Virginia

Ex-Bookkeeper Gets 2 Years in $567K Theft from Law Firm

After pleading guilty earlier this year to embezzling over half a million dollars from a Virginia personal injury firm and apologizing in a sentencing hearing today, a former bookkeeper has been sentenced to two years in prison by a federal court in Norfolk. Diana L. Former-Forston, 54, must also pay…

Dec 5, 2011 10:04 PM CST

Shopping Malls Put Hold On Plan to Monitor Cellphones After Lawmaker Asks Questions

A plan by two shopping malls to track shoppers’ movements via their turned-on cellphones has been put on hold, after a lawmaker asked questions. The survey, by malls in California and Virginia, began on Black Friday, as scheduled. But after someone called over the weekend on behalf of Sen. Charles…

Nov 28, 2011 7:40 PM CST

Big Brother May Not Be Watching You, But Some Shopping Malls Know Where You Are at All Times

In an example of how cutting-edge technology apparently may be far ahead of lawmakers, PC Magazine is reporting that at least two U.S. shopping malls, in California and Virginia, will be tracking customers through their cellphones this holiday season. The Footpath system, which tracks shoppers anonymously, according to those who…

Nov 23, 2011 5:56 PM CST

No Plaintiff? No Problem—Lawyer Files Suit Without Estate Administrators’ OK, May Seek New Ones

With the statute of limitations nearly expired, a Virginia lawyer who couldn’t reach the estate administrators went ahead and filed a wrongful death suit over the slaying of an unarmed motorist by a Fairfax County police officer who has since been fired. However, this did not please Gail Masters, the…

Nov 17, 2011 9:47 PM CST

Va. Judge OK’d $722K Legal Fees Clawback Due to Withheld Facebook Photos and Information

A Virginia judge knocked $4.13 million off a $10 million wrongful death award and OK’d an additional $722,000 legal fees clawback due to withheld evidence. Among the key materials at issue were photos deleted from plaintiff Isaiah Lester’s Facebook account. He and his lawyer, Matthew B. Murray, also were found…

Nov 16, 2011 11:21 PM CST

Twitter’s Privacy Policy Defeats Efforts by WikiLeaks Associates to Keep Info From Feds, Judge Rules

A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., today ruled that three individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their Twitter accounts because they agreed, by clicking, to boilerplate terms of service which include permission for Twitter to provide information to law enforcement. Their lawyer unsuccessfully attempted to argue, according to…

Nov 11, 2011 1:06 AM CST

W&M Law Dean Says His Students Were Not Actually Banned from Hotel After SBA Party

The dean of William & Mary law school says his students have not been banned from a Virginia hotel. An email dispatched by the Student Bar Association last month said students would not be allowed to return to the Crowne Plaza Williamsburg at Fort Magruder hotel because of inappropriate behavior…

Nov 7, 2011 12:28 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Lawyer Bloggers and Disclaimers; The ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ in Practice

Legal Blogging v. Advertising Late last week, the Virginia State Bar ruled that Richmond, Va., lawyer Horace Hunter, who posts at Richmond Criminal Defense News, sometimes about his own cases, must add a disclaimer to his blog to indicate that it’s advertising. Some legal bloggers are trying to figure out…

Oct 28, 2011 1:51 PM CDT

Va. Bar Says Lawyer’s Blog Is Advertising That Must Include Disclaimer, Nixes Post About a Client

A Richmond attorney contends that he has a First Amendment right to write about his cases and other matters of interest on a law blog related to his law firm. However, the Virginia State Bar didn’t agree and ruled Tuesday that Horace Hunter must include a disclaimer on his law…

Oct 20, 2011 6:14 PM CDT

Should Lawyers Worry About Virginia State Bar Crackdown on Firm’s Law Blog?

Updated: Richmond, Va.-based criminal defense attorney Horace Hunter, who blogs about cases he’s worked on (and national and local criminal justice issues) at Richmond Criminal Defense News, has been charged with misconduct by the Virginia State Bar. The charge comes amid concerns by bar authorities that Hunter’s blog on his…

Oct 12, 2011 12:04 AM CDT

Virginia AG Not Only Seeks to Exonerate Paroled Rapist But Hires Him to Work in AG’s Office

Convinced that a convicted rapist exonerated by DNA evidence in two cases, after serving 27 years, is also innocent in two other cases, Virginia’s top law enforcement official has personally apologized and is trying to persuade a state appeals court to clear Thomas Haynesworth’s record completely. And Attorney General Ken…

Sep 28, 2011 10:17 PM CDT

Federal Judge Got It Wrong, Va. Lacks Standing to Challenge Health Care Reform, 4th Circuit Rules

Developing: In a ruling today, the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to strike down a controversial health care plan backed by President Barack Obama, nixing a challenge to the legislation by the state of Virginia. A federal district court earlier held that the health plan didn’t…

Sep 8, 2011 6:58 PM CDT

Judge Boots Both Prosecutor and Defense Lawyer in Criminal Case

As a retrial looms in the case of a former sheriff’s deputy facing child-abuse charges in Virginia, a hearing yesterday took an unexpected and unusual turn. Judge Joseph Ellis removed both the prosecutor and defense lawyer in the Caroline County Circuit Court case, saying that their personal animosity for each…

Sep 8, 2011 10:00 AM CDT

All Shook Up By Quake, Courts and Law Firms Evacuate; Cozen Partner Welcomes Break in Park

An earthquake in Virginia this afternoon closed some courts and law firms there and in Washington, D.C., and was felt in New York, Boston, Maine and Canada as far north as Toronto, as well as North Carolina. However, there were no reports of serious injuries. The 5.8 magnitude temblor closed…

Aug 23, 2011 10:31 PM CDT

Virginia Authorities to Appeal Reversal of Death Row Inmate’s Conviction

Virginia authorities plan to appeal a federal judge’s decision to throw out a death row inmate’s conviction and sentence in a murder-for-hire scheme. The state attorney general’s office filed notice of its intent to appeal Monday with the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Associated Press reported.…

Aug 9, 2011 6:05 PM CDT