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Nine tell VSB they want a seat on SCC

Nine candidates have told the Virginia State Bar that they are interested in the State Corporation Commission vacancy created by the retirement of Commissioner Theodore V. Morrison Jr.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine might have to fill the position because the General Assembly was unable to agree on a candidate during its most recent session. The legislature is scheduled to meet in special session June 23 and could select a commissioner then, but if it fails to do so again, Kaine will make the appointment. He has asked statewide bar groups to help him vet the candidates.

A gubernatorial appointment would be effective only until February, when the legislature will have the final say.

The list of candidates who wish to be considered does not include Henrico Circuit Judge Catherine Hammond, who was favored by the House of Delegates for the seat but ran into opposition in the Senate. If she were to take an appointment from Kaine, she would have to give up her judgeship with no assurance that she would get it back if the General Assembly did not select her for the commission.

The list includes:

• Philip R. deHaas, counsel to the SCC
• James C. Dimitri, a partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond
• Brian J. Goodman, an attorney with the Virginia Retirement System
• Julia A. Lake, an attorney with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• John M. Lamie, a partner in Browning, Lamie & Gifford PC in Abingdon
• Joanne L. Nolte, a partner in The Conrad Firm in Richmond
• Robert J. Ohneiser, a sole practitioner in Loudoun County
• Richard D. Taylor Jr., a Richmond Circuit Court judge
• Michael D. Thomas, an SCC hearing examiner

The VSB’s judicial nominations committee has scheduled interviews of the candidates for Tuesday.

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