Free Newsletter
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor: I’m writing to those of you who offer free initial consultations to prospective clients in order to determine whether you can help them. I want to persuade you to stop. It certainly is not my intention to ask you to stop seeing prospective clients. I do, however, want to suggest that you stop […]
Letter to the Editor
I read with great consternation the remarks made in the General Assembly by Robert Lamb and House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith in opposition to Sen. Henry Marsh’s bill regarding our Commonwealth’s participation in the bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birth (Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Feb. 19, 2007). I am a proud member of the bars of […]
Legislative background of lien law explained
Dear Editor: Your lead article in your Feb. 26 issue caught my eye (“General contractor, sub have different rules on perfection of mechanic’s liens”). I am pleased to see that Judge Sharrett got the interpretation of the 2003 amendment to Va. Code Section 43-4 exactly right. While Virginia does not really use legislative history, the […]
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor: The Virginia Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in the case of Janvier v. Arminio in which a serious anomaly in the statutory law of Virginia was highlighted and brought to the attention of the General Assembly. In that case, a second nonsuit was knowingly granted by the trial judge, but it was […]
Letters to the Editor
CPF officers explain fund’s purpose Dear Editor: As the chair and vice-chair of the Virginia State Bar’s Clients’ Protection Fund, we write in response to the letter submitted by fellow VSB attorney H. Watkins Ellerson in the April 17 edition of Virginia Lawyers Weekly (“Lawyer Objects to Mandatory Liability Coverage,” 20 VLW 1383). In his […]
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor: Watkins Ellerson’s recent letter (VLW, 4/17/06, “Lawyer objects to mandatory liability coverage”) reinforces how difficult it is (even for lawyers) to understand the distinction among various risks faced by lawyers and those who engage a lawyer’s services. Members of the general public can be harmed by lawyers who commit malpractice, by unethical lawyers, [&hel[...]
Letter to the Editor
Lawyer objects to mandatory liability coverage Dear Editor: Once again the issue of mandatory liability insurance for lawyers has raised its ugly head from the (un)dead like Dracula. Nowhere in Alan Cooper’s article of March 27 (“VSB: Mandatory insurance mulled”) was the extent of any problem stated. I have no problem with a client-disclosure rule […]
VSB President Anderson urges action on appointed pay
Dear Editor: Today hundreds of “innocent” Virginians will walk into Virginia courts charged with crimes. These charges could result in their loss of liberty. They are “innocent” because our system of justice presumes all Virginians are “innocent” until proven guilty—proven guilty through an adversarial process predicated upon an aggressive prosecution and [...]
Law prof questions Allen's action on Byrd Amendment
Dear Editor: Sen. George Allen is opposing the repeal of the Byrd Amendment. Why on earth is the Virginia senator supporting legislation that has been roundly criticized by all supporters of free trade, the Bush Administration, and the World Trade Organization, which found it invalid? How can he contest a measure supported only by only […]
OPEN LETTER TO ALL VIRGINIA LAWYERS
All Virginians have been dismayed by the destruction, dislocation, and loss of life caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia State Bar have had discussions with representatives of the judicial systems and bar organizations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. We have also had discussions […]
Legal Aid Lawyer Responds On 'Parental Abuse' Cases
Dear Editor: I read with interest Hugh F. O’Donnell’s article “What’s Wrong With the Picture: The Other Side of Repre-senting Parents in Child Protection Cases” [VSB Family Law News, Fall 2004] and his recent letter to Virginia Lawyers Weekly [VLW, Feb. 21, 2005] and felt that I had to comment. Mr. O’Donnell makes a number […]
Representation Of Parents Challenging, Prompts Lawyer To Critique The System
Dear Editor: This past fall, “Family Law News,” the quarterly newsletter of the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar, carried an article I wrote about the challenges of representing parents in child protection (i.e., neglect and abuse) cases. The article was based on many years’ experience as a legal aid lawyer representing parents […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Woodshop incident leads to amputation of fingers — $1.3M settlement
- Motorcyclist’s foot amputated in collision — $7M settlement
- Contractor rear-ended on interstate on way to wedding — $825,000 settlement
- Man suffers back injury in crash with out-of-state driver — $530,000 settlement
- Driver crossed center line, struck 89-year-old’s vehicle — $1.2M settlement
- Jury returns defense verdict in favor of gastroenterologist
- Teens killed in T-bone collision with officer — $3.1M settlement
- Man sustained subdural hematoma in rear-end collision —$1.15M settlement
- Adequate anesthesia not provided during C-section — $2.5M verdict
- Tenant fell ill from mold in apartment — $588,000 verdict
- Woman suffers nerve injury, pain after dental procedure — $550,000 settlement
- Driver struck child exiting school bus — $750,000 settlement
Opinion Digests
- Suit over historic mansion and estate dismissed
- Former employee’s claims survive motion to dismiss
- Equal Pay Act doesn’t apply to applicant
- Court rejects invocation of attorney-client privilege
- Evidence supported competency determination
- Appellees had power to remove business manager
- No continuance after witnesses failed to appear
- No actual or constructive eviction in warranty case
- Gas distribution pipeline exempt from ZBA regulation
- Improper venue in air pollution regulation matter
- No benefits awarded in unemployment comp case
- No immunity for judge who personally oversaw search
