Where a bank had first- and third-priority liens on real property and recorded an agreement that subordinated the first-priority lien to the third-priority lien, the liens survived when the second-priority lienholder foreclosed after the property owners defaulted. The agreement was ...

Tagged with: Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

The circuit court’s ruling that a prison inmate’s future suits would be reviewed and subject to summary dismissal before being served is reversed because the court did not complete the analysis required by Adkins v. CP/IPERS Arlington Hotel LLC, 293 ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Supreme Court of Virginia

Accusations of discovery lapses may be common in civil litigation, but what does a lawyer do when his opponent simply ignores routine discovery requests? While attorneys agree it’s rare for a litigant to make no response whatsoever to standard written ...

Tagged with: Justice Barbara Milano Keenan Justice Cynthia D. Kinser Justice Donald W. Lemons Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Justice Harry L. Carrico Justice Lawrence L. Koontz Jr. Justice Leroy R. Hassell Sr. Supreme Court of Virginia News

The Supreme Court of Virginia says a deputy’s testimony about confronting one suspect in a basement when the officer was exposed to a caustic bear deterrent did not support an inference that defendant, who was not discovered in the basement ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Supreme Court of Virginia

A Salvadoran citizen who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of DWI and hit and run wins habeas relief on his claim that his lawyer provided constitution­ally ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to advise him he could lose his Temporary Protected ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Supreme Court of Virginia

The Supreme Court of Virginia says that in a claim for habeas relief based on a Brady violation, the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence qualifies as an obstruction that prevents the filing of the claim for purposes of Va. Code ...

Tagged with: Criminal Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Supreme Court of Virginia

The ”Virginia way” in politics has taken a beating, but the “Virginia way” of practicing law survives, according to lawyers who regularly square off against each other in court. Civility is the hallmark of the “Virginia way” of law practice, ...

Tagged with: Judge Richard D. Taylor Jr. Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

The sole surviving co-administrator of an intestate’s estate may maintain a wrongful death action based on alleged medical malpractice, and the Supreme Court of Virginia reverses a contrary trial court decision. The co-administrator died in between his appointment and the ...

Tagged with: Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Supreme Court of Virginia Wills & Trusts

The Supreme Court of Virginia upholds a decision that a woman who was summarily held in contempt and sent to jail for 10 days after a trial judge found she lied about her estranged husband harassing her during a custody ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Virginia Court of Appeals

As if bar candidates cramming legal knowledge didn’t have enough to worry about with the looming Virginia bar examination, word is out that bar examiners have been casting a critical eye on candidates’ writing ability. The Virginia Board of Bar ...

Tagged with: Judge B. Waugh Crigler Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Law Schools Virginia Board of Bar Examiners Virginia State Bar