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October 1999 Listing of articles from the VBA Journal, 1975-98 |
December 1999
President’s Page: Striving for the Best |
As we move forward into 2000, it is good to check our progress against our
Mission Statement.
The Executive Committee spent a good portion of its October Charlottesville
meeting and a special meeting in December considering legislative initiatives
from the sections and committees as we finalize yet another program characterized
by our devotion to the public and to our profession. As an example, Jeanne Franklin’s
multi-faceted committee will report to the legislature on recommended standards
under which the sanity of juveniles may be considered in defense of criminal
charges.
Our colleagues in Franklin, whose law practices were washed away by Hurricane
Floyd, are the target of a relief effort from this Association which will be
aided significantly by the Virginia Law Foundation. These lawyers require our
help, not only as providers of legal services for their regular and pro bono
clients, but also to allow them the time to return to their significant extracurricular
community roles.
Lawyers Helping Lawyers, an important program, has come under scrutiny from
the press. Pushing beyond agreement or disagreement with the point-of-view of
the articles, I have appointed a committee which will include representatives
of the Virginia State Bar and the judiciary to study and confirm the constructs
of a program designed to help lawyers so that they can live up to the ideals
of their professional responsibilities to their clients.
Conversely, we have provided members to a VSB Commission which will forward-think
Multi-Disciplinary Practice and will hold its inaugural public meeting at the
VBA’s Williamsburg meeting in January.
Our sections, many of which wear separate hats as they put on their own meetings,
recognize the need of the general membership for CLE presentations. For example,
the Labor and Employment Section, which conducted an SRO seminar at the Tides
Inn this fall, has graciously offered to also put on programs in this high-profile
practice area at the Association meetings.
The Special Issues Committee has spawned course offerings at several law schools
on topics significant to our future — for example, the vitality of our
basic governmental structure of cities and counties in the context of growth
and related infrastructure issues like transportation and education that cross,
or need to cross, those governmental boundaries.
And who speaks for this Association?
Look at the diversity shown on our masthead: Anita Poston, our President-elect,
is from a firm of approximately 45; Jeanne Franklin, Chair of the Executive
Committee, is a sole practitioner.
Keep reading: Vic Millner, Frank Thomas, Lane Gabeler, John Fletcher; Wade Massie,
Ed Betts, Tom Farrell, Butch Davies, Bill Rachels, Anne Whittemore, The Honorable
Elizabeth Lacy, Jayne Barnard, Philip Parker, Jim Ingold. Small firms, medium
firms, large firms, corporate law department, judiciary; professor of law, civil
practice, criminal practice, general practice, small community, big city —
all are represented in the leadership of the Association.
Our mission, as continuously reaffirmed by you every time that you renew your
membership and send in your Patron’s dues or join the Judicial Section,
is to keep pushing for the best — which certainly includes the highest
lawyering skills — but which really means to the VBA — the way to
do the right thing; the way to honor courtesy and civility; the way to honor
moral bravery under the law.
I exhort you to come to Williamsburg. Not because it will be fun, which it will
be; but because the program and the camaraderie will remind us all about why
we wanted to be lawyers and why we joined The Virginia Bar Association.
While I may have other occasions to thank you, it has been a tremendous honor
to be your President this year. Return to Top
Law firms have followed the rest of the business world into the wonders of the information age. Everyone wants to take advantage of the benefits of the Internet and the wealth of information it provides.
Who is not impressed by the ability to obtain almost any tax form at 11:00 at night, or to delve into State Corporation Commission regulations at the click of a button?
For all of its potential benefits, there are potential costs that come with the Internet and e-mail. Law firms, like all businesses, need to be prepared to address those potential costs.
The most obvious cost is a loss of productivity. Forwarding e-mail messages with jokes or pictures has become a full-time job for some people. Surfing the web for Christmas gifts or sports scores can use up significant portions of a day. Confidentiality and security of documents has become an issue because of the ease with which documents can be transferred. Inappropriate e-mail messages or pictures that have been taken from the Internet can result in potential harassment claims.
In order to address these issues as well as other potential problems, law firms, like other businesses, should have communications policies. This policy should:
• Inform firm employees that all business equipment, electronic and telephone communications systems, computer systems, as well as all communications and stored information transmitted, received, or contained on these systems constitute firm property;
• Clearly explain what privacy rights employees should expect with respect to e-mail, computer files and other communications and information media;
• Make clear that software purchased by the firm may only be installed on the firm’s computer system unless given specific permission to install software at home;
• State the quantity of personal use permitted (if any) on the firm’s computer system;
• Identify types of Internet sites that may be accessed and those that should be off-limits (“chat-rooms” and other nonbusiness-related sites);
• Address the distribution of copyrighted material by e-mail;
• Address the use of e-mail for transmission of confidential or privileged documents and when, or if, encryption should be used. (The ABA, the states and the courts are currently wrestling with the issue of whether documents sent by e-mail are privileged.)
