases near trial.
Circuit Judge William Alexander ruled that claims against VT president Charles Steger were barred because they had been raised and dismissed in prior lawsuits filed in another Virginia court.
The ruling [...]

[Read more →]

Legislation to adopt Rules of Evidence for Virginia passed the full Senate yesterday, but stalled in a House subcommittee, whose members retooled the measure to firm up legislative control of the process for changing the rules over time.
The Virginia Senate passed Senate Bill 94 on a 37-3 vote.
Read the full story

[Read more →]

A carpenter hired to do trim work on a home under construction was not “using” his box van when he left it parked on the property, and he does not have coverage under his State Farm business auto policy for damage to the home from a fire that originated in the box van.
A Newport News [...]

[Read more →]

Lakshmi Challa, who heads her own four-office immigration law firm, was honored today by the Richmond Bar Association with the John C. Kenny Pro Bono Award for 2012.
Each year, the RBA honors an individual, law firm or organization that demonstrates dedication to the delivery of pro bono services in the Richmond metropolitan area.
Working with the [...]

[Read more →]

The Virginia State Bar is gearing up to evaluate candidates for the expected vacancy on the Court of Appeals of Virginia created by the retirement of Judge James Haley Jr.
Haley announced last month he will retire March 1, a few months ahead of his 70th birthday. The timing of the retirement allows the General Assembly [...]

[Read more →]

A mother whose child was fathered by her live-in boyfriend through assisted conception cannot prevent the father from asking a court to recognize his parental rights, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled today in Breit v. Mason.
Under the Virginia statutory scheme that governs parentage through sperm or egg donation, a donor is not the [...]

[Read more →]

Washington and Lee University has named Nora V. Demleitner (right) as the new dean of the W&L law school.
Demleitner, 45, is currently dean of the Hofstra University law school; her appointment is effective July 1, 2012. She is the 17th dean in the 145-year history of the law school and the first woman to [...]

[Read more →]

A Norfolk Circuit judge isn’t taking any chances on having a personal injury case land back in his lap.
Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. had a fairly routine premises liability case before him last month. Plaintiff Daniel Moran was thinking of buying a house owned by Fannie Mae. He got the lock-box combination from the listing [...]

[Read more →]

The Supreme Court of Virginia has granted Richmond legislator Joe Morrissey’s petition for reinstatement of his law license.
In an order released today, the Supreme Court set conditions for final action: Morrissey must provide evidence he has attended 60 hours of continuing legal education within the past five years, and he has to pass the written [...]

[Read more →]

The en banc Virginia Court of Appeals today issued a writ of actual innocence to Thomas Haynesworth, a Richmond man who spent nearly three decades in prison for at least one rape he didn’t commit.
An appellate panel heard Haynesworth’s case in March, and the en banc court took up the matter last July.
Today the full [...]

[Read more →]