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

Virginia Lawyers Media has announced the Class of 2020 for the “Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame,” sponsored by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. The Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame honors Virginia lawyers age 60 and older. Criteria for inclusion in the Hall ...

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

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond is paying $6.3 million to 51 people who were sexually abused as minors by clergy members, according to an Oct. 15 report on its website. In February, the Richmond diocese launched the Independent Reconciliation Program. From April 3 to May ...

Tagged with: Catholic Diocese Independent Reconciliation Program Richmond Sexual abuse

After the plaintiff in a medical malpractice wrongful death action submitted 72 changes to her deposition answers, a Virginia circuit judge allowed the defendants a second deposition to inquire about the changes. The Fairfax County case raised an issue occasionally ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death

A group of University of Virginia law students had a class they’ll never forget after witnessing their professor win a Louisiana man his freedom during a resentencing hearing via Zoom. “I’m never going to have a class this good again,” ...

Tagged with: Criminal Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Sentencing University of Virginia Zoom

A Richmond business law firm and two lawyer members are defending claims in federal court in Florida arising from an investment venture that went sour for two participants. A U.S. District Judge sitting in Tampa on Sept. 7 dismissed a ...

Tagged with: Investment Richmond

Lawyers who were paid in part by a potential co-conspirator in an alleged Hampton Roads drug distribution ring have been disqualified from representing a key defendant. U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson removed both an Atlanta lawyer and a Norfolk ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Criminal Drug trafficking Judge Raymond A. Jackson Narcotics