The VLW Blog

A Richmond federal court has rejected a “simply shocking” request for nearly $1 million in attorney’s fees sought by two shareholders who sued to halt the sale of Massey Energy Company to Alpha Natural Resources Inc. U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. could not see what the plaintiffs, Benjamin Mostaed and William Perkins, had [...]

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Denounced by plaintiffs’ lawyers, the groundbreaking decision in Spear v. Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority has found few friends in the Virginia judiciary. The latest judge to reject the “once-and-for-all ad damnum” rule of Spear is Franklin County Circuit Judge William Alexander. Roanoke lawyer Pete Katt reports Alexander on Monday rejected a defense motion to dismiss [...]

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The judge may have squashed the ambitious plan to turn one man’s state lottery lawsuit into a class action, but a claim of unfair scratcher games remains pending in Richmond Circuit Court, reports the plaintiff’s lawyer. John Fishwick said discovery is underway on the contract claim that remains in his client’s suit against the Virginia [...]

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Economic stimulus money means more opportunities for enforcement of child support obligations. Virginia collected more than $639 million in child-support payments in the past 12 months, up $10 million from the previous year, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. In many cases, the Virginia Department of Social Services has relied on unemployment benefits, tax refunds and stimulus [...]

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Two prosecutors say it’s wrong that Duncan Meekins is still behind bars when he helped put the infamous Briley brothers in the electric chair. Robert J. Rice and Warren Von Schuch, who prosecuted the case 30 years ago, are set to meet next month with Virginia Parole Board officials to plead for Meekins’ release. According to the [...]

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A Richmond Circuit Court judge has refused to allow an appeal of a pretrial ruling that barred “class action” status for a lawsuit filed by a college professor who says the state lottery’s scratcher games were unfair. Virginia law ordinarily does not allow class actions, but Scott Hoover sought to represent other scratcher players through [...]

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If Richmond lawyer Christopher C. Spencer wants an adverse ruling set aside, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will have to do it, says U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon. Spencer contended that American Insurance Groups Inc. and its agents defamed him by asserting in a lawsuit that he was responsible for blowing an [...]

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Matt Geary, the No. 2 man in the office of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Herring, is resigning to return to private practice. Geary was involved in a number of high profile murder cases, including the deaths of six people on his first day in the office in January 2006, but his major contribution to the [...]

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Scott Hoover apparently will have to go it alone in his quest for reimbursement from the Virginia Lottery. Hoover is the Washington & Lee University professor who challenged the state lottery system on its advertised odds for certain scratch-off games.  He claimed that he had no chance of winning the grand prize advertised on his [...]

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Montgomery County today filed suit in Richmond Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the state’s public funding of a planned intermodal rail facility.  The complaint is here.  In a news release, county leaders lay out their case for opposition to the project.  According to the county, the state funding plan violates two sections of the [...]

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