Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A lawyer who takes on a contingency-fee case after the client has fired a previous lawyer has an ethical duty to inform the client that the first lawyer may have a financial claim for the work she did, according to ...

Tagged with: Legal Ethics Virginia State Bar

Acknowledging a lapse in pretrial disclosures, federal prosecutors in the Western District of Virginia agreed to dismissal of all charges against a woman convicted by a jury of providing contraband to her jailed boyfriend. The move followed a dispute over ...

Tagged with: Brady violation Criminal Law U.S. District Court - Western District

Two appellate courts have rendered judgment on the significance of placing items in a zipped-up backpack. The outcomes suggest a backpack could be a safe harbor in the right circumstances. One case called for a ruling by the Virginia Supreme ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Supreme Court of Virginia

A federal judge’s ruling earlier this month that a nationwide eviction moratorium ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is unconstitutional has left unanswered questions for Virginia’s landlords and tenants. U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich of the ...

Tagged with: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus COVID-19 eviction Landlord and tenant

In this week’s issue, Virginia Lawyers Weekly presents its 33rd annual survey of “Virginia’s Largest Law Firms.” As has been the case since the feature debuted in 1989, rankings within the survey are based on the number of Virginia-licensed lawyers ...

Volunteer lawyers are gearing up to evaluate 46 candidates identified by legislators as new potential contenders for seven open seats on the soon-to-be expanded Court of Appeals of Virginia. The process will take a few months longer than anticipated. General ...

Tagged with: Judges Virginia Court of Appeals Virginia General Assembly Virginia State Bar

An Alexandria federal judge has ruled that post-accident evidence can be used in a trial over injuries suffered by a bicyclist when he struck a metal security gate that unexpectedly rose out of the street in front of him. The ...

Tagged with: Bicycle accident Judge T.S. Ellis III

A Fairfax County judge has revisited his February ruling that an employer cannot claw back salary paid to an alleged unfaithful employee. In a May 6 decision, Circuit Judge David A. Oblon acknowledged he misapplied his own test. He allowed ...

Four partners in a Charlottesville law firm went without pay for several months last year as the firm struggled to repay clients affected by a half-million-dollar embezzlement. A long-time bookkeeper took money from accounts at Dygert, Wright, Hobbs & Hernandez ...

Tagged with: Embezzlement Law Firms

A Roanoke lawyer is defending collection actions on a six-figure judgment after alleged lapses in a divorce action and a resulting legal malpractice lawsuit, according to his client’s new lawyer and Virginia State Bar allegations. Charles “C.J.” Covati undermined his ...

Tagged with: Attorney discipline Judge Robert M.D. Turk Legal Malpractice Montgomery County Circuit Court