Weekly Edition
Irv Blank becomes VSB president-elect
By Alan Cooper
June 29, 2009
Irving M. Blank, a Richmond attorney and a member of the executive committee of the Virginia State Bar, became president-elect of the VSB June 19.
Blank, 65, is a partner in the three-attorney firm of ParisBlank LLP. He was elected to bar council in 2003 and appointed to the executive committee three years later.
He grew up […]
As you prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July…
By Philip Blackburn
June 29, 2009
My first trip to Denmark was in 1987. I had read about an extraordinary event, and I wanted to be part of it. Prior to my trip, I learned that Denmark celebrates our country’s Independence Day, the Fourth of July. Who knew?
Let me first set the scene for this adventure I’m about to share with […]
VSB Awards
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
June 29, 2009
The Virginia State Bar’s Conference of Local Bar Associations holds an Awards of Merit competition each year to recognize outstanding public service projects conducted by local and specialty bars throughout the commonwealth.
The awards given are divided into two categories:
• An Award of Merit, the highest award given to a project, and
• A Certificate of Achievement, […]
Effort to block Vermont order fails in appeals court
By News in Brief
June 29, 2009
A Virginia woman who has been fighting for years to deny child-visitation rights to her former lesbian partner lost another round in the Virginia Court of Appeals last week.
In a case closely watched by national gay rights and conservative Christian groups, the court unanimously upheld Winchester Circuit Judge John R. Prosser’s dismissal of Lisa […]
U.Va. law school to host clinic for low-income families
By News in Brief
June 29, 2009
Starting this fall, the University of Virginia law school will offer a clinic designed to help low-income families resolve legal issues through mediation or other options outside of a courtroom.
The yearlong Family Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic will focus primarily on custody, divorce, visitation and support issues.
The clinic will partner with the Mediation Center of Charlottesville, […]
Daughter of chief justice convicted of shoplifting
By News in Brief
June 29, 2009
A retired judge has convicted the daughter of Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. of shoplifting and imposed a suspended jail term of 30 days.
Joanna L. Hassell, 18 and a student at the University of Virginia, was stopped after she left Macy’s at Regency Square mall in Henrico County on April 11 without paying […]
Full 4th Circuit upholds Virginia’s partial-birth statute
By News in Brief
June 29, 2009
A sharply divided 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Virginia’s partial-birth abortion law last Wednesday.
The 6-5 majority rejected the contention of the Richmond Medical Center for Women and a Richmond obstetrician that the act is unconstitutional because it fails to include an exception for the preservation of the mother’s health and […]
Getting away: A lawyer can, and should, take a vacation…just do a little planning
By Peter Vieth
June 22, 2009
“Summertime and the living is easy,” says the Gershwin song.
For busy small firm and solo lawyers, however, taking time off for easy living is not always so easy. There are crowded court schedules, needy clients, and the worry about the work that will pile up in your absence.
Despite all the reasons you can list to […]
Critics: LEO doesn’t get the nature of Web ads
By Alan Cooper
June 22, 2009
A proposed Virginia State Bar Legal Ethics Opinion says that attorneys act unethically when they participate in some third-party Web sites.
LEO 1851 concludes that it is unethical for an attorney to participate in a site that invites a prospective client to submit information and then automatically forwards it to lawyers; the site charges a fee […]
Medical bills prompt bankruptcy in 62% of cases
By Peter Vieth
June 22, 2009
A new study shows a steady increase in the number of personal bankruptcies prompted by overwhelming medical bills. The report, published this month in The American Journal of Medicine, shows more than 62 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were due to medical debts. That compares to around 46 percent in 2001 and […]
IMPORTANT OPINIONS
- Traffic Offenses - Bifurcated Trial ‘Notice’ DNA in Traffic Court
- Tort - Telecom Company Can Sue for Business Conspiracy
- Tort - Government Not Liable for Stability Test
- Search & Seizure - Vague Affidavit Cannot Support Warrant
- Search & Seizure - Invalid Warrant - Affidavit Specificity
- Negligence - FELA - Wrongful Death - Release