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July 2003
Volume XXIX, Number 5 (PDF version)
President’s Page:
Strengthening the Bonds
Frank A. Thomas III
The VBA/WVBA Summer Meeting
Looking Back in History, 1940:
Ties of Comradeship, Bonds of Sentiment
West Virginia Governor Homer Holt’s address to the 1940 VBA-WVBA joint
meeting
SPECIAL
SECTION:
Practicing Law Smarter Not Harder
the quarterly newsletter of the VBA Law Practice Management Division, edited
by Gant Redmon, Jan Thomas and Jack White
From the Bookshelf: John Tucker’s Trial
and Error
Virginia Law Foundation announces 2003-04 grant awards
Young Lawyers Division:
Non-litigators needed to maintain momentum in Nonprofit Legal Support Project
Stephen D. Otero
In Memoriam
Across the Commonwealth
StatePulse news now available on VBA website • 2003 VBA Nominations
Committee identified • Last call for Virginia Law Foundation Fellows
nominations • Fall conference calendar
News in Brief
VBA Patrons for 2003
Calendar
President's
Page:
Strengthening the Bonds
Frank A. Thomas III
One of my favorite passages of Shakespeare is the discussion Henry V has
with his leaders before the battle of Agincourt. When one of his lieutenants
describes his desire for more troops to meet the French forces which greatly
outnumber the English, King Henry upbraids him strongly. As Henry reflects
on the glory that belongs to those who prevail, he refers to his comrades
in arms as “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” He makes
it clear that he intends to refer not only to the nobles who hear him but
to all who are engaged in the enterprise including the foot soldiers such
as the feckless Nym, Bardolph and Pistol.
Henry V is full of references to the youth of the King and how he has changed
from the party boy we see in Henry IV, Part I. We find him there
as Prince Hal in the company of Falstaff, as well as Nym and Bardolph, drinking
and engaging in mischief that would seem to be beneath the station of the
next King of England. While the bystanders in Henry V clearly believe the
King has changed, there may be more of a connection than they would admit.
The affection the young Prince Hal feels for his fellow revelers is similar
to that he feels for his comrades on the eve of the battle of Agincourt.
It reflects his ability to reach outside of himself in a given situation
and establish a bond with those around him that reflects their common bonds
and interests.
What, might you ask, does any of this have to do with the practice of law?
I would suggest it provides a metaphor for the collegiality that is one
of the core values of the VBA.
I am fortunate to practice law in an area where the lawyers know each other
and, in most cases, the spouses of the other lawyers and even know something
of the other lawyers’ families. On Term Day or Motions Day shortly
before the judge comes on the bench, lawyers are gathered in small groups
in the courtroom exchanging pleasantries or the latest county gossip. While
they will shortly become adversaries, they have not forgotten they are friends.
While my most recent experience has been in Piedmont Virginia, I have been
fortunate to have similar experiences in the Shenandoah Valley and within
the large firm in which I started practicing law. I enjoy getting to know
the lawyers with whom I work as people and believe my practice is both more
pleasant and richer for it.
Most lawyers have a competitive bent, if only from the competitive process
that is becoming a lawyer. Added to this bent is the admonition that we
be zealous advocates for our clients. Within this context, if the only time
lawyers see each other is as adversaries or competitors, it dramatically
increases the likelihood of the uncivil behavior that is often complained
of in relations among lawyers. If, on the other hand, we are able to see
other lawyers in the same light as ourselves and that they have the same
goals, interests and problems that we do, they become more than simply an
adversary or a target. We can recognize our common bonds and in doing so
can respect our opponents for the things we share.
The fostering of collegiality is the best method of expanding our familiarity
with other lawyers and getting to know them as individuals. Collegiality
is a value that is easy to overlook. It requires the intentional interjection
of one’s self into a social context to connect with others in a manner
which goes deeper than simply the matter at hand. It can be as simple as
getting to know something about another lawyer personally in the context
of a telephone call or the larger interaction that occurs at organized social
events.
The meetings of our Association have long been a focus for collegiality.
They are wonderful opportunities to renew old friendships and to make new
ones in an atmosphere that is pleasant and relaxed. They offer an opportunity
for us to get to know other lawyers, their spouses and families and explore
the common bonds that unite us.
