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The independent voice of Virginia lawyers Feb. 13, 2016
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We have lots of news this month, both following up from the Annual Meeting in January and regarding the exciting prospects for 2017. Read on!
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Annual Meeting I: Portrait of Justice Jane Marum Roush
The latest VBA-commissioned and donated portrait, of former Justice Jane Marum Roush, was unveiled during the banquet. All sitting justices and most senior justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia attended.
Read the
news article.
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Annual Meeting II: Multiple award recipients
Dahlia Lithwick, author of "Supreme Court Dispatches" on Slate and host of the Amicus podcast, receives the VBA Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism. Read more and find out what she implored lawyers to do...
The Walker Award of Merit, recognizing exemplary service to the bar, goes to Hugh M. Fain III, who served the VBA as president in 2012, and W. David Harless, who headed the Virginia State Bar in an overlapping term. Read what the recipients had to say...
Gary D. LeClair, co-founder of the LeClairRyan law firm, is the first recipient of the VBA President's Award. Read about the new award and LeClair...
The Young Lawyers Division rewards both long-term and intensive single-year efforts on behalf of its activities. This year, awards rewarded the involvement of Nupur S. Bal, Jeremy S. Williams and Seth Ragosta in the YLD. Read who won what...
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Annual Meeting III: Public announcements
The Virginia Women Attorneys Association recently turned 35. A VBA resolution, presented at the Annual Meeting, recognizes "the good works and the critical role of the VWAA."
Read the resolution...
The VBA Pro Bono Council so far has enlisted 28 Virginia law firms to sign the VBA Pro Bono Promise. These firms vow to put forward their best efforts toward the goal of performing 2 percent of their annual billable work pro bono.
Has your firm signed on?
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Annual Meeting IV: Who won exhibit hall prizes?
The winners of the VBA Exhibitor Contest follow.
- Joseph Richmond Jr. with McCallum & Kudravetz, PC, in Charlottesville won a deluxe overnight stay, including breakfast for two, at the Omni Richmond Hotel.
- Richard Garriott Jr. with Pender & Coward in Virginia Beach won deluxe overnight accommodations for one night with breakfast for two and $50 in Aura Spa Dollars at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa in metro Richmond.
- Andrew Stockment of Lenhart Pettit in Charlottesville won a Fitbit Charge 2.
- J. Lee E. Osborne with Woods Rogers in Roanoke won a stay at the Williamsburg Lodge, including breakfast for two and two historic area passes.
- Victor Cardwell with Woods Rogers in Roanoke won a family membership to the Virginia Historical Society.
Exhibitors reported these individual drawing winners:
- Virginia Barristers Alliance, Inc., provided a $50 Panera gift card to Life Member Irving Blank with ParisBlank, LLP, in Richmond.
- Emissary Investigative Services gave away a Montblanc pen to J. Lee E. Osborne with Woods Rogers in Roanoke.
- Susan Miller Designs held a drawing for a necklace, won by Sandy Gouldin, wife of Robert Gouldin of Christian & Barton, L.L.P., in Richmond
- Yount, Hyde & Barbour provided a gift certificate to Blue Apron to Andrew Baugher of Lenhart Pettit, a 2013 Kathryn Hall Cabernet to Ed R. Waugaman II of Newport News, and a 2013 Caymus Cabernet to Thomson Lipscomb of Boydton.
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Upcoming events
Calling all Board of Governors members and all section, committee and division chairs. Plan to attend the
VBA Leadership Conference Feb. 23 at Hunton & Williams LLP in Richmond. RSVP your attendance to
Caitlin McKelway by Feb. 16.
The VBA and Virginia CLE are presenting a two-hour seminar on
effective and ethical resolution of civil litigation in Washington, D.C. The March 16 event at the Verizon Center includes dinner in a club-level suite where attendees can then watch the Washington Capitals play the Nashville Predators. Registration includes a coupon for a free 2-credit online Virginia CLE seminar. Seating is limited. Register through
Virginia CLE.
Watch for details on the March 23 University of Richmond School of Law Spring Symposium. Plans call for the CLE event to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by a reception. The symposium is sponsored by the VBA Young Lawyers Division and the University of Richmond Law School Council.
Register this month to participate in the 11th Annual
Legal Food Frenzy and earn 100 bonus points even before the April 3-14 competition begins.
Bankruptcy attorneys should save the date and book rooms for the
20th Annual Bankruptcy Law Conference. It will be held April 28-29 at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg.
Save the date for the
127th Summer Meeting, July 20-22, at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs. Look forward to a debate involving gubernatorial candidates.
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What will VBA on Main, your member center, look like?
VBA on Main is the new member center that will be part of the association's relocated headquarters. A lease for space in the Bank of America Center was signed in December. View a SlideShare deck, which made its debut at the Annual Meeting, that details amenities and features of
VBA on Main in downtown Richmond, along with design schematics.
Construction documents have been approved. The next step entails building permits, then construction can begin. We will keep you informed of the transformation of the space as it occurs.
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VBA legislative agenda advances in General Assembly
Last week was crossover week at the Virginia General Assembly, where each house completed action on its bills. Now the other house takes up the proposals. Several VBA recommendations to improve the law already are on their way to the governor's desk for consideration. Follow the progress, with updates every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during the regular session, at vba.org/2017bills.
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Annual report notes rising conference attendance, new lease
Are you new to the VBA? Did you attend one of the many VBA-sponsored events in 2016? Then you'll want to see the 2016 Annual Report. Packed with more than 30 photos, the Annual Report also details the VBA's accomplishments in Special Highlights. Then revisit the year, month by month, via the events and activities that define the VBA. Take a look! Maybe you appear in one of the photos or were involved in a notable item.
