News and Updates   

A fee agreement with a client that provides that any advanced money is nonrefundable would be prohibited under a proposed amendment to Rule 1.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Hold on, you may ask, hasn’t this always been the case?

And if you really are on top of things, you may ask, didn’t the Virginia State Bar issue a Legal Ethics Opinion 30 years ago finding “nonrefundable retainers” or other such arrangements for advanced fees to be unethical?

Nupur S. Bal, a partner with Bowen Ten Long & Bal, PC, in Richmond, will be expanding her leadership duties in The Virginia Bar Association. She will become chair of the VBA Board of Governors in January 2025.

The Virginia Bar Association Foundation has received a $5,000 grant from the Virginia Law Foundation to support the VBA’s Advocacy Training Project.

The Virginia Bar Association announces with regret that it has cancelled the senatorial debate between U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Capt. Hung Cao, that had been scheduled for July 20 during the group’s Summer Meeting at The Omni Homestead Resort.

Quite a few American presidents have traveled to Hot Springs, Virginia, to relax at The Homestead resort.

But two had the chance, before they took office, to travel to The Homestead for a vacation respite – and to address the Summer Meeting of The Virginia Bar Association.

The Virginia Bar Association, continuing a tradition started in 1985, welcomes the candidates for U.S. Senate from Virginia to debate at its Summer Meeting.

Incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, has accepted.

Growing need from citizens who need a lawyer and can’t afford one – and an increasing number of cases that could be placed if a larger pool of lawyers volunteered to take them – mark the current state of pro bono in Virginia.

In Roanoke, the Law Office of James Steele, PLLC, with the highest donation per employee, is the 2024 winner of the Attorney General's Cup, the top honor for participants in the Legal Food Frenzy. Appalachian School of Law in Grundy captured the Law School Cup. Both winners' donations benefited the food bank Feeding Southwest Virginia.

The significance of artificial intelligence in the legal field and a steady decline in potential new lawyers in Virginia will be explored by two new bar association task forces. The Board of Governors of The Virginia Bar Association established the study groups at its spring meeting in late April.

The Fifth Annual Lawyer Wellness Challenge starts today.

This five-day event event of the VBA, in partnership with the Virginia Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program and the Virginia Law Foundation, supports all dimensions of well-being.