Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

In April 1865, as Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army made their way into the Confederate capital of Richmond, fleeing rebel soldiers set fire to bridges and warehouses. That fire quickly spread out of control and torched huge swaths ...

On Dec. 23, 2022, President Biden signed into law two measures that expand the rights of pregnant and breastfeeding workers: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers, or PUMP Act. Both measures were ...

Growing up, I watched my immigrant parents build their small business and attempt to navigate the tricky regulations of the automobile industry. Year by year, their workforce grew, and they evolved by implementing more employee-friendly policies. Before the pandemic, a ...

My high school coach told me that for every advantage you gain, there are disadvantages. I remember this clearly — as a bench warmer, I wasn’t distracted by playing when the coach was philosophizing. A tall basketball player rarely dribbles ...

“Silence is of different kinds, and breathes different meanings.” — “Villette” by Charlotte Brontë Silence is not disclosure, except when it is. This year, the Federal Circuit decided multiple patent cases addressing negative claim limitations and the meaning of silence. ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Patent and trademark

Companies employ 3D printing technology now more than ever, leveraging devices in pioneering ways. Its widespread usage helps businesses cut costs and manufacture products efficiently. At the same time, the legal landscape surrounding 3D printers is underdeveloped, so those who ...

Tagged with: Products Liability

Employee non-compete agreements have faced mounting scrutiny in recent years. Proponents say non-competes are indispensable for protecting trade secrets and other business interests. Critics say they hurt employee mobility and wage growth. Now the federal government has stepped into the ...

Tagged with: Employment Noncompete

What a difference a year makes. Last year was a big one for new legal terms and for COVID-19. I named “mask mandate,” “vaccine passport” and “vaccine mandate” as the third, second and first most notable legal terms of 2021. ...

The year is 4300. Defendants on appeal are convicted of murder, sentenced to hang. They seek reversal from the Supreme Court of Newgarth. (“The Case of the Speluncean Explorers,” Lon Fuller, Vol. 62, Harvard Law Review 616 (1949).) Consider yourself ...

Marketing is what drives the growth of a law firm. To me, it is the single most important function of a practice, because outside of word-of-mouth referrals, typically there are no clients walking through the door without marketing. But if ...