The Summer Meeting has been a continuing subject of discussion for our Board
of Governors. We are aware of the concerns our members have expressed over
the ever-increasing price for the event. In the not too distant past entire
firms would close down to come to the gathering. Now, lawyers complain that
it becomes harder and harder to get the approval of their firms for the
expense of the event.
And yet, despite these problems, the Summer Meeting continues to hold its
own. The number in attendance has remained relatively stable and it continues
to be largely self-supporting. The VBA dues do not subsidize it. I believe
that members support the meeting as they do because of opportunities the
gathering presents for collegiality. It is a unique opportunity to get to
know other lawyers in a pleasant and relaxed setting – to laugh and
joke with them, play golf and tennis with them, or simply catch up on what
has been going on in each others’ lives.
The Annual Meeting, while very different in both character and price from
the Summer Meeting, offers similar opportunities for collegiality. As the
annual meeting of our Association, it brings together many of the functions
of our Association in a pleasant setting. The activities are many and varied,
and there is something about the combination of Colonial Williamsburg, winter
and good fellowship that is truly unique.
Our sections have also done much to foster collegiality. The annual programs
of, for example, our Bankruptcy, Labor, and Wills, Trusts and Estates Sections,
while known for the high quality of the CLE available, are also wonderful
opportunities to interact with other lawyers in a social setting and to
get to know them better. The telling of war stories or even a good joke
or two in a relaxed environment brings us closer together.
While there are those of our members who never miss a meeting, there are
others who are put off by the formality of it all or believe they simply
do not have the time. To those persons I would say give it a try. You will
get out of it what you put into it. While it may not become an annual practice,
try it out. If for some reason the Summer Meeting is still not your dish
of tea, consider the Annual Meeting or any one of the several advanced CLE
programs sponsored by our Association or even the opportunity to volunteer
for section and committee work.
Collegiality is not a passive virtue. It requires each of us to reach out
and connect with other lawyers. It is easily pressed aside by the pressures
of billable hours and demands of clients. Whether attending a meeting or
simply taking the time to connect on a personal basis with another lawyer,
we must remember to take the time to do it. While we might not quite replicate
the bonds of which King Henry speaks so glowingly before the battle of Agincourt,
we will be reminded of the things we share in common with our fellow lawyers.
As we understand and acknowledge these bonds, we realize that our fellow
lawyers are more than adversaries or competitors. Even in our differences,
we are united in our common profession.
Return to Top
Looking Back in History, 1940:
Ties of Comradeship, Bonds of Sentiment
West Virginia Governor Homer Holt’s address to the 1940 VBA-WVBA joint
meeting
This is an occasion to which I have looked forward with keen anticipation
for several years, a joint convention of the Bar Associations of Virginia
and West Virginia.
Service in an honorable profession alone offers ties of comradeship productive
of pleasant associations, however widely separated geographically may be
the scenes of the professional endeavors. But the Associations of the Bars
of Virginia and West Virginia are drawn together here by many additional
ties which effect a bond of sentiment which can be approximated by few,
if any, other professional associations.
There are many of us of West Virginia who do not forget that for one half
of the years that have passed since the adoption of the Constitution of
the United States, and for a much greater portion of the time since the
colonization of America, the soil of what is now West Virginia was a part
of the Old Dominion.
We also remember with appropriate pride that the native stock of West Virginia
is in large meausre the same as that of Virginia. In the earlier days the
lands to the west of the Alleghenies were settled for the most part by those
who ventured across the mountains from the more easterly portions of Virginia
to establish new homes along the then Western Frontier. There are many identities
in our respective ancestors, customs, religions, traits of character and
our political ideals, all of which have sprung largely from a common source.
Especially are our ties close in the legal profession. Many of the most
eminent members of the West Virginia Bar have been natives of Virginia.
Others, while natives of West Virginia, in equipping themselves for the
practice of their profession, sought knowledge and mental discipline in
the institutions of higher learning in Virginia.
The earlier legal precedents of Virginia were continued as the legal precedents
for the jurisprudence of West Virginia.
Even so, all the migration has not been to the West. Some of our native
West Virginians have, likewise, graced the profession in the Old Dominion.
Signal among those who have migrated to the East is the distinguished Governor
of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Honorable James H. Price, to whom,
even though he be absent at this time, I will say in pleasant anticipation
of his presence here, on behalf of the West Virginia Bar and on behalf of
all West Virginians, I extend a special welcome back not only to his native
West Virginia, but also to his native Greenbrier County, which is the county
of my birth and rearing as well.
