Virginia

AG Seeks Appellate Stay of Fed’l Order to Release Capital Murder Defendant Due to Va. Misconduct

As a Thursday deadline nears for the Virginia to release a defendant in a capital murder case because of prosecutorial misconduct, the state’s attorney general is seeking a federal appellate-court stay of a federal district judge’s order to let Justin Wolfe go. Although the two sides disagree about the parameters…

Jan 2, 2013 10:32 PM CST

Family of Deceased Elderly Couple Dispute Guardian Lawyers over Tens of Thousands in Bills

Corrected: The battle between a court-appointed law firm and the family of an elderly couple that was in its care over legal fees is raising questions of the treatment of aging Americans by paid guardians and the lack of state processes to protect them. A judge appointed Virginia-based law firm…

Dec 4, 2012 11:00 PM CST

Inmate Ordered Released After Recantation Remains in Prison Because of Jurisdictional Dispute

The purported molestation victim recanted. A judge ordered the convicted prisoner freed. But the story doesn’t have a happy ending, at least not yet, for the wrongly convicted man who spent more than four years in prison. Prison officials are refusing to release Virginia inmate Jonathan Montgomery because of advice…

Nov 13, 2012 12:47 PM CST

Va. Judge OKs US Army Veteran’s License Plate, Says State Incorrectly Considered Bumper Sticker, Too

A Virginia judge has ruled that the state department of motor vehicles exceeded its authority last year when revoked a former U.S. Army sergeant’s vanity license plate, which could be considered to make an offensive racial reference. However, Circuit Court Judge John W. Brown said the state has to allow…

Nov 9, 2012 8:51 PM CST

As Hurricane Sandy Sweeps In, Courts and Law Firms Close Down in DC, NJ and NY

Updated: As what is expected to be an epic storm sweeps into the East Coast from Florida to Canada and could hit the Northeast especially hard, courts and law firms both large and small joined numerous other establishments—including the U.S. Supreme Court—on Monday in announcing that their operations would be…

Oct 29, 2012 7:45 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Barbecue Sauce Became a Side Business

When Norfolk, Va., lawyer Steven Mirman first started making barbecue sauce, he had no plans to sell his new concoction. Instead, he was on a quest to make a middle-ground barbecue sauce that wasn’t too liquid and wasn’t too thick, HamptonRoads.com reports. His friends urged him to take his new…

Oct 26, 2012 11:15 AM CDT

Three Regional Law Firms Announce Mergers; Like Most This Year, They Involve Small Law Firms

Three well-known regional law firms have announced mergers this week. And, like most other law firm mergers this year, they involved the acquisitions of smaller shops, according to Reuters. Adams and Reese will add Tallahassee, Fla.-based Igler & Dougherty to its existing roster of 260 attorneys working in offices throughout…

Oct 3, 2012 6:54 PM CDT

Feds Say Suspect in $100M Scam Is Fugitive Harvard Law Grad Charged in 1984 Client Funds Theft

Federal authorities say a Harvard Law School graduate who has been a fugitive for 25 years is in jail awaiting trial as a suspect in an unrelated case involving $100 million scam in which donations for U.S. Navy veterans were collected throughout the country. The suspect, who said his name…

Oct 1, 2012 9:20 PM CDT

Suit Claims Bouncers Severed Lawyer’s Pinkie Finger While Ejecting Him from Popular DC Bar

A Virginia lawyer is suing a Washington, D.C., bar for $500,000, claiming bouncers accidentally severed his pinkie finger while ejecting him from the popular nightspot. Lawyer Robert Dyer of Arlington is suing the owners of the Smith Point bar and restaurant, report the Washington Post and the Washington City Paper.…

Sep 19, 2012 12:13 PM CDT

Woman’s ‘Like’ of Sheriff’s Facebook Page Points Deputies to Photos of Wanted Man On Her Own Page

A Virginia woman allegedly trying to help her boyfriend hide from Maryland authorities apparently took a look at a sheriff’s Facebook page to see if law enforcement officers were looking for him. However, when 22-year-old Samantha Nicole Dillow hit the “like” button she set in motion a chain of events…

Sep 14, 2012 5:15 PM CDT

Microsoft Suit: Some Malware Is Preinstalled; Not Just an IP Issue But a Security Issue, Lawyer Says

For years, users have been blamed when malware infects their computers and repeatedly warned not to open attachments from unknown email senders or download software from dubious sources. But a major manufacturer now says that malware sometimes is already preinstalled when purchasers first open the packaging of their new computers.…

Sep 13, 2012 7:09 PM CDT

Freed After 12 Years, Aided by Mom’s Paralegal Work, Va. Man Wants Real Murderer ID’d

More than a decade after being wrongly convicted of an elderly woman’s murder, Michael Wayne Hash left the Culpeper County, Va., courthouse Monday a free man, with the case against him finally dismissed. Now 31, Hash has something in common–in addition to a belief that the case against him wasn’t…

Aug 21, 2012 6:17 PM CDT

Ex-Student Pleads in Law School Break-In; State Says He Tried to Intercept Transcript Request

A former law student at the University of Virginia has taken a plea in what authorities described as a registrar’s office surveillance camera scheme intended to intercept a law firm’s request for his transcript. Joshua Peter Gomes pleaded guilty on Friday to a reduced charge of unarmed robbery, reports the…

Aug 6, 2012 10:01 AM CDT

Unrestrained at Counsel’s Request, Murder Defendant Punches His Lawyer in Competency Hearing Ruckus

A visibly agitated Virginia man facing a capital triple homicide case was unrestrained Wednesday at a competency hearing, as defense counsel requested. That resulted in a ruckus in the historic Madison County Courthouse as Rashad Riddick, 25, repeatedly punched his court-appointed lawyer, Joseph Flood, in the face before security tackled…

Aug 2, 2012 10:18 AM CDT

After Decades in Practice, Family Lawyer Cringes Over Case ‘Way Beyond Just an Ugly Divorce’

Angry after his wife of 20 years left him, Ronnie Lee Durham, who is now known as Ronnie Lee Johnson, managed to persuade Virginia authorities that she was the abusive one. Eventually, after she was arrested for the 10th time and spent 17 days in jail, she fled to a…

Jul 30, 2012 11:47 PM CDT