News and Updates   

Virginia welcomes 140 newly licensed attorneys from the February 2026 bar exam, including nine members of The Virginia Bar Association.

The Virginia Bar Association is proud to announce that 16 of its members were recognized among 23 new Virginia Law Foundation Fellows on Jan. 22.

The VBA WT&E Section has released the 2025 edition of its trusted guide to estate administration, with updates for practitioners and clear guidance for the public.

A new Virginia State Bar Legal Ethics Opinion addresses the impact of use of artificial intelligence on lawyer billing. A lawyer who uses generative artificial intelligence does not have to cut the fee charged the client to the actual time spent on the matter, under a new Legal Ethics Opinion approved by the Virginia State Bar Council on June 12. 

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners today announced the names of 175 individuals who passed the February 2025 bar exam.

Of those, 138 became attorneys today. An additional 37 have yet to complete all requirements to become licensed practitioners.

Judge Junius P. Fulton III of the Virginia Court of Appeals is the apparent choice of the General Assembly for a pending seat on the Supreme Court of Virginia.

The combined Senate and House of Delegates Courts of Justice committees have scheduled judicial interviews for tomorrow, April 1, at 3 p.m. Fulton is the only candidate listed as interviewing for the position.

The Rule of Law Project was the brainchild of 2008 VBA President G. Michael Pace Jr., who died last year. Originally a project just of the VBA, it later gained the support of the Virginia Law Foundation. Pace eventually co-founded and headed the Center for Teaching the Rule of Law based at Roanoke College, with the project as its flagship program.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed 12 bills on the VBA legislative agenda into law by his action deadline of midnight March 24.
The governor also vetoed two bills on the VBA agenda. One was recommended by the VBA Real Estate Section and the other by the Virginia Family Law Coalition.

Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn has announced that he will step down from the court at the end of this year. The VBA’s Committee on Nominations to Virginia Commissions & Appellate Courts reviewed applications last week.

In Virginia, judges in state courts are elected by the legislature and reappointed for additional terms.

During its 2025 regular session, the General Assembly appointed 39 judges: 16 to circuit courts, 12 to general district courts and 11 to juvenile and domestic relations courts.