We are happy in the choice of our meeting place. For years White Sulphur
Springs has been a favored place of meetings for our respective associations.
I am told that the first annual meeting of The Virginia State Bar Association
was held here in 1889. When Virginia and West Virginia were one, White Sulphur
Springs was a celebrated resort, the healing waters of which were prized
by those of Eastern and Western Virginia alike. And, as both states have
progressed and prospered, so has this resort grown in beauty, splendor and
fame; and from the Old White has evolved the New Greenbrier.
An honorable history is a secure foundation for the future. The history
of Virginia is the history of West Virginia. It is an honorable one to which
all may point with pride. Virginia was the Mother of States long before
the birth of West Virginia. Before she became the Mother of States, she
was already the mother of statesmen and statesmanship. When we were all
of one commonwealth, Virginia rightly earned the title of the “Mother
of Presidents.” Even before the Revolution, the spirit and principles
of free governmental institutions were nurtured in Colonial Virginia. It
was not by accident that the sons of Virginia took first place in providing
the leadership that made of the separate and independent colonies a great
and united nation.
We of West Virginia share the pride of Virginians in having been of the
commonwealth that furnished to the nation Washington, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, George Mason, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, the Tuckers, the Randolphs,
the Lees and many others equally deserving of mention.
It was from this very county of Greenbrier that General Andrew Lewis and
his followers marched to Point Pleasant, there to engage in the sanguinary
battle of that name which is frequently referred to as the first battle
of the American Revolution. Whether or not the Battle of Point Pleasant
was, in fact, the first battle of the American Revolution, all agree that
it was of the utmost importance to the success of the Colonial Armies. It
relieved the Colonies of hostile threats on the Western Frontier and permitted
undivided attention to be directed to the British Armies in the East. It
also made certain that the nation to be formed would be limited to the West
by neither the Allegheny Mountains nor the Ohio River.
It was largely to those of Western Virginia that Washington, in the dark
days of the Revolution, referred when he said:
“Leave me but a banner to place on the mountains of Augusta, and I
will rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding country from the
dust and set her free.”
After the Revolution, the representatives from Western Virginia, the counties
now composing West Virginia, in the Convention at Richmond, were those who
gave the majority necessary for the ratification by Virginia of the Federal
Constitution, without which ratification most assuredly the Constitution
would not have then been adopted.
In the War Between the States, the soil of West Virginia gave Stonewall
Jackson to Robert E. Lee and to the Southern Cause.
There are ties between us far too strong to be strained by the artificiality
of state lines.
There are ties of blood. Your people are our people. There are channels
of trade and commerce along the magnificent railroads and highways that
traverse our states, one from the other. There are pleasant and lasting
social contacts.
But it seems to me that the strongest of all are the ties of thought. The
spirit of liberty and independence which characterized early Virginia and
which makes her great today is also found in West Virginia. It seems to
be inherent in our people of the Virginias.
Virginia was, historically, the nursery of free governmental institutions,
of free institutions of popular or self-government.
The concept is something more than the proclaiming of the rights and liberties
of individuals. It embodies also an appreciation of the responsibilities
of sovereignty and an understanding that, if we are to be a free sovereign
people, we must intelligently and unselfishly carry the responsibilities
that are inseparable from those cherished rights and liberties. It includes
a sound understanding that, in democracies, government is not some abstract
influence or thing apart from the governed, but is, in truth, of the people
as well as for the people and, of necessity, by the people.
The thought knows the worth of liberty and its price. It is unselfish and
looks to truth and justice. It knows that in unity there is strength and
that the security of our free institutions is dependent upon the maintenance
of a reasonable balance between purely individual advancement and the welfare
of the body politic. It is that same spirit which prompted Virginia to surrender
to the general government the power and wealth of the vast Northwest Territory
in the interest of harmony and the welfare of all. It is the courage to
stand by sound principles, even at a cost.
The day of the need of sound thought as the basis of our free governmental
institutions did not pass with the formation, or with the preservation,
of the Union. The need has been here always and is conspicuously present
now.
That which gave preeminence to the Virginias at the time of the formation
of the Federal Constitution was their belief and confidence in the sufficiency
of a government of laws enacted through a sound plan of popular representation
and an unwavering confidence in the human senses and virtues of truth, right
and justice which would afford the necessary sanction by popular respect
and acceptance.
