Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A momentous change in Virginia criminal procedure almost went unnoticed at first. An end to jury sentencing for criminal defendants won final approval from the House of Delegates on a Friday evening as the General Assembly brought its pandemic-driven special ...

Tagged with: Criminal General Assembly Senate Judiciary Committee Sentencing

Understaffed district court offices may be able to bring on some new employees in the next two budget years with the budget package approved by the General Assembly this month. Most of the new hiring will have to wait until ...

A Virginia lawyer has been suspended for four years for his actions as an Ohio lawyer in helping hide millions of dollars in assets from a treasure salvage operation. Richard Robol represented shipwreck-treasure hunter Tommy Thompson who, from 1988-91, recovered ...

The Supreme Court of Virginia has again extended its declaration of a judicial emergency by another three weeks. The court’s 12th COVID-19 order pushes the possible emergency end date to Nov. 22, although extensions have become routine. The latest emergency ...

(AP) A judge heard hours of arguments and witness testimony but did not immediately issue a ruling in a lawsuit seeking to prevent Virginia’s governor from removing an enormous statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond. “It’s a ...

The pass rate for the July Virginia Bar Exam was the highest in 22 years – by far. Of the 431 applicants who sat for the July 28-29 exam in Roanoke, 87.47% passed, according to the Virginia Board of Bar ...

A Lynchburg judge has ruled the Virginia Supreme Court’s emergency tolling of case-related deadlines applies to the statutory deadline for posting a bond to appeal a civil case from district court to circuit court. The decision means there is no ...

A Frederick County circuit judge has ruled that broader protections for overdose victims in criminal court apply even when the overdose occurred before the stronger law took effect. Despite that favorable ruling this month, the same judge later ruled the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Drug overdose Frederick County Circuit Court Judge William W. Eldridge IV Virginia Circuit Courts

After a decade of nuanced judicial refinements to the standard for deferring dispositions for criminal defendants, the General Assembly has agreed to give judges nearly unfettered discretion to delay criminal judgments for later consideration. The reform given final approval Oct. ...

Tagged with: Court Criminal Deferred Deposition Judgement Judges

Despite an earlier setback over the need for individual courthouse plans, a Supreme Court panel now has approved jury trial resumption plans for courts in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem, the chief circuit judge reported Oct. 16. Judge David Carson ...