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The VBA Voice
   The independent voice of Virginia lawyers                            Nov. 5, 2014   
In This Issue
Hassell Portrait
Welcome, New Admittees!
VBA Online CLE
November Programs
Reminders
Renew Your Membership
Awards of Achievement
Member News
VBA portrait of Chief Justice Portrait
Hanging
The VBA-commissioned portrait of the late Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. now hangs in the Supreme Court of Virginia. A ceremony marking the occasion occurred Oct. 28.

Hassell served on the state's highest court for  22 years, the last eight as chief justice. He was Virginia's first black chief justice. Hassell died in February 2011 at age 55.

Jean Garver painted Hassell's likeness in oil on canvas.

The VBA commissions portraits of each new justice, doing so since 1943.  

Welcome our newest or reactivating members.

 

October additions 

26

 

New Bar admittees

 

A special welcome to our brand new VBA members who passed the Bar in July.

 

You have shown great initiative by joining the VBA. We hope you'll make the VBA your go-to resource as you pursue success as a new lawyer. Network. Get involved. Expand your professional knowledge and a list of new mentors.

 

Going to First Day in
Practice on Dec. 2?

Bring your friends over to the VBA table during your morning break. Members of the Young Lawyers Division will invite them into the VBA, too. The price fits right into a new admittees' budget. It's free for the first year. 
JOIN THE VBA
Upcoming events
Nov. 6
Richmond, VA

Nov. 6
ABC Networking Social
(Filled to capacity)
Northern Virginia

Nov. 14, 2014
Richmond, VA

Nov. 20-21
Richmond, VA

Dec. 9
for young Attorneys, Bankers and CPAs
Roanoke, VA

SAVE THE DATE
at Colonial Williamsburg
Jan. 22-24, 2015
Book rooms by Dec. 29.
Details and meeting registration coming soon!
Williamsburg, VA

July 23-26, 2015
The Homestead
Hot Springs, VA 
 
 
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VBA hallmarks
  • Advocacy
  • Professionalism
  • Service
  • Collegiality
Your Support
Is Vital


It is with your support that The VBA Foundation is able to continue to serve the community and support your statewide professional organization.  

 

Donors in 2014 who give by Thanksgiving or who add to their 2014 gift will be recognized in the winter issue of the VBA Journal.
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TO THE VBA FOUNDATION

Dear ,

How did you spend OctoBAR? Members:
  • Brought nonmembers to the Tidewater Social
  • Enhanced skills at the Corporate Counsel Fall Forum
  • Met young professionals from other fields at the first of three ABC Networking Socials
  • Heard from court clerks about recordation taxes at an informal gathering of real estate practitioners
  • Proposed law reforms at the Boyd-Graves Conference
  • Made history at the VBA Tax Practititoners' Roundtable - the 25th annual event
November promises more opBARtunities.
The VBA: Where CLEs Never Sleep
VBA Online CLE logo Your Virginia Bar Association colleagues plan interesting and informative legal education sessions. To share that expertise more broadly, the VBA records them and, once approved for CLEs, offers them to any attorney on-demand.

Recently 17 new titles were added to our catalog of videos and podcasts. Last month we sent members an email that included the imagery at right to ensure your access to sufficient MCLE Credits before the VSB annual deadline.

The busy fall conference season has provided additional chances to capture programming. When you absolutely can't attend in person,  VBA Online CLE is the next best thing.

Upcoming November Programs
Administrative Law Conference Luncheon Speaker
20th Annual Administrative Law Conference, Nov. 6, Richmond. Special guest is ABC Chairman Jeffrey Painter as luncheon speaker.
This conference at the State Capitol is booked to capacity.  

ABC Networking Socials for YLD members to meet other young professionals from the Virginia Society of CPAs and the Virginia Bankers Association. Imagine the business development opportunities! Many already have. The event in Arlington is filled to capacity. But Southwest members, there's still room Dec. 9 in Roanoke. Cash bar. RSVP online (log in required) via the event page link.

10th Annual Virginia Health Care Practitioners' Roundtable, Nov. 14, Richmond. Luncheon topic: Health reform update.
Agenda    |    Register

22nd Annual VBA Capital Defense Workshop, Nov. 20-21, Richmond. From Extending Atkins to Litigating Snitches.
Agenda    |    Register 
Reminders
Virginia lawmakers return to Richmond on Monday, Nov. 10, to consider the appointment of judges, including to the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Virginia, and to consider the governor's amendment to the state budget.

The VBA office will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11, for Veterans Day. Thank a service member for protecting American ideals. Speaking of thanks, the VBA staff wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

The VBA Committee on Special Issues of National & State Importance will meet Nov. 12-13 at Montpelier, the home off James Madison.

The Virginia Family Law Coalition meets Nov. 17 in Richmond. The VBA and the coalition collaborate on legislative reforms.   
It's 2015 dues renewal time
Thank you for your past and continued support as a member of the VBA. 

Members who receive our emails were sent a notice Oct. 30 about 2015 dues renewal. Renewing online is easy. It also saves time for you and expense to your VBA.

On the VBA website, sign in with your username and password. This will take you to your Manage Profile page. Atop