The separation or division of governmental powers between the three coordinate
branches of government— the legislative, the administrative and the
judicial—was calculated to embody in our governmental plan that impartiality
in administration which would sustain confidence in a government of laws.
This separation of powers has been of immeasurable strength to our government
of laws and has fulfilled the expectations of the nation’s founders.
When, in Europe, we see in rapid succession nations, either voluntarily
or through force or intimidation, abandoning the principles of government
by laws in favor of government by individuals, it cannot be untimely for
us here to give at least slight pause to our basic principles and to view
with at least some concern some of our modern legislation which delegates
to administrative agencies legislative and judicial authoirty as well, and
confounds or confuses in one body all of the governmental functions, legislative,
administrative and judicial authority, and even then, in some instances,
seeks to exclude established judicial review.
However badly many governmental changes and reforms may have been needed
or may even now be needed, may we not hope that the necessary changes and
reforms can be effected in keeping with sound and established principles
indispensable in a democratic government of laws.
May we not also renew our convictions that sound government must come from
the considered reason of well ordered minds and that mob rule is not democracy,
whether it be exercised through force or unreasoned political intimidation.
The greatness of Virginia has not been restricted to the field of political
science. That progressive spirit which characterized old Virginia has continued
and blesses alike the Virginia of today and the comparatively new West Virginia.
It has brought successful accomplishments in industry and trade.
Virginia is rich in agriculture and enjoys a large commerce in shipping.
Her many factories are rapidly increasing and her mining resources are constantly
being developed.
West Virginia has become a great industrial empire, producing more bituminous
coal than any other state of the Union. West Virginia is the home of large
glass, steel and chemical industries. Within her borders may be found a
great variety of other important enterprises. Her agriculture is abundant.
Magnificent scenic beauty decorates these states and in each many wonders
of nature are to be found. Good highways make possible their convenient
enjoyment.
Splendid systems of public education contribute to the welfare and happiness
of our people and give evidence of the appreciation of the importance of
widespread knowledge to the success of popular government.
In the galaxy of states, the citizens of Virginia and West Virginia may
point with pride to their respective habitats.
Two great Commonwealths were made of one. West Virginia, as a state, is
proud of her maternal ancestry and knows that Virginia, the mother, is pure
even though the regularity of her political conception may have been challenged.
Virginia has always been the home of grace and charm. In the earlier days,
there were the planters of the East and the frontiersmen of the West. But
everywhere was found that same genial hospitality, whether in the planter’s
mansion house or the mountaineer’s cabin.
Senator Norris (Robert O. Norris Jr., 1939-40 president of the Virginia
State Bar Association), you and the Virginia lawyers have brought that grace
and charm with you today. It is in your pleasing personalities and strong
characters. It is more abundant in the natural beauty and unpretentious
dignity of your charming wives and daughters whose characters are no less
strong than yours and whose presence graces this occasion.
That same hospitality we West Virginians now extend to you.
Your presence brings us real pleasure, and my wish is that you may have
real enjoyment here in your associations with our West Virginia lawyers
and our own wives and daughters, likewise charming and courageous.
Return to Top
Practicing
Law Smarter Not Harder:
The VBA Law Practice Management Division Newsletter
Return to Top
From the Bookshelf: John Tucker’s
Trial and Error
From the vivid image depicted in its opening paragraph, Trial and Error
by John Tucker grabbed this reader and led her on a gallop through stories
about his practice of law for 28 years in many of the more flamboyant or
significant court cases of the 1960s to the 1980s. In telling the stories
behind his cases, the author reveals more about American social history
than I might have otherwise learned, and reminds me that truth is indeed
often stranger than fiction.
Larger-than-life Chicago is the setting for the stories told, and it would
almost have to be, for the oversized individuals and disputes Mr. Tucker
discusses. It certainly sounds different from Virginia! The author writes
in a style that reminds one of a raconteur who has been asked to sit down
to record an oral history in which he goes from one story to the next, interjecting
impressions, background, witticisms and memorable moments. You can almost
hear him talking. Every now and then he comes up with a real zinger –
a moment, a description, a riposte so salient that you won’t forget
the point. I will never forget the eminent trial attorney who used his tie
as his dinner napkin; nor will I forget how the author successfully explained
to one client that it really was time to dismiss his lawsuit.
