Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Virginia trial judges have broad discretion in reducing Medicaid liens when a personal injury case produces less than a full recovery, the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in a decision that refocuses attention on the complex Medicaid reimbursement issue. ...

Tagged with: Medicaid Medicaid liens Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia

After 27 years, Virginia again will require lawyers to participate in the program that funnels interest on lawyer trust accounts, or IOLTA, to legal aid offices. The program has been voluntary since 1995, but becomes mandatory July 1 under a ...

Starting next year, most Virginia drivers will have access to the full amount of their underinsured motorist coverage, regardless of the amount of liability insurance available from another driver. The General Assembly approved a change that as of July 2023 ...

The Virginia General Assembly ended its regular 2022 session on March 12 without electing judges to fill two openings on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Legislators did elect 30 trial court judges late in the session. They also clashed over ...

Tagged with: Judge Joseph J. Ellis Judges Virginia General Assembly

Despite pressure for reform in both the state Capitol and a federal courtroom, Virginia’s steadily rising medical malpractice cap remains unaltered. A proposal to create an exception for cases of severe injury foundered Feb. 7 when veteran state legislators refused ...

Tagged with: Judge Michael F. Urbanski Medical Malpractice U.S. District Court - Western District

Two Virginia lawyers have been stripped of their licenses for taking advantage of elderly clients. Each contested a lengthy list of alleged ethics violations, but both lost their battles with the Virginia State Bar. One lawyer was found to have ...

Tagged with: Attorney discipline Virginia State Bar

A series of insults and racially charged jokes described in a race discrimination lawsuit were enough to move a former employee’s lawsuit forward in Roanoke federal court last month. U.S. District Judge Thomas T. Cullen denied a motion to dismiss ...

Tagged with: Employment Law Judge Thomas T. Cullen Racial discrimination U.S. District Court - Western District

Several Virginia bar organizations spoke as one this month to help block a proposal to turn lawyer discipline decisions over to a General Assembly-appointed commission. A bill to create an independent “jury” to hear lawyer ethics complaints foundered when six ...

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners says law students should be able to sit for the bar exam in their last semester of law school. The change would give debt-saddled students a head start on earning an income after graduation, ...

Some of the legislators who elect and re-elect the judges of Virginia’s trial and appellate courts say they wish they had more access to information locked away in government file cabinets. One state senator wishes legislators could see more reports ...

Tagged with: Judges Virginia General Assembly