The Court of Appeals released just one published opinion this week. Rakim Malik Nottingham v. Commonwealth of Virginia involves two questions: First, whether the trial court erred in granting jury instruction, and second whether it erred in excluding a videotape of...
This is not so much a "Soap Box" as it is a reflection on the concept of "thinking like a lawyer." This evokes the phrase heard by every law student that in Law School "You teach yourself the law, we teach you how to think like a lawyer." In truth, "thinking like a...
I send a lot of emails. I don't mean that I personally send a lot to friends and family -- my output in that region is pretty slim as we stay in touch via phone and zoom and social media. I also don't mean that I send a lot of emails in my professional capacity...
Today the Court of Appeals released one published opinion. The question to my mind is “Why?” Richard Roosevelt Hill v. Commonwealth of Virginia addresses what I thought was an issue of settled law – whether a circuit court retains jurisdiction to revoke a suspended...
The Supreme Court of Virginia released one published opinion this morning. White v. Llewellyn is an interesting read if you find fraudulent conveyances of real estate interesting -- I do, because it one of the few areas of the law where a prima facie case gives rise...
So I have been retired from public service for just over seven months and I spent the first several of those months resting, avoiding COVID and just generally contemplating a future that would include the occasional appellate case that caught my fancy. While I have...
I missed getting analysis and discussion of last week's opinions as I was busy doing other law stuff (an essay about which will be posted in this space anon), so I am playing catch-up this week. In addition to the two opinions for April 27, we have one more from...