The author is also careful to describe the procedural aspects of a case
where understanding them will be necessary to a better understanding of
later developments in the case. It is evident that John Tucker loves the
law and trial practice, (in fact he advises that a lawyer really has to
in order to persevere and become more skilled at it.) He implicitly makes
the point how hard a really good lawyer has to work.
John Tucker has strong opinions about the profession and also has strong
opinions about the rule of law and its vital importance in maintaining order
in an evolving, sometimes raucous American society. He doesn’t shrink
from expressing them. Indeed one couldn’t imagine John Tucker shrinking
from anything.
And yet he makes his points and his arguments in a quiet, direct way, and
leaves the reader to his or her own reactions. Quiet might seem an odd adjective
to describe one who has enjoyed as bold and large a career as his. But it
is apt. Having sat across dinner tables from him, attending the same meetings,
it is my shame that I never drew from him and fully realized the depth of
his experience, ideas and humor. The author is not a braggart. Like a good
litigator he knows how to listen better than most people do, including yours
truly.
I consider his publishing this book a gift to someone who foolishly missed
the chance the first time around to learn from him and enjoy his sense of
humor. It is also a gift to anyone who has genuine interest in and curiosity
about real-life cases, and the practice of law.
—Jeanne Franklin
John C. Tucker lives in Lanexa, Virginia, with his wife, Jayne Barnard,
a professor of law at the College of William and Mary and a former law faculty
representative on the VBA Board of Governors.
Virginia Law Foundation announces 2003-04
grant awards
The Virginia Law Foundation Board of Directors recently approved 41 grant
awards totaling $417,210 for law-related projects across Virginia. Now in
its 20th year of grantmaking, the Foundation has provided nearly $21 million
in grant support to programs that provide civil legal assistance to low-income
Virginians, law-related education to the public, public service internships
for Virginia law students, and projects designed to improve the administration
of justice.
The VLF awarded a total of $99,000 to 10 pro bono/legal services projects;
15 law-related education projects received $105,210; 14 administration of
justice projects received $147,500, and two entities received a total of
$65,500 for public service internship programs at Virginia’s seven
law schools. VLF funds are provided in support of these projects for a one-year
period beginning July 1, 2003.
The Foundation board allocates five percent of its assets annually for grants
and operations. During the current cycle, the VLF received 65 requests for
funding totaling $1.28 million. The Virginia Law Foundation was established
in 1974 by The Virginia Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar.
The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity; contributions to it are
tax deductible. The Foundation encourages donations from Virginia attorneys.
For further information about the VLF, contact Sharon
Tatum, Executive Director, at (804) 648-0112, or visit the Foundation’s
website at www.virginialawfoundation.org.
Grants awarded to VBA entities are as follows:
Capital Defense Workshop (The Virginia Bar Association Foundation),
$17,900. Grant funds will assist The Virginia Bar Association Foundation
in providing an intensive CLE program in specialized capital defense training,
in order to increase the number of attorneys available for appointment in
capital cases. Attorneys willing to certify that they will accept appointment
in capital cases may attend the workshop free of charge. The program will
be held November 6-7, 2003.
Booklet on the Rules of Professional Conduct and UPL (The Virginia
Bar Association Foundation), $4,000. The VBA Corporate Counsel Section will
create and distribute a booklet on the rules of professional conduct and
unauthorized practice of law, geared toward the application of the rules
to in-house lawyers.
Guardian ad litem Standards Training (The Virginia Bar Association
Foundation), $7,500. The project involves planning the training and developing
a videotape training session to supplement live presentations for a series
of seminars to be conducted around the state for circuit judges, juvenile
and domestic relations district court judges, guardians ad litem, and CASA
volunteers, to educate them on the recently adopted standards for guardians
ad litem practicing in Virginia’s courts.
Nonprofit Legal Support Program (The Virginia Bar Association Foundation),
$8,000. Grant funds are provided for this coordinated effort between the
Young Lawyers Division of The Virginia Bar Association and the Fairfax Bar
Foundation, to provide a link between emerging nonprofit organizations within
the Northern Virginia area (including Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William
counties, and the City of Alexandria) and the vast pool of legal talent
within the bar. The program will help nonprofit organizations find appropriate
legal counsel by creating and maintaining a database of volunteer attorneys.
(For more information on this program, see the VBA Young
Lawyers Division Chair’s column.)