• Address the retention of computer files and e-mails and discuss how long back-up copies will be retained. (The firm’s document retention program should also be revised to address electronic media.)
• Indicate that the firm’s harassment and anti-discrimination policies apply to the e-mail system, that harassment of whatever kind via electronic communications is prohibited, and that e-mail must not otherwise contain offensive or disruptive messages.
This list certainly does not address all of the potential issues raised by the use of the Internet and e-mail. A law firm must also consider how these policies are applied to partners as opposed to associates and other employees. A formal communications policy will certainly not stop abuse of the Internet and e-mail, but it should make clear the line between acceptable and unacceptable use.
Donald D. Long practices law in Richmond with the firm of Woods, Rogers & Hazlegrove. This article is part of a continuing series created by members of the Law Practice Management Section Council as a service to VBA members. Please contact Steve Edmonds with any comments or topic suggestions for future articles at stevee@caevalaw.com or (804) 343-4362. Return to Top
VBA offer to coordinate relief efforts for Southside lawyers results in thousands of dollars raised throughout Virginia
Citing ‘spirit of camaraderie,’ Landin appeals to statewide bar for help
Drawing on prior efforts in furnishing help from Virginia in flood relief assistance for lawyers in Florida and North Dakota during this decade, The Virginia Bar Association announced on October 25 that it would provide coordination of assistance to Southside attorneys and law firms adversely affected by Hurricane Floyd and its aftermath.
By November 9, when the VBA made its official pitch for donations, almost $4,000 had been received from leading Virginia attorneys and the VBA itself in informal response to an appeal by Association President David Craig Landin of Richmond.
“We are assessing the scattered reports of lawyers impacted by flooding, particularly in the Franklin area, to determine the numbers and extent of need,” said Landin. “Preliminary findings indicate that even though the total number of attorneys affected may not be large, there are substantial losses.
“Our concerns for our colleagues are amplified by our recognition that there is special impact in these smaller communities where they practice. In Franklin and like places, the importance of lawyers’ obligations to the clients, their pro bono work and their community activity is magnified in many respects. So the sooner we can help these lawyers rebuild their practices, the better we can help mitigate the broad community impact as well.”
Landin stated that the VBA was in close contact with Virginia State Bar President Scott Street, who had encouraged the Association to step out on this matter, and with VSB staff leaders. The VBA plans on continuing cooperation with the VSB as the relief effort moves forward, and on developing connections with local bar associations and other interested statewide bar groups.
The VBA has traditionally coordinated such participation from a broad spectrum of Virginia attorneys, both VBA members and non-members, most notably following Hurricane Andrew’s devastation of Florida in 1992-93, and in the aftermath of severe flooding in North Dakota in 1997, when some $11,000 was collected in those two cases and forwarded to bar associations in those states.
Landin noted, “It is plainly appropriate that we should do the same, or more, for our colleagues here in Virginia.”
On November 9, the VBA announced the creation of a fund through The Virginia Bar Association Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity, open to contributions from all interested to help these lawyers either directly or through in-kind assistance.
“We all need to make personal contributions to this effort,” Landin said, “and I am encouraged by the response we have received to date. We are now officially kicking off the funding effort. We want and need contributions from across the Commonwealth, in keeping with the spirit of camaraderie among members of the legal profession in Virginia.”
For more than a decade, the VBA Young Lawyers Division, in a joint effort with the VSB Young Lawyers Conference, has provided legal assistance to disaster victims repeatedly following emergencies in various areas of the Commonwealth.
Stephen Otero of Richmond chairs the VBA/YLD Disaster Legal Assistance Committee, and VBA member Shawn Copeland of Richmond chairs the VSB/YLC Emergency Legal Services Committee.
Otero, in addition to organizing and training volunteers to help citizens in the flooded areas, also contacted local attorneys to ascertain their needs to restore their practices.
Landin indicated that he believes the Southside flooding shows a clear need to establish a longer-term component of the current disaster legal assistance program based specifically on the adverse impacts on Virginia attorneys whose practices are disrupted by natural disasters.
In this particular case, according to Landin, information received by the VBA indicates there is a need for law library, technology and practice assistance, which he hopes the VBA can encourage the organized bar to meet through financial and in-kind aid.
The VBA has distributed information about the flood relief fund to all local and specialty bar groups in Virginia.
