Virginia’s trial judges are becoming too quick to decide cases on pre-trial motions. That’s the loud and clear message coming from the Virginia Supreme Court, in one case decided earlier this month and another decided in April. Trial judges may ...
Read More »High court: Trial courts too quick to dismiss
Mandatory IOLTA approved 
IOLTA is mandatory in Virginia as of Oct. 1, following action by the Virginia Supreme Court last week. A sharply divided court voted 4-3 to adopt the controversial Virginia State Bar proposal that will require most practicing attorneys to maintain ...
Read More »Firms hiring fewer clerks 
The number of summer clerks hired by Virginia’s largest law firms is down from 1992, or at least the same. And while positions may be somewhat more difficult to find, law students who land jobs may earn a higher wage ...
Read More »Public clinic doctor has sovereign immunity 
A woman whose breast cancer worsened as a result of a delayed diagnosis could not sue a doctor employed by a state health clinic for medical malpractice, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled. The court, in a 4-3 decision, held ...
Read More »Lawyer who drafts own PSA owes "special" duties 
Where a lawyer drafted the property settlement agreement between himself and his wife and advised his wife on divorce law, he had a fiduciary “special relationship” with the wife, the Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of ...
Read More »High court hears IOLTA arguments 
Partisans in the fight over the Virginia State Bar’s mandatory IOLTA proposal last week brought the showdown to Virginia’s court of last resort. VSB President William R. Rakes, urging adoption of the proposal, said that the VSB Council’s 33-23 vote ...
Read More »Settlement: Judges willing to help if asked by lawyers 
Some commentators liken settlement of law suits to curing the common cold: most law suits will settle even if the sufferers never seek relief from a professional, whether doctor or judge. And many Virginia trial court judges seem to subscribe ...
Read More »No. Va. lawyers likely to encounter non-English-speaking clients 
The likelihood that a criminal defense attorney in Northern Virginia will be called upon to defend a client who does not speak English is growing. The number of non-English-speaking defendants is on the rise, particularly in jurisdictions such as Fairfax ...
Read More »Judge provides definition of "sound mind" in suicide 
A circuit judge has provided what is apparently the first judicial definition of “sound mind” for cases involving a suicide. Under a Supreme Court case decided last year, Wackwitz v. Roy, (VLW 092-6-078), if a person of “sound mind” commits ...
Read More »Fax Poll: IOLTA opposed, 83-17% 
As the Virginia Supreme Court prepares to hear argument on the mandatory IOLTA proposal later this week, lawyers responding to a Virginia Lawyers Weekly fax poll overwhelmingly reject the idea. Eighty-three percent of the 930 respondents oppose the IOLTA proposal ...
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