Young Lawyers Division:
Non-litigators needed to maintain momentum in Nonprofit Legal Support Project
Stephen D. Otero
Historically, many of the VBA Young Lawyers Division’s public service
projects have involved advocating on behalf of pro bono clients in court,
in preliminary court proceedings, or in adversarial disputes that appear
likely to result in litigation. To be sure, these projects serve important
public needs, like assisting battered spouses in obtaining civil protective
orders, or obtaining child support judgments against deadbeat parents. These
projects also provide volunteer litigators with many opportunities to satisfy
their pro bono commitments.
Recently, the VBA/YLD has made a real effort to develop projects that will
expand the opportunities of non-litigators who wish to serve the public
and satisfy their pro bono commitments. The Nonprofit Legal Support Project
(“the Project”) is one example.
The Project is a collaborative effort of the VBA/YLD and the Fairfax Bar
Association (“FBA”) to provide a link between struggling nonprofit
organizations in Northern Virginia and the vast pool of legal talent in
the area. The objective is to provide nonprofit organizations with competent
counseling in areas such as taxation, corporate matters, employment, real
estate and other non-litigation disciplines.
The Project was modeled after the Richmond Bar Association’s highly
successful Pro Bono Transactional Program, and was established in July 2002
through a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation. VBA young lawyers Charlie
Meyer and Rebecca Kuehn and Arlene Beckerman at the FBA developed the structure
of the program and hired a program coordinator, Debi Miklaus, last summer.
Ms. Miklaus has developed a brochure about the Project and distributed it
to over 600 of the more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations located in the
City of Alexandria and Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William and Fauquier Counties.
She has also developed another brochure about the Project and distributed
it to hundreds of potential volunteer attorneys in Northern Virginia.
Since becoming operational late last year, the Project has gained considerable
momentum. It has recruited 52 volunteer attorneys from a variety of non-litigation
disciplines and has received inquires from approximately 50 non-profit organizations.
In the fourth quarter of 2002, 11 nonprofits requested legal assistance,
three of which were matched with volunteer attorneys. To date in 2003, 35
nonprofits have requested specified legal assistance. Seventeen of those
nonprofits have already been matched with volunteer attorneys, and efforts
continue to match the remaining nonprofits with volunteer attorneys in the
requested disciplines. If the Project continues to grow at this pace, it
should receive requests from over 100 nonprofits over the course of the
year. Needless to say in light of these statistics, the Project provides
ample opportunity for non-litigators to get involved in a public service
project.
I encourage all lawyers — whether young or not — to consider volunteering
for the Nonprofit Legal Support Project. Please contact Rebecca Kuehn, rkuehn@leclairryan.com,
or Marc Bergoffen, mbergoffen@leclairryan.com,
for more information.
Return to Top
Across the Commonwealth
Breaking news! StatePulse now available on VBA website
There’s a new addition to the legislation
page of The Virginia Bar Association’s website at www.vba.org:
a breaking news window for StatePulse, the premier news content tool for
nonpartisan, unedited government and political information.
The news window, added in June, is always live and links directly to all
relevant state government entities — legislative, executive and judicial—
campaign headquarters, state agencies and congressional offices. Content
is updated frequently and will allow VBA members to keep posted on governmental
affairs in Virginia at all times, by clicking links to news articles and
releases.
The VBA website is the only bar association in Virginia with the StatePulse
window feature.
According to the StatePulse website, “A recent UCLA study revealed
that the web has surpassed radio, TV and newspapers as Americans’ most
important information source. And according to a Pew Internet and American
Life Project Survey, 62 percent of Internet users had sought local, state
or federal government information, up from 47 percent in 2000.”
StatePulse is the product of The Trebor Group, headed by VBA legislative
counsel Robert B. Jones Jr. and based in downtown Richmond.
The feature will be available to all visitors to www.vba.org for a short
period of time. As part of the ongoing development of the website, the VBA
is considering making certain pages and features accessible only to Association
members later this year. Return to Top
Midyear appointees announced in June
Nine VBA members have been elected to positions on the Virginia Law Foundation
Board of Directors and the Joint Continuing Legal Education Committee in
the 2003-04 year. They were nominated by VBA President Frank Thomas and
elected by the VLF Board and its nominations committee in Virginia Beach
last month.
