The VLW Blog

Virginia Court of Appeals Judges D. Arthur Kelsey and LeRoy F. Millette Jr. and Fairfax County Circuit Judge R. Terrence Ney have won the endorsement of both the Virginia Bar Association and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys for a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Virginia.

The VBA also endorsed Arlington Circuit Judge Joanne F. Alper, Chief Court of Appeals Judge Walter S. Felton Jr., Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas D. Horne, Chief Deputy Attorney General William C. Mims and Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford R. Weckstein.

The VADA endorsed only one other candidate, Chesterfield Circuit Judge Michael C. Allen.

The Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Women Attorneys Association and the Old Dominion Bar Association had scheduled interviews of candidates for today and are expected to announce their endorsements next week as is the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked the statewide bar groups to submit recommendations to him in case he has to fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Justice G. Steven Agee to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The General Assembly is in session and could appoint someone to a 12-year term. If it adjourns without doing so, the task will fall to Kaine to make an appointment that will be effective only until February, when the General Assembly would have another opportunity to fill the seat.
By Alan Cooper

The Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Bar Association and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association have endorsed candidates for the State Corporation Commission vacancy created by the retirement of Commissioner Theodore V. Morrison Jr.

The VSB’s judicial nominations committee told Gov. Timothy M. Kaine that it found four candidates to be highly qualified:

- Philip R. deHaas, counsel to the SCC

- James C. Dimitri, a partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond

- JoAnne L. Nolte, a partner in The Conrad Firm in Richmond

- Michael D. Thomas, an SCC hearing examiner

It found Julia A. Lake, an attorney with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Richmond Circuit Judge Richard D. Taylor Jr. to be qualified.

The VBA and VTLA endorsed all those candidates except Lake. Committees for those organizations based their endorsements on a background investigation and review of materials submitted by the candidates.

The VSB committee interviewed the candidates in addition to reviewing materials and conducting background checks. It submitted cover letters and summaries to Kaine detailing its findings.

Two Virginia Supreme Court justices, two federal judges and two law professors are among the Virginia Bar Association’s recommendations for two vacancies on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb asked bar groups earlier this year to submit recommendations for the vacancies created by the senior status of Judge H. Emory Widener Jr. and the resignation of Judge J. Michael Luttig. Webb and Sen. John Warner will submit names to the Bush administration, which will nominate candidates subject to confirmation by the Senate.

The VBA list in alphabetical order:

Supreme Court Justice G. Steven Agee

Thomas E. Albro, a civil litigator in the Charlottesville firm of Tremblay & Smith LLP who typically represents plaintiffs in personal injury cases

H. Christopher Bartolomucci, a partner in the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson and a former special assistant to President Bush in the White House counsel’s office who specializes in appellate litigation

U.S. District Judge Glen E. Conrad of Roanoke

John G. Douglass, a University of Richmond law professor and a former federal prosecutor

Frank K. Friedman, a partner and appellate specialist at Roanoke’s Wood Rogers PLC

E. Duncan Getchell Jr., a partner in the Richmond office of McGuireWoods who argues cases frequently in appellate courts

U.S. District Judge Walter D. Kelley Jr. of Norfolk

Virginia Court of Appeals Judge D. Arthur Kelsey

Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald W. Lemons

William and Mary law school Professor Alan J. Meese who teaches antitrust, economic analysis of law and torts