Today I read an opinion from the Court of Appeals in Henderson v. McCain , decided on the issue of res judicata. One of the issues was whether the defendant could meet its burden of proof without...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2024/03/how-to-prove-res-judicata.html
I saw in Virginia Lawyers Weekly that the Virginia State Bar is being asked to assess candidates for the vacancy on the Court of Appeals of Virginia that is being created by the retirement of Jud...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2023/10/on-retirement-of-judge-humphreys.html
I see here that former Magistrate Judge Waugh Crigler has passed away. Judge Crigler was a ball of fire as a teacher, a mediator, and a judge, and it was a great pleasure to have heard him sp...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2023/05/on-passing-of-judge-crigler.html
In January, my good friend Howard McElroy passed away. On Facebook, I wrote this: Howard McElroy was like a profane guardian angel who watched over my career and the rest of my life for over ...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2023/03/on-passing-of-howard-mcelroy.html
Today in Com. v. Barney , the majority of the Supreme Court of Virginia upheld the conviction of the defendant for use of a firearm in a bank robbery, when the Commonwealth's evidence showed only...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2023/03/when-does-finger-and-thumb-gun-count-as.html
In today's opinion about fees, both the majority and the dissent seemed to be looking the wrong way in wrestling with the argument about when are fees are "incurred" for purposes of Va. Code 8.01...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2022/09/when-are-fees-incurred.html
I learned today from Steve Emmert by way of Paul Fletcher that Justice William Mims has announced his plans to retire from the Supreme Court of Virginia in a few months. Justice Mims laughed ou...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2021/07/on-upcoming-retirement-of-justice-mims.html
Earlier this week I appeared before Judge Fred Rowlett who was sworn in two years ago, joining Circuit Judge Randy Lowe, Juvenile Judge Florence Powell, Bankruptcy Judge Trish Brown, ALJ Linda Ho...
Years ago my friend Howard McElroy got me on the Board of The Virginia Bar Association. I went to all the meetings from 2006-2010, and stopped by many of them in the years 2010-2016, and every ...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2021/06/on-passing-of-brenda-dillard.html
In U.S. v. Romero , the Fourth Circuit in a per curiam opinion for the panel of Judges Niemeyer, Agee, and Diaz ruled that the appellant's three arguments raised on appeal were each of them withi...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/07/appellate-arguments-that-are-not-waived.html
In U.S. v. Perry , the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Diaz for a panel including Judge Richardson and District Judge Johnston from West Virginia affirmed the sentence imposed by the distri...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/07/on-being-test-cow-as-district-court.html
In U.S. v. Gary , Judge Wilkinson joined by Judges Niemeyer, Agee, Quattlebaum, and Rushing, wrote at considerable length explaining why the United States Supreme Court should reject the analysis...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/07/when-judge-wilkinson-argues-for.html
With interest I listened to the arguments and read the opinion in Padula-Wilson v. Landry . In an opinion by Justice McCullough, the Court affirmed the dismissal of Ms. Wilson's claims of tortiou...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-tortious-interference-with-parental.html
I listened with interest to the arguments in Vest v. Mountain Valley Pipeline . The statute at issue is a mess: "C. Notice of intent to enter shall (i) be sent to the owner by certified mail, ...
I was listening today to the arguments before the Supreme Court of Virginia by way of the live stream. One of the cases is about whether there is an implied cause of action to enforce a statute...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/04/todays-administrative-law-case.html
As I posted on Facebook, my first experience with the courts acting under the initial version of the Supreme Court's emergency order, that has since been renewed, was somewhat confusing. One judg...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/04/life-during-wartime.html
I was listening to the argument before the Supreme Court of Virginia in Everett v. Tawes , which seemed pretty high-powered to me, and part of the discussion was about the language in the Virgini...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2020/02/when-is-other-state-law-relevant.html
I missed the ceremony but got to the after-party for the swearing-in of Justice Teresa Chafin of the Supreme Court of Virginia, in time to say hello to the new justice and her husband and her bro...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/09/on-investiture-of-justice-chafin.html
The White House is considering the nomination of U.S. Attorney Tom Cullen for the judicial vacancy in the W.D. Va., bypassing the two candidates Circuit Judge Kilgore and Magistrate Judge Ballou ...
This week I learned about Wyatt Moseley Elliott, who was the first president of the VMI Alumni Association, and the leader of the City of Richmond's home guard unit during the Civil War that beca...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/on-wyatt-moseley-elliott.html
In Doe v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia , Senior Judge Conrad entered a temporary injunction brought against a student of the University of Virginia based on an off-campus inc...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/temporary-injunction-entered-against.html
In Rios v. Jenkins , Senior Judge Conrad dismissed for failure to state a claim a section 1983 action challenging the policy of the sheriff of Culpepper County to detain persons arrested for misd...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/when-virginia-sheriff-detains-people.html
In Manning v. Caldwell , the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judges Motz and Keenan, joined by Chief Judge Gregory and Judges King, Wynn, Floyd, Thacker, and Harris, reversed the dismissal for fa...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/on-constitutionality-of-virginia.html
In Bi v. McAuliffe , the Fourth Circuit in an opinion by Judge Wilkinson, joined by Judges Niemeyer and Duncan, affirmed the dismissal by Judge Hilton of the fraud claims of a group of Chinese in...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/fourth-circuit-affirms-dismissal-of.html
Before my big trip to Orlando and my little trip to Pittsburgh, I got to see the swearing-in of Judge Fred Rowlett. Judge Rowlett was a law clerk for Judge Williams in the Abingdon federal cour...
http://swvalaw.blogspot.com/2019/07/on-judge-fred-rowlett.html