On November 16, it was announced that Edward C. “Ted” Minor of Franklin, the recently retired general counsel of the Fine Paper Division of Union Camp Corporation, will serve as the field coordinator of the VBA flood relief effort.
Want to Help?
Persons and law firms wishing to contribute to the flood relief effort may send
donations to The Virginia Bar Association Foundation, 701 East Franklin Street,
Suite 1120, Richmond, VA 23219. Questions may be directed to the VBA office
at (804) 644-0041. Return to Top
With Assembly convening next month, VBA groups finalize work
The 2000 Virginia General Assembly —the first of the new millennium and
the first controlled by the GOP since Reconstruction—will convene in Richmond
January 12.
Bills of special VBA interest will be highlighted on section legislative pages
and committee pages at www.vba.org throughout the session, which ends March
11. VBA members should also use the VBA’s online link to the Virginia legislative
information system to keep abreast of current activity.
Members of VBA sections will receive summaries of 2000 legislation related to
their practice areas after the session ends and final action is taken. This
annual service is provided to all paid members of VBA sections, and a separate
summary is produced for each section.
The legislative calendar is listed here for your reference:
January 12, 2000: Session convenes.
January 17: Last day to request draft legislation.
January 24: Last day to introduce legislation.
February 15: Cross-over. Committee action on revenue, debt and appropriation
bills (except budget) by midnight.
February 18: Each house to act on its own revenue, debt and appropriation bills
(except budget).
February 20: Budget committees complete work by midnight.
February 24: Houses of introduction complete budget bills.
March 1: Last day to put revenue bills and budget into conference.
March 6: Last day for committee action.
March 9: Last day to put remaining bills into conference.
March 11: Adjournment sine die.
April 10: Last day for Governor to act on legislation.
April 19: Reconvened session.Return to Top
LHL confidentiality issue is scrutinized
In response to recently raised questions in the press about the Lawyers Helping
Lawyers Program and confidentiality policies, a special joint study committee
has been appointed by The Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar,
and the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission.
The committee will consider LHL confidentiality and the relationship with other
policies of the organized bar and the judiciary in respect to lawyers and judges
who are undergoing monitoring or need help in dealing with substance abuse problems.
At this time, LHL does not report attorneys under monitoring to the Virginia
State Bar, and volunteers working with the program are protected from having
to divulge information obtained through their work with program participants.
Lawyers Helping Lawyers was mentioned in an eight-part series of articles about
a 1997 Hampton criminal case, “Two Lives...One Bullet...No Justice,”
published in the Peninsula’s Daily Press in September and October.
Among many allegations in the series of articles, the defense attorney in the
case was said to have been under treatment for substance abuse and behaving
erratically in court. Return to Top
Six VBA sections are tapped for initial list serves
As part of The Virginia Bar Association’s ongoing efforts to enhance its
communications capabilities, six VBA substantive law sections have been selected
to test the use of list serves (a.k.a., electronic mailing lists).
The “guinea pigs” are the Business Law, Civil Litigation, Health Law,
Intellectual Property Law, Law Practice Management and Transportation Law Sections.
The list serves were established in late October and are hosted by Listserve.com
of Lorton, which worked with the VBA staff to set up the lists. The list serves
are administered by the VBA. No one other than paid members of each section
will be subscribed to each section’s list, and any material posted must
first be approved by the VBA office.
The VBA section list serves are “announcement” lists, as opposed to
“discussion” lists. It is expected that they will be primarily used
to disseminate information about upcoming section activities, such as conferences
and CLE programs at VBA Annual and Summer Meetings, and for notices regarding
legislative activity and other issues of interest.
Electronic discussion boards have been part of every VBA section’s web
presence since the expansion and renovation of the VBA’s website in the
summer of 1998, and all VBA sections are encouraged to make use of them. The
boards are not passworded and may be accessed by visiting each section’s
home page and clicking on the “Discussion” button. Return
to Top
VBA Foundation, Chapple Fund welcome year-end charitable gifts
If you are planning your end-of-year charitable gifts, keep The Virginia Bar
Association Foundation in mind. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation which
underwrites many of the public service projects of the VBA. Your contributions
are welcomed, as they strengthen our Association’s resources for positive
action. One prominent current project is the Southside Flood Legal Assistance
Fund, which has already generated more than $4,000 for Virginia lawyers seeking
to rebuild their practices and help their clients following devastating floods
earlier this fall. For more information about the VBA Foundation, please contact
the VBA office at (804) 644-0041.
Those persons with a particular interest in the Lawyers Helping Lawyers Program
may specifically contribute to The Stephen C. Chapple Recovery Assistance Fund.
Established in 1995 in memory of former Substance Abuse Committee member Stephen
C. Chapple, the fund assists attorneys with the expense of treatment for alcohol
or drug addiction or with similar expenses related to rehabilitation agreements.
