Attorneys facing court sanctions or bar discipline often express surprise at what is perceived to be an absence of due process when it comes to the process, including complaints regarding lack of notice and the inability to...more
Consider the scenario in which opposing counsel provided a settlement offer that the client approved, but the lawyer has not communicated its acceptance to opposing counsel prior to the client’s death. A zealous advocate may...more
The Virginia Supreme Court approved on September 19, 2022, Legal Ethics Opinion 1898, which permits a lawyer’s receipt of cryptocurrency as an advance payment for legal services. Notwithstanding the relative novelty of the...more
11/23/2022
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Law Firm Associates ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Lawyer Compensation ,
Payment Processors ,
Payment Systems ,
Payment Terms ,
Popular ,
VA Supreme Court
Many lawyers have confronted the irksome practice of opposing counsel sending emails containing half-truths such as...more
10/27/2022
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Email ,
Email Policies ,
Ethical Duties ,
Law Firm Associates ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Law Practice Management ,
Legal Ethics ,
Professional Liability ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
VA Supreme Court
Reporting from the Virginia State Bar’s Office of Bar Counsel shows consistency yet again in the overall number of complaints made against lawyers and the corresponding levels of discipline....more
10/6/2022
/ Attorney Disbarrment ,
Attorney Malpractice ,
Attorney Misconduct ,
Best Practices ,
Client Services ,
Law Firm Associates ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Law Practice Management ,
Professional Development ,
Virginia ,
Young Lawyers
Any project involving the exercise of eminent domain includes the strong likelihood that there will be a series of changes during the planning and construction phases. Yet, while construction needs may warrant a change in the...more
Consider the following: After years of litigation, the jury has found against your client, entering a money judgment against her. Even before the jurors have left the courtroom, she turns to you and asks: “What are we going...more
In Article VI of the Constitution of Virginia, the judicial power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Virginia Supreme Court and in “other courts of original or appellate jurisdiction subordinate to the Supreme Court as the...more
Effective January 1, 2022, appellate options in Virginia’s state courts are increasing with an expansion of the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. Generally, the Court of Appeals will hear all appeals involving...more
On July 21, 2021, the Supreme Court of Virginia rejected without comment a proposed amendment to Rule 1.8, which governs “prohibited transactions.” Specifically, Rule 1.8(k), as proposed, would have provided that: “A lawyer...more
Reporting from the Virginia State Bar’s Office of Bar Counsel indicates general consistency in the overall number of complaints made against lawyers and the corresponding levels of discipline....more
Any discussion of the attorney-client relationship involves communication and allocating authority between the lawyer and the client. Rule 1.2(a) provides that...more
Reporting from the Virginia State Bar’s Office of Bar Counsel indicates general consistency in the overall number of complaints made against lawyers and the corresponding levels of discipline....more
The Supreme Court confirmed the unremarkable proposition in Fernandez v. Commissioner of Highways, 2020 Va. LEXIS 57 (May 28, 2020), that no private cause of action for payment of relocation expenses exists under the Virginia...more
As law schools around the country are graduating a fresh crop of lawyers-to-be, consider where we stand within the legal profession. Anointed as both promoters and defenders of the administration of justice, lawyers are...more
The Advisory Committee on Rules of Court for the Supreme Court of Virginia is seeking public comment on a proposal to amend the Alternative Pretrial Order for Eminent Domain Cases (Form 3-A) to conform with an amendment to...more
10/3/2019
/ Condemnation ,
Depositions ,
Eminent Domain ,
Land Owners ,
Pretrial Motions ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Trial Preparation ,
VA Supreme Court
On June 21, 2019, the United States Supreme Court swung open the door to the federal court for takings cases against state and local governments. Specifically, in Knick v. Township of Scott, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), the Supreme...more
6/25/2019
/ 42 U.S.C. §1983 ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Just Compensation ,
Knick v Township of Scott Pennsylvania ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Remedies ,
Takings Clause
Can we all agree that it is unfair to provide intentionally a judge with the wrong legal authority? Indeed, the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct mandate that a “lawyer shall not knowingly . . . make a false statement of...more
6/20/2019
/ Attorney Misconduct ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Duty of Candor ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Statements ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Non-Parties ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
VA Supreme Court
Our adversarial legal system contemplates that each party will have the opportunity to fully investigate the facts of a dispute and bring to the attention of the trier of fact those facts most favorable to its position. This...more
6/18/2019
/ Adversary Proceedings ,
Attorney Misconduct ,
Client Services ,
Destruction of Evidence ,
Discovery ,
Evidence ,
Legal Ethics ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
Social Media ,
VA Supreme Court ,
Young Lawyers
I spoke recently on a national teleconference on the topic of “Attorney Professionalism: Translating Philosophy into Daily Practice.” My comments addressed the unremarkable proposition that legal incivility among lawyers is...more
Practitioners before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) must comply with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.10, et seq. Within the USPTO, the Office of Enrollment and Discipline is...more
5/1/2019
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Attorney Misconduct ,
Client Services ,
Disqualification ,
False Statements ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Legal Ethics ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
Unauthorized Practice of Law ,
USPTO
Pro bono publico or “for the public good” is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. Unlike traditional community service or volunteerism, pro bono service uses the specific skills of...more
Eminent domain cases in Virginia involve, often, a two-stage process by which to finally resolve the acquisition of private property for public use. At the end of trial, a condemnation jury (or commission) issues a report...more
A February 9, 2018, Harvard Law Review article concluded that “The supply of word marks that are at least reasonably competitively effective as trademarks is finite and exhaustible” and “the trademark system is growing...more