The VBA's legislative team at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP will champion several proposals from VBA sections and the affiliated Boyd-Graves Conference through the 2023 Virginia General Assembly. The team also will collaborate on initiatives from the affiliated Virginia Family Law Coalition.

With the session about to begin, members are reminded to alert the VBA of additional bills that the association might want to monitor. Your contact for that is VBA Executive Director Paul Fletcher, at pfletcher@vba.org.

VBA Legislative Counsel Eric Link provided the following summary of bills proposed for the 2023 General Assembly session:

From the Business Law Section

Amendments to the Virginia Stock Corporation Act
This bill would make two changes to the Virginia Stock Corporation Act. The first corrects an error in an earlier amendment regarding the incorporation of certain external documents. The second modernizes procedures involving shareholder lists at meetings.

From the Boyd-Graves Conference

Release from Attorney-Issued Subpoena
This bill would amend § 8.01-407 to clarify that an attorney may unilaterally release an individual from an attorney-issued subpoena provided that such release is made in writing and concurrently served on all other parties. The bill also would allow for service of release on the individual and other parties by email.

Technical Improvements to Virginia’s Anti-SLAPP Statute
The conference’s Study Group Regarding Amendments to Virginia’s Anti-SLAPP Statute (§ 8.01-223.2) recommends the following reforms contained in the bills:

1. Defining “immunity” for purposes of the statute as “immunity from suit”;
2. Clarification about the torts from which an individual shall be immune;
3. Aligning the statute’s standard with the Supreme Court’s “actual malice” standard; and,
4. Making fee awards available to both plaintiffs and defendants in certain circumstances.

Clarifying Amendments to Strengthen Recent Reforms of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.
The commission's Study Group Regarding the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) proposes amendments informed by the practical application of the 2020 rewrite of the UPHPA. They seek to simplify and clarify its application while maintaining protections for heirs. The bill offers the following revisions:

1. Establishing criteria that courts must consider when ordering partition in kind;
2. Reaffirming the applicability of Virginia’s significant case law on partition unless specifically displaced by the UPHPA;
3. Giving the court discretion to decide cost allocation for appraisal;
4. Clarifying that opinions of appraisers may be offered as “other evidence of value” at hearings to determine value;
5. Clarifying that counsel for the parties may serve as commissioners of sale so long as no party objects; and,
6. Clarifying that the court may only award attorneys’ fees against parties who are unrepresented by a counsel of record, protecting pro se parceners or those with their own counsel from having to pay attorneys’ fees.

Reforms of the Use of Attorneys’ Liens for Fees
The commission's Study Committee on Attorney Liens for Fees recommends the following modifications to § 54.1-3932:

1. Clarifying that the charging lien arises upon a client contracting for an attorney’s services;
2. Requiring notice to the client, opposing party and clerk of court of perfection of the lien;
3. Requiring written notice of the charging lien within 45 days of certain triggering events;
4. Clarifying that liens involving an annulment or divorce may not be adjudicated until after the divorce judgment is final;
5. Allowing the validity and amount of a lien to be determined by motion within the relevant case, or by separate action if a case was never filed; and,
6. Allowing judges to determine the validity and amount of a lien.

Virginia Family Law Coalition proposals

Legislative counsel will collaborate with the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association to advance the following bills on behalf of the Virginia Family Law Coalition:

Allowing Evidence Related to Medical Treatment and Costs in Certain JDR Cases
This bill would allow for parties or guardians to submit evidence about the nature and costs of medical treatment during custody, visitation, placement and support cases.

Preventing Electronic Surveillance by Persons Subject to a Protective Order
This bill would protect the safety and privacy of an individual under the protection of a protective order by barring an alleged abuser from retaining shared electronic devices and barring the surveillance of a petitioner.

Modernize Language Related to Children in Affidavits in Divorce Proceedings
This bill would update the requirements in § 20-106 B(7) to include more familial and parental situations.

Other Boyd-Graves Conference proposals

Finally, the Boyd-Graves Conference will be advocating for the following measures with assistance from legislative counsel:

Reform of the Process for Removal of a Public Official
This bill arises from the work of the Boyd-Graves Study Group on Removal of Public Officials. The group recommends reforms to modernize the process, including:

1. Require the State Board of Elections to create a form for a petition for removal;
2. Establish clear requirements for a petition’s supporting documentation;
3. Define the duties of a registrar in reviewing and processing a petition;
4. Clarify the role and duties of a commonwealth’s attorney in representing the Commonwealth in removal proceedings;
5. Codify the court’s 2020 decision in Townes v. Va. State Bd. of Elections that established the “clear and convincing evidence of a violation” standard; and,
6. Automatically suspend any officer who pleads guilty or no contest to a felony or who is found guilty of a felony.

Increase the Maximum Award from the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program for Certain Infant Deaths
Since 2003, there has been a $100,000 cap on the payment from the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program for “infants dying shortly after birth” (§ 38.2-5009.1). The Boyd-Graves Study Committee on the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act recommends increasing the maximum award to $500,000.