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The Virginia Bar Association May 2, 2013
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The independent voice of Virginia lawyers |  |
Advocacy, Professionalism,
Service, Collegiality |
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Results should be in soon
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If your assistant asks if you're available to take a call from the attorney general early this month, you may be a winner.
According to the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, results from the 7th Annual Legal Food Frenzy should be released next week. The law office with the biggest contribution wins the Attorney General's Cup and gets a congratulatory call from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
For the past two years, B. Cullen Gibson of Norfolk earned the top prize. Last year, the office raised 18,750 pounds of food per employee. That's 9 tons per person.
Awards will be presented to the overall and per-capita winners in multiple categories at a special reception hosted by Governor and Mrs. McDonnell and the attorney general in June at the Executive Mansion.
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May 8
General Assembly Building
Richmond, VA
Walk-in registration available
May 8 Pro Bono Hotline training
Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, LLP
Roanoke
RSVP for this noon-1:30 p.m. event TODAY
Save the date
July 18-21
123rd Summer Meeting
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Introducing Katie Heflin
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The newest addition to the VBA staff is Katie Heflin. She is the membership and marketing coordinator, succeeding Branden Patrick in that role.  Katie has a background in marketing, graphics and event planning. She joined the staff in mid-April and will be developing new marketing tools for the organization.
She and Rachel Phillips, now member/events assistant, will team up to focus on recruitment and retention for the VBA.
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Share this newsletter
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We encourage you to forward The VBA Voice to folks who have not yet joined the Association. And join us on our social media sites.
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Consider a gift in 2013
to The VBA Foundation
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Your generosity supports the good works of the VBA.
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CLE-approved! On-demand!
If you need a few CLE credits or want to catch up on a VBA program you missed, check out VBA Online CLE. Watch a video or listen to the audio of some of the best programming for Virginia attorneys, organized by your peers in the VBA.
Encourage non-members to see the quality of VBA presentations. But know that as a valued member of the VBA, you receive a discount.
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The VBA Voice
We hope to see many of you at the the three conferences in May: the Virginia Health Law Legislative Update and Extravaganza, Bankruptcy Law, and the YLD Executive Council.
 Meantime, please mark your calendar and plan to attend the 123rd Summer Meeting, July 18-21, at The Homestead. The presentations range from drones in the U.S.A. to foreign subpoenas, from the public-private Elizabeth River Crossing to the tax implications of the Affordable Care Act. We'll review the Roberts Court at age 7 and the civil decisions of the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2013. And we're expecting a debate between former Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
But enough about May and July. Plenty happened in April... (And don't miss this month's coupon!)
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JDPlus Summit advances LPMD initiative
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The flagship project for the Law Practice Management Division for 2012-2013 is JDPlus. The project aims to address the wide and growing gap between the costly training that law schools provide and the needs of legal graduates and employers.
On April 26, a group of key stakeholders met at the Virginia State Capitol. Their challenge was to identify one or more initiatives that could narrow the gap between scholars and their professional pursuits. In doing so, they considered whether approaches were novel, ambitious, achievable and appropriate for collaboration.
Work groups will investigate the prospects of launching these initiatives: developing more and alternative work experiences; creating a competencies compact between law schools and legal employers; and compiling a data library with information to inform and assist the five constituencies of legal services, from student to instructor to recruiting and hiring individuals to consumers.
Work sessions will continue in person and by teleconference, including at the VBA Summer Meeting. The JDPlus Task Force plans to make a final presentation at the VBA Annual Meeting in January 2014.
To get involved in the initiative, or to learn more about it, contact Jeremy Dillon at the VBA.
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Veterans clinic receives pro bono award
Photo courtesy of William & Mary Law School and the VSB
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The volunteer attorneys of the Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic at the William & Mary Law School received the 2013 Lewis F. Powell Jr. Pro Bono Award from the Virginia State Bar Access to Legal Service Committee.
In 2010, the VBA Veterans Issues Task Force and individual contributors through the VBA donated more than $25,000 to assist the clinic's mission to advocate for veterans with service connected disabilities and for active-duty service members. Those contributions enabled law students to help more than 300 veterans and their families.
Dean Davison Douglas, a former VBA Board of Governors member, VBA Veterans Issues Task Force Co-Chair Matthew A. Kapinos and representatives of the clinic accepted the award. The clinic received a limited edition, framed print of "Patrick Henry Argues the Parsons' Cause," a 1834 painting by George Cooke, in recognition of the honor.
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Volunteers, YLD support Model Judiciary
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The Model Judiciary Program sponsored by the VBA Young Lawyers Division provides high school students with the opportunity to learn about Virginia's judicial system by playing the roles of attorneys, jurors and witnesses in a trial and appeal simulation.
Four students from Deep Run High School in the Richmond suburbs were selected to take part in the 38th annual Model Supreme Court program in April.
They argued an appellate matter before a four member "bench" that included Virginia Supreme Court Justices S. Bernard Goodwyn and William C. Mims.
The four, all students in a leadership class taught by Deborah A. Carroll (left) are Dillon Wild, David Kraft, Davis Klabo, Hugo Eichner. Tracy Hague (right), a partner at LeClairRyan in Richmond, provided guidance as the students prepared. This was her fifth year volunteering as an attorney-coach to the Model Judiciary Program and her first with the Deep Run students.
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Miscellany
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JUDICIAL CANDIDATES: Gov. Bob McDonnell is accepting applications for individuals interested in serving as circuit court judges. Vacancies exist in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 20th, and 25th Judicial Circuits.
'FOREIGN ATTORNEY' RULES: Through May 31, you can comment on proposed changes to Rules 1A:1 and 1A:3 to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
MAY 8 CEREMONY: A Rule of Law Award reception and ceremony May 8 will honor the late Murray J. Janus and Roderick B. Mathews. The pair, both of whom had been VBA members, will be honored at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond for their life-long dedication to the ideals of the Rule of Law. The event is sponsored by the Nuremberg Courtroom Committee of the museum and the Virginia Law Foundation. A.E. Dick Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, will give the keynote speech. For ticket availability, call (804) 257-5400, Ext. 239.
NEW OFFICE FOR FIRM: Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., opened an office in Richmond with two shareholders and an of counsel. One of the shareholders is VBA member Elizabeth Ebanks, formerly a partner at LeClairRyan. Tevis Marshall, of counsel with the new firm, formerly was a senior associate at Troutman Sanders. This is the 44th office for Ogletree Deakins.
 
AWARD WINNERS: VBA Board member
David S. Mercer and former VBA President
Lucia Anna "Pia" Trigiani of the MercerTrigiani law firm received the 2013 Traver Scholar Award. The honor, from the Virginia State Bar in coordination with Virginia CLE, recognizes their outstanding efforts in real estate legal education.
BOSTON MARATHONER: Virginia Supreme Court Justice William C. Mims, a marathon runner who finished the 2013 Boston race in 3:59:44, penned a first-person column about his experience and reaction to the bombings. The column appeared in the Faith & Values section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
E-FILING BEGINS: A small group became the first attorneys registered to submit papers in civil cases from their computers to the Virginia Judiciary E-Filing System. The project kicked off at Norfolk Circuit Court.
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The Virginia Bar Association is the largest statewide voluntary group for lawyers, judges and law professors. |
Some notices from the VBA are sent to our membership exclusively by email, such as notices of section meetings and other VBA news. We respect our members' right to privacy, but should you elect to remove your email from our distribution, please be advised that you may miss important information from the VBA. |
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| | Offer ends May 15, 2013 |
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