For the VLF Board, the VBA nominees are John R. Fletcher of Norfolk (Tavss,
Fletcher, Maiden & Reed), to serve a second three-year term expiring
in June 2006, and former VBA President Jeanne F. Franklin of Alexandria,
to serve an initial three-year term expiring in June 2006.
For the Joint CLE Committee, incumbents J. Lee E. Osborne of Roanoke (Carter,
Osborne & Miller, PC), Elaine R. Jordan of Richmond (Sands, Anderson,
Marks & Miller), Neil S. Lowenstein of Norfolk (Vandeventer Black LLP),
Paul B. Terpak of Fairfax (Blankingship & Keith PC), Aubrey J. Rosser
Jr. of Altavista, E. Ford Stephens of Richmond (Christian & Barton LLP)and
VBA/YLD representative Valerie W. Long of Charlottesville (McGuireWoods
LLP) have been nominated for reappointment to additional one-year terms
expiring in June 2004.
In other appointments: William G. Broaddus of Richmond (McGuireWoods LLP),
a VBA Board of Governors member and former Virginia attorney general, reappointed
to the board of the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center for
a three-year term ending in March 2006; Aisha J. Bullard of Richmond (Williams
Mullen), reappointed to the Commission on Women and Minorities in the Legal
Profession, for a three-year term ending in June 2006; and C.B. Arrington
Jr., VBA executive vice president, succeeded former VBA administrative director
Sandra P. Thompson as treasurer of The John Marshall Foundation Board of
Directors. Return to Top
Virginia Law Foundation Fellows seeking nominees to Class of ’04
Nominations for the 2004 Class of Virginia Law Foundation Fellows will be
accepted through September 2, 2003. The 2004 Class will be inducted at a
dinner meeting in Colonial Williamsburg on January 15, 2004, during The
Virginia Bar Association’s 114th Annual Meeting. Candidates must (1) be
an active or associate member of the Virginia State Bar for at least 10
years; (2) be a resident of Virginia; (3) be a person of integrity and character;
(4) have maintained and upheld the highest standards of the profession;
(5) be outstanding in the community; and (6) be distinguished in the practice
of law. Retired and senior status judges are eligible. Sitting full-time
judges and constitutional office holders are not eligible during their tenures.
Nominations must include a resume or biographical sketch of the nominee
and must be received by September 2. Send your nomination to VLF Fellows
Council, c/o Nominations, 701 East Franklin Street, Suite 708, Richmond,
Virginia 23219, phone (804) 648-0112, or e-mail to valawfdn@infionline.net.
For a complete listing of current Fellows, please visit the Foundation’s
website at www.virginialawfoundation.org.
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Two Virginia teachers honored by The John Marshall Foundation
Connie H. Grissom, a seventh-grade civics teacher at Booker T. Washington
Middle School in Newport News, and Elizabeth Thompson Harris, who teaches
junior- and senior-level advanced placement U.S. history and comparative
government at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, were the 2003 recipients
of The John Marshall Foundation Teaching Awards.
The awards, which honor outstanding middle and secondary school teachers
of the United States Constitution, were presented in a ceremony on May 1
at the John Marshall House in Richmond. This is the first year in which
two awards have been given.
Grissom, a graduate of Longwood College with a master’s degree from
Virginia State University, focuses on the U.S. Constitution as the bedrock
of civics study, starting with a “family tree” of documents that
led to the Constitution, and utilizing tools such as graphic organizers,
biographical videos and party hats (to illustrate the President’s various
responsibilities). “It is a privilege and adventure for me to help
unlock the mysteries of this document to new classes of seventh-graders
each school year,” she writes.
Harris, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Old Dominion
University, grew up in Pakistan, has taught in Belgium, Senegal and China,
and brings a interdisciplinary approach to her instruction. “Living
in a society where justice is often capricious gives one an appreciation
for life under the rule of law like no other experience can,” she says.
In addition to Constitutional study in her history and government classes,
she includes related subjects in her French and international relations
classes’ curricula.
(As an aside, she is also the six-times-great granddaughter of Constitution
signer Roger Sherman, author of the “Great Compromise.”) Return
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Thomas identifies VBA members for 2003 Nominations Committee
VBA President Frank A. Thomas III has recommended, and the Board of Governors
has approved, the following members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Nominations:
Immediate Past President J. Edward Betts, Chair; President-elect E. Tazewell
Ellett, Board of Governors Chair James V. Meath, James A.L. Daniel of Danville,
Cheshire I’Anson Eveleigh of Norfolk, and Melissa Amos Young of Roanoke.
Betts, Ellett and Meath serve ex officio; Daniel, Eveleigh and Young are
appointees.
Nominations are sought for the VBA Board of Governors Class of 2004, which
will consist of one member from the Capitol Region (Judicial Circuits 9,
12, 13, 14 and 15), one member from the Southside Region (Judicial Circuits
6, 10, 11, 21, 22 and 24), two at-large members, and a judicial representative.
In considering potential nominees, suggested criteria include leadership
track record and potential; professional standing; Association involvement,
including section/committee/division work, CLE participation, public service
activity and membership status; legislative interest and potential; collegiality
and “people skills”; and financial acumen. Diversity of all types,
whether personal, geographic or by practice type/size, is encouraged.
Nominations may be sent to J. Edward Betts, Nominations Committee Chair,
The Virginia Bar Association, 701 East Franklin Street, Suite 1120, Richmond,
VA 23219. Return to Top
Legislative season draws nearer as VBA plans for ’04 Assembly
Although the 2004 General Assembly seems far away, VBA sections and committees
are reminded that it’s time to be producing their next crop of legislative
proposals.
The VBA Board of Governors reviews legislative proposals at its summer meeting
in July and its fall meeting in October. Because of the accelerating pre-session
schedule for developing and filing proposed legislation for the General
Assembly, it is preferable to submit proposals as far in advance as is practicable.
Information on this year’s legislative proposals and other bills of
interest is available on the legislation page
at www.vba.org. Bill information as far back as 1994 is available online
at leg1.state.va.us. Return
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Mark the calendar for fall conferences
Even though it’s early summer, you’ll want to mark your calendar
for these VBA conferences and events coming up this fall:
Boyd-Graves Conference, October 24-25 at The Boar's Head Inn, Charlottesville;
Virginia Tax Practitioners Roundtable, October 24 at Farmington in Charlottesville;
VBA Corporate Counsel Section Fall Forum, October 27 at The Jefferson Hotel,
Richmond; VBA/YLD Pro Bono Hotline Roundtable, November 5 at The Cavalier,
Virginia Beach; VBA Capital Defense Workshop, November 6-7 at the Richmond
Marriott; Region IV Competition, National Moot Court, November 6-8 at the
United States Courts Building, Richmond; and the VBA’s 114th Annual
Meeting, January 15-18 in Colonial Williamsburg.
Watch the VBA News Journal and www.vba.org
for calendar updates and event details. Other events, such as volunteer
training sessions, will be added during the year. Return
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News in Brief
Delegate James F. Almand of Arlington, a VBA member and former House
Courts of Justice chairman, has been appointed by Governor Mark Warner to
fill the vacancy in the 17th Judicial Circuit created by the retirement
of Judge Paul D. Sheridan, effective August 1.
Robert L. Burrus Jr., a VBA member and former rector of the University
of Richmond’s board of trustees, was recently honored by UR when a
scholarship for students in the new executive master’s program was
named in his honor. The Robert L. Burrus Jr. Scholarship Program for Developing
Leaders, which will benefit professionals from business, government and
nonprofits, will be awarded for the first time this fall. Burrus is a partner
and chairman of the law firm of McGuireWoods LLP.
VBA member Thomas M. Wolf of Richmond, a partner in the law firm
of LeClair Ryan, has been elected president of the International Association
of Commercial Lawyers.
Lawyers Helping Lawyers, which
offers confidential, nondisciplinary help for lawyers, judges, law students
and their family members with substance abuse or mental health problems,
is now located at 700 East Main Street, Suite 1501, in downtown Richmond,
phone (804) 644-3212 or 1-800-838-8358, e-mail info@valhl.org.
Does the VBA have current contact information for you? Please let us know
if you have moved and/or changed employment by sending your information
to Judy King at the VBA office, jking@vba.org.
The Virginia Lawyer was first published in 1966 by the VBA Young
Lawyers Division. In 2000, Virginia CLE and the VBA/YLD joined in a cooperative
effort to produce a new version of the two-volume guide for practitioners
designed to assist attorneys in dealing with unfamiliar areas. Details are
available on the Internet at http://www.vacle.org/wn111.htm#valawyer.
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