The Fund is housed in the VBA Foundation and contributions are tax-deductible.
For more information, please contact the VBA office at (804) 644-0041. Return
to Top
R. Harvey Chappell Jr. of Richmond, a partner in the firm of Christian & Barton, recently received the Hunter W. Martin Professionalism Award from the Bar Association of the City of Richmond. In January of this year, he received the VBA’s William B. Spong Jr. Award for Professionalism.
The Legal Services Corporation of Virginia (LSCV), the state and IOLTA funding and oversight entity for Virginia’s legal aid programs, is pleased to announce the receipt of a cy pres award in the amount of $17,774 from a major consumer class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. VBA member Dale W. Pittman of Petersburg, a former legal aid director who represented some of the Virginia plaintiffs in the case, suggested that the court distribute unclaimed residual funds from the settlement to legal aid programs in Virginia, Illinois, Michigan and New York. All counsel agreed to the distribution to legal aid programs in the four states and to the Special Olympics of New Jersey. In Virginia, the money will be used to help fund legal aid lawyers’ online access to a law library.
Five partners of Mays & Valentine were recently honored with “Mays & Valentine Founders Awards”: David K. Sutelan, David Mays Award for Legal Scholarship; Edmund D. Harllee, Charles Valentine Award for Contributions to Internal Unity; Philip J. Bagley III, John Davenport Award for Community Service; Mark S. Shiembob and Bernice H. Cilley, Richmond Moore Award for Client Service.
Arnald B. Crews, regional vice president of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and Robert L. Whittaker, regional manager for Virginia, announce that the Richmond office of the AAA, located at 707 East Main Street, Suite 1610, now has enhanced hearing room facilities. Larger hearing and caucus room areas are equipped with telephone conferencing capabilities and dataport access. Copying and faxing services are also on location.
Heartfelt condolences go to VBA Administrative Director Sandy Thompson and her husband Bob on the death of their daughter, Catherine Marie Thompson, on November 19.
VBA Section and Committee Coordinator Brenda Dillard and her husband Robert welcomed a daughter, Lacey Alexandra Dillard, on November 1 in Richmond.
Have you moved recently? Please keep the VBA posted as to your whereabouts, so that we can keep you posted on Association activities and events. Fax your change of address to us at (804) 644-0052, or e-mail us at thevba@vba.org. Return to Top
Fall is always a busy season for The Virginia Bar Association and its sections
and committees, and this autumn has been particularly busy for the VBA Young
Lawyers Division.
Town Hall Meetings were held in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, Roanoke and
Richmond in October and November. These programs, which are designed as public
forums to explore current issues of interest, ranged from panel discussions
to political debates. In some cases, the meetings are televised by local cable
stations.
Regional Town Hall Meeting chairs/co-chairs are Christopher Boynton and Brandon
Zeigler, Hampton Roads; Sean McDonough, Northern Virginia; Mark Dellinger, Roanoke;
and Jennifer McClellan, Maya Eckstein and Rudolph “Dutch” Bumgardner
IV, Richmond.
On November 3, the annual Pro Bono Hotline Roundtable was held in Williamsburg.
As in past years, this meeting brought together hotline coordinators, legal
aid representatives and other volunteers to discuss the hotlines and other joint
VBA/legal aid efforts.
Lawyers for the Arts/Nonprofits held its first legal clinic for artists in Northern
Virginia on November 17, in partnership with the Washington Area Lawyers for
the Arts. Return to Top
The Nominating Committee of the VBA Young Lawyers Division is pleased to announce the following nominees for the 2000 slate of officers:
Chair: James V. Ingold (Chadwick, Washington, Olters, Moriarty & Lynn), Fairfax
Chair-Elect: David N. Anthony (Kaufman & Canoles), Norfolk
Secretary-Treasurer: C. Vaughan Gibson (Mays & Valentine), Tysons Corner
The Committee is also pleased to announce that the following member of the Division has been nominated for election to the VBA/YLD Executive Committee:
Katherine Harman-Stokes (Hogan & Hartson), McLean, Potomac
Other nominations for the Executive Committee may be made by any member of the Division by notifying the chair of the Nominating Committee in writing immediately:
Mary C. Zinsner, Chair, VBA/YLD Nominating Committee
Mays & Valentine, L.L.P.
8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 800
McLean, Virginia 22102-3805
The Division will vote on the candidates for chair-elect, secretary-treasurer and the Executive Committee at its business meeting on Friday, January 14, during the VBA Annual Meeting. The chair position is filled automatically by the outgoing chair-elect. Return to Top
Copyright 1999 The Virginia Bar Association