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Like photos? Use Instagram? Find the VBA on this platform
Find
thevirginiabar on Instagram. Follow us! With an account opened Feb. 1 and several posts made, more than 30 people have found us and started following. The VBA continues to post on Twitter (@vabarassn), Facebook (vabarassn) and LinkedIn (The Virginia Bar Association).
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Meet the members of the 2017 VBA Board of Governors
This could run under the heading Annual Meeting V. Incoming officers, board members and representatives began their terms at the meeting in January.
Get to know your 2017 new and continuing leaders, and thank those whose terms just ended, in the 2017 VBA Leadership Slate.
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Articles, anyone?
The
VBA Journal is interested in considering members' substantive law articles for inclusion in 2017 issues. Show your colleagues your insight on a trending subject. Please submit a summary of the article you propose to editor
Marilyn Shaw. Also state which issue - spring, fall or winter - you think it best fits. Find
Writer Guidelines and other details at
vba.org/journal. Journals are a member benefit and available in print and
digital flip version.
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It's February. Have you renewed your VBA dues for 2017?
Renewing your dues and section memberships online for 2017 is easy. Plus, you can update your profile information in a snap. Just
sign in. (Need a bit more guidance? We've got you covered!)
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Insurance corner: Disability income
 Did you know that disability is the leading cause of personal bankruptcies? It causes nearly 50 percent of all mortgage foreclosures, compared with 2 percent by death.
How will you finance current and future expenses if you cannot not work for an extended period because of an illness or injury?
Disability income protection insurance helps replace the policyholder's income in these instances.
Virginia Barrister's Alliance, Inc. (VBAI) offers access to multiple disability income protection insurance carriers - some of which even offer discounts! Contact VBAI to determine the coverage appropriate for your needs.
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Share the love
Your support of The Virginia Bar Association Foundation makes possible activities such as Legal Food Frenzy receptions around the state. With Valentine's Day around the corner, send us your love and show your dedication to the VBA mission.
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Member news
Lucia Anna "Pia" Trigiani, who was president of the VBA in 2011, is the 2017 president of the Virginia Law Foundation. The foundation is a philanthropic arm of the practicing bar and has provided grant funding for the VBA's Capital Defense Workshop for many years. Trigiani is a founding partner with the MercerTrigiani law firm in Alexandria, where she practices community association law. A member of the Boyd-Graves Conference, she also serves on the Judicial Council of Virginia and the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. She became a Fellow of the foundation in 2013 and succeeds VBA Life Member
Irving M. Blank as president. Trigiani's law partner,
David S. Mercer, is this year's VBA president.
The Honorable
Winship C. Tower has joined The McCammon Group after retiring from judicial service. She was a judge in juvenile and domestic relations court in Virginia Beach for 16 years. She joins the provider of alternative dispute resolution services as a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers with 20 years of finance and family law experience. She is a past chair of the VBA Domestic Relations Section and of the board of governors of the family law section of the Virginia State Bar.
Charles R. Calton and
Lauren E. Coleman have joined Gentry Locke Attorneys as associates in the Roanoke office. Calton is a trial lawyer in the plaintiff's practice group, representing clients in medical malpractice, wrongful death and personal injury cases. He worked for more than a decade as a claims representative in the civil litigation section at the Office of the Attorney General in Virginia. Coleman is part of the business and corporate practice group after serving as an extern for Judge William G. Petty of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Sixteen VBA members were among the 24 inducted as 2017 Fellows of the Virginia Law Foundation. These leaders in the profession and community were feted at a dinner held in conjunction with the VBA's Annual Meeting. Joining nearly 500 of Virginia's best legal practitioners as Fellows were:
Barbara S. Anderson, Gregory R. Bishop, Patrick C. Devine, David John Gogal, James Patrick Guy II, John Owen Gwathmey, Jonathan P. Harmon, Helivi L. Hollard, Harry M. Johnson III, the Honorable Stanley P. Klein, Thomas A. Lisk, Sharon D. Nelson, JoAnne L. Nolte, Lewis F. Powell III, the Honorable Jane Marum Roush and Shannon L. Taylor.
Troutman Sanders LLP has elected
Seth Winter as partner in the law firm.
Based in the Richmond office, he represents publicly traded companies, banks and bank holding companies on corporate law, securities law and regulatory matters, and financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance and corporate governance matters.
Thomas S. Berkley has joined Pender & Coward as a shareholder. He focuses his practice in the areas of maritime, admiralty and transportation.
Tyler Rosa, who was a summer intern during law school at Pender & Coward, is now an attorney in the firm's Virginia Beach office. He focuses his practice in corporate and transactional law, litigation and real estate.
Pender & Coward also elected these shareholders to serve on the firm's executive committee: Chief Executive Officer
Rick Matthews, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Baumgartner and Chief Operating Officer
Dave Arnold.
Richmond-based Hirschler Fleischer elevated
Nathaniel L. Story to partner. An experienced litigator, Story is a member of the firm's construction and suretyship practice and editor of its Construction Law Blog. Attorney
Lisa J. Hedrick has been elevated to shareholder at Hirschler Fleischer. She is a member of the firm's mergers and acquisitions practice.
Theresa M. Connolly of the Fairfax office of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP, has been elevated from partner to equity partner status.
MercerTrigiani in Alexandria and
Geoff McDonald & Associates, P.C., in Richmond have been named to the 2017 Best Places to Work in the small company category by
Virginia Business magazine.
John Faber has joined Williams Mullen's finance and real estate practice, working out of the Virginia Beach office. He has represented banks and insurance companies in commercial real estate development, construction and refinancing for more than 27 years.
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The Virginia Bar Association is the first and largest statewide voluntary bar for lawyers, judges and law professors.
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