The Virginia Bar Association                                                         March 6, 2014
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 The independent voice of Virginia lawyers
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Advocacy, Professionalism,

Service, Collegiality

In This Issue
Legal Food Frenzy Gears Up
2014 VLF Fellows
Welcome, New Members
A View of Our Sections
VBA Website Renovation
Member News

 

Eighth annual
Legal Food Frenzy set

Has your firm, agency, law school registered for the Legal Food Frenzy?

The two-week event runs March 31-April 11 this year. Its mission is to address the need of more than 1 million Virginians who lack access to adequate food during the year.

2014 Legal Food Frenzy logo  

Last year, more than 180 legal departments participated in the friendly competition. They raised nearly 1.5 million pounds of food.   

  

VBA Online CLE logo
CLE-approved! On-demand!
  

New postings to VBA Online CLE from fall 2013 presentations include:

  • What's Hot and What's Not in Administrative Agency Practice
  • Annual Employment Law Case Update
  • Ethics in the Employment Law World
  • Anatomy of Physician Discipline in Virginia: It's More Complicated Than It Looks
  • Medicaid and Health Reform
  • Unique Law and Regulations Impacting the Operation of Virginia Wineries
  • Cyber and Information Security: Internal and Outsourcing Implications

 

Look for 124th Annual Meeting presentations to appear soon on the VBA Online CLE catalog.  


Watch a video or listen to the audio of some of the best programming for Virginia attorneys, organized by your peers in the VBA.

  

As a valued member of the VBA, you receive a discount. Non-members also can enjoy these quality presentations. Tell your friends!    
  
Upcoming events
March 8
General Assembly Sine Die  
See legislative agenda progress, updated M-W-F, at vba.org/legislation

March 13
Chef Geoff's, Vienna, VA

March 28
University of Richmond, Richmond, VA

March 31-April 11
Statewide

April 2
Supreme Court, Richmond, VA

May 9-10   
Duck, NC

May 16-17 
YLD Spring Executive Council Meeting,
Duck, NC

July 24-27 
124th Summer Meeting, 
The Greenbrier,
White Sulphur Springs, WV
    
 
 

New VLF Fellows
Congratulations to these VBA  members inducted into the 2014 Class of Fellows of the Virginia Law Foundation:

Hon. Joanne F. Alper (Arlington)
C. Thomas Ebel (Richmond)
Hugh M. Fain III (Richmond)
Linda D. Frith (Roanoke)
Richard E. Garriott Jr.
     (Va. Beach)
Stephanie E. Grana (Richmond)
Linda M. Jackson (McLean)
Hon. Nathan H. Miller
     (Harrisonburg)
Stephen Edward Noona (Norfolk)
Lonnie D. Nunley III (Richmond)
W. David Paxton (Roanoke)
Henry R. Pollard IV (Henrico)
C.J. Steuart Thomas III
     (Staunton)
Lori D. Thompson (Roanoke)

The induction occurred at a dinner ceremony during the VBA Annual Meeting in Williamsburg.

Fellows status is conferred on selected Virginia attorneys, law professors and retired members of the judiciary. Fellows are deemed to make outstanding contributions to the legal profession and in their communities.  


Welcome, new and reactivating members!
During February, 19 individuals joined or reactivated their membership with the VBA. Thanks for getting (re)acquainted!

If you ever have a question about membership, please contact Katie Heflin, our member coordinator.
The VBA Voice

Leaders need followers. And the next thing you know, you have a movement. The VBA and its Divisions and Sections are like that. Please engage in the VBA.

Read more about VBA Sections and Divisions in this month's e-newsletter.
What does a section chair do in the VBA?
Leadership Conference features entertaining slide show, video
Watching a TED Talk video on leadership
A lot. And to help section and committee chairs have a successful year, they or their designees attend a Leadership Conference.

 

This year's five-hour conference occurred Feb. 27 at Hunton & Williams in Richmond. There

Joint ADR Cmte officer takes notes
Donita King, vice chair, Joint ADR Committee

they met VBA officers and Board of Governors members and staff.

 

They heard about the signature initiatives of President
John L. Walker III's year: continued advocacy to fill judicial vacancies, strategic planning, and membership growth. They also learned about John's
Section Chairs Ryan Snow, Richard Ottinger
Section chairs Ryan Snow, Richard Ottinger
communications themes for the year, which focus on the facts that VBA membership  develops

leaders, and VBA relationships amplify business development and enhance subject matter expertise.


Jeff Palmore
of the VBA lobbying team at Reed Smith LLP summarized the progress of the VBA's legislative agenda in the General Assembly. He touched on the critical role the sections play toward the VBA lobbying effort.

Section Chairs Katja Hill and Jo Nolte discussed the keys for success for the Real Estate and Administrative Law sections, respectively. Division Chairs Cheryl Black and Elaina Blanks-Green discussed their plans for 2014.

Part of that success starts with a Section Work Plan, a one-year roadmap to goals and initiatives submitted by each section. During a working lunch, section representatives and their board liaisons reviewed and refined these plans for submission. 
A view of the VBA's substantive law sections in 2013 

 

How large are the VBA's substantive law sections? They ranged from 69 members to 795 at the end of last year.  

 

The overall pie represents 5,246 section memberships. Many VBA members join more than one of the 19 sections plus the Joint ADR Committee.   

 

Each year the sections compete to increase membership. Bragging rights exist in two categories: growth by numbers and biggest percentage increase.  

The section with the most new members in 2013 was Civil Litigation, the largest VBA section by far, with 28 additions. The section with the greatest percentage growth was Administrative Law. It grew by 26 members to 129.  

Memberships in each section are $25 a year. Section members receive discounts on section-sponsored conferences. Some sections organize socials for members. 

 

Additionally, each spring after the end of the General Assembly session, every section member in good standing receives a summary of pertinent legislative changes. This valuable service is lauded annually by Virginia attorneys.

 

Join a section today online or use the enrollment form. If you have not yet renewed your VBA dues for 2014, please go to the Members Only Section (log-in at vba.org) and pay your 2014 VBA Membership Dues Invoice located under the accounting information. You can sign up for sections there. 

Paid and free section membership YE2013 

Association website, vba.org, to undergo renovation

godly-enter-key.jpg Starting this month, the VBA staff will begin updating and revamping the VBA website and preparing to transfer the affiliated member management system to a new platform. Good news: Other bar associations that have already made the transition report their members prefer the new website and member features.   

    

Things you need to know 

VBA YLD logo REGISTER NOW: Professionalism and Ethics Spring Symposium is a CLE program at the University of Richmond on March 28 It will be presented by the University of Richmond Law School Council and sponsored by the VBA Young Lawyers Division. Approval is pending for 4 MCLE Credits (4 Ethics).  

BANKRUPTCY LAW: Book rooms by April 9 for the 17th annual VBA Bankruptcy Law Conference at the Sanderling Resort in Duck, N.C. Registration for the May 9-10 meeting also is open. Sign up online or print out the form to fax or mail in. Approval is pending for 4 MCLE Credits (1 Ethics).

YLD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Book rooms by April 16 for the Spring Executive Council Meeting in Duck, N.C. Register online for the May 16-17 meeting.

SAVE THE DATE: The Chief Justice's Pro Bono Summit will be held April 2 at the Supreme Court of Virginia. Invitations are being sent out. RSVP by March 26 with Rachel Phillips.

RENEW VBA MEMBERSHIP: If you have not yet renewed your dues for 2014, please go to the Members Only Section (log-in at vba.org) and pay your 2014 VBA Membership Dues Invoice located under the accounting information. While you're there, please ensure that all information in your profile is current and accurate.

VBA member news

GOT NEWS? Send your announcements about VBA members to Communications Coordinator Marilyn Shaw.
J.P. McGuire Boyd Jr.
J.P. McGuire Boyd Jr.
PROMOTIONS: Kimberlee W. DeWitt, Christy E. Kiely and Sarah P. Bridges now are counsel at Hunton & Williams. ... Matthew B. Chmiel is now partner at Kaufman & Canoles' Richmond office. ...  Megan Martz Gilliland is now partner at Christian & Barton in Richmond. ... J.P. McGuire Boyd Jr. is now partner at Williams Mullen. ... Stephen E. Baril is partner and head of the Richmond litigation and government relations teams at Kaplan Voekler Cunningham & Frank PLC. 

MERGER: The Fairfax firm Hale Ball was formed by the merger of Hale Carlson Baumgartner, PLC, and Jean Galloway Ball, PLC. VBA members with the firm include Samatha S. Fredieu, John C. Hale and Kimberley Murphy.

NEW JOB: Hampton City Council appointed Vanessa T. Valldejuli city attorney. She previously was deputy city attorney in Chesapeake. ... David H. Sump joined Wilcox Savage as a partner and practices in its Norfolk office. He formerly was with Troutman Sanders.

RETIRED: The career of Chatham attorney H. Victor Millner Jr. ended in mid-January after 53 years. A Life Member of the VBA, Millner joined the organization in 1963. He was featured in a recent Chatham Star-Tribune article.

APPOINTMENTS: John J. "Butch" Davies III of Davies, Barrell, Will, Lewellyn & Edwards, PLC, in Culpeper, is president of Virginians for the Arts, a statewide nonprofit arts advocacy organization. ... Officers and board members for the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education include VBA members Philip Goodpasture, general counsel; James Dyke Jr. of McGuireWoods; Stephen Gannon of Capital One Financial; and Chandra Lantz of Hirschler Fleischler. ... Officers of the Historic Richmond Foundation include Steven R. Williams of McGuireWoods as president and David I. Meyers of Troutman Sanders.
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