Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A Richmond federal judge has rejected a state-law wrongful termination claim based on alleged retaliation against an employee who reported safety and health violations. The Bowman claim fizzled because the state code already provides a “extensive statutory remedy” that precludes ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge David J. Novak retaliation

A Newport News judge has denied a criminal defendant’s motion to dismiss made after the commonwealth’s attorney declined to prosecute a misdemeanor concealed weapon charge. Judge Gary A. Mills agreed with a Fairfax County Circuit Court holding earlier this year ...

Tagged with: concealed weapon Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Gary A. Mills

(AP) A year and a half into the coronavirus pandemic, the Virginia Employment Commission is still swamped with backlogged claims, its call centers are underperforming and serious staffing problems persist, according to a scathing interim report the state’s legislative watchdog ...

Tagged with: Virginia Employment Commission

In 2016, a landmark study from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs found a troubling trend: Attorneys were more likely than the average person to report problem drinking, anxiety or depression. ...

Tagged with: Lawyers Mental Health

When you reach a certain age, retirement is on everyone’s mind. And the age varies. Several of my schoolteacher friends reached retirement age a couple of years ago. Retirement was a hot topic for the then- 54-year-olds. Many were exploring ...

Tagged with: COVID-19 Lawyers Pandemic Retirement

A lawsuit targeting the industry that offers “Cash Now” in exchange for future settlement annuity payments has been dismissed, along with claims against a Virginia lawyer-legislator who represented some of the major players in the business. Rulings this month by ...

A young woman who “intended” to live with her grandfather cannot recover uninsured motorist coverage for a motorcycle accident that occurred the day after she dropped off her bags, a Roanoke circuit judge has ruled. The policy covered relatives who ...

Tagged with: Uninsured motorist

A power of attorney is not equivalent to a license to practice law, according to a new Unauthorized Practice of Law Opinion just approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia. Approved by the court on Sept. 13, UPL Opinion 218 ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Unauthorized Practice of Law Opinion Uniform Power of Attorney Act

FALLS CHURCH (AP) A divided federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit challenging a portion of the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international email and phone communications. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ACLU Fourth Amendment Free Speech National Security Agency Wikimedia Foundation

Virginia Lawyers Media, the publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, has announced the 2021 class of “Leaders in the Law.” Now in its 16th year, this awards program recognizes the lawyers across the commonwealth who are setting the standard for other ...