Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

The 4th Circuit reverses a denial of qualified immunity to defendant FBI agent in this Bivens action filed by a plaintiff who says she was coerced into confessing to the murder of a fellow exchange student in Korea, and then ...

A new software tool that offers free access to online court documents found on the massive PACER system is good news for lawyers but decidedly less so for the federal courts. The program, which mirrors the Public Access to Court ...

Dear Editor: I am often not too effective at saying what I mean to say but I know that, my wife’s been telling me that for more than 42 years. The article published in the Sept. 21 edition of VLW ...

The Supreme Court of Virginia’s Advisory Committee on Rules is seeking comments on a proposal to modify the so-called “nullity rule” that invalidates an action by an attorney who is not licensed at the time that he takes the action. ...

A former claims manager for the Virginia Birth Injury Fund was indicted last week on federal charges related to the alleged embezzlement of more than $800,000 from the fund. Iris F. Allen, 44, of Richmond worked for the fund from ...

An 11-month-old notation in a police database that a man was “probably armed and a narcotics seller/user” wasn’t enough in itself to provide reasonable suspicion to frisk him, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled last week. The issue arose after ...

NORFOLK—A Norfolk woman will spend seven years in prison for staging auto accidents to collect insurance money. Teresa R. Gallop was sentenced in federal court last week. The 41-year-old with 60 prior felony convictions, including one for manslaughter, pleaded for ...

VIRGINIA BEACH—Three sites in Virginia have been named to a national group’s annual Top 10 Great Places in America list. The American Planning Association recognized the Historic Hilton Village in Newport News as a Great Neighborhood. The group says the ...

On Sept. 11, a Virginia State Bar Third District Subcommittee imposed a public reprimand to Richmond lawyer David Lassiter Jr. for violating professional rules that govern competence, diligence, declining or terminating representation, meritorious claims and contentions, and misconduct that reflects ...

New Associations R. Robert Benaicha has joined the Richmond law firm of Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman as an associate. Deborah C. Waters has joined the law firm of Riddick Babineau as a partner and has offices in Norfolk and ...