The VLW Blog

The Washington & Lee University law school has unveiled a new program, entitled “The New Third Year,” designed to make the last year of law school meaningful.
Students will participate in a curriculum that is entirely experiential, using the final year of school to prepare them for actual law practice.
The Associated Press has a […]

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In the March 3 issue of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, we reported an interesting twist in a doctor’s noncompete case out of Winchester Circuit Court.
The case is General Surgery Specialists v. Bowers.
A judge held that a noncompete prohibiting a surgeon from practicing in Winchester and Frederick County was reasonable in its terms. But the court said […]

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The General Assembly will extend its session by three days, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Disagreements remain on the budget, but legislators apparently can’t agree on judicial choices, either. Some 36 seats – including a spot on both the State Corporation Commission and the Workers’ Compensation Commission – could go empty by adjournment if deals aren’t […]

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A man who stole a kitten from the SPCA because he couldn’t afford the $100 adoption fee was convicted of a misdemeanor in Richmond General District Court on Tuesday. The judge gave Carlos Marshall a 12-month suspended sentence, fined him $250 and ordered him to do 100 hours of community service.
House Bill 334, a […]

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McGuireWoods LLP will merge the Helms Mullis & Wicker PLLC, a Charlotte-based firm with 145 lawyers, on March 31.
McGuireWoods Chairman Richard Cullen said the firms’ “complementary expertise in capital markets, business litigation and corporate law … is a natural fit that will benefit the clients of both firms.”
Peter J. Covington, chairman and managing member of […]

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Wythe County Juvenile & Domestic Relations Judge Michael K. Blankenship was charged with drunken driving on Saturday, reports the Roanoke Times.
Blankenship was stopped in Smyth County after police were told to be on the lookout for a Subaru driving erratically on Interstate 81.

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Norfolk Circuit Judge Charles D. Griffith Jr. acknowledged to members of the Senate and House Courts of Justice Committees yesterday that there’s usually “a kernel of truth” to any complaint about a judge’s performance or demeanor.
He said he believes that criticisms of him to legislators come from his view of himself as “a firm but […]

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The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn this weekend, but there is some currently unfinished business on selection of judges.
With the House of Delegates in the hands of the Rs and the Senate controlled by the Ds, it will take plenty of horsetrading to get the seats filled.
The two Courts of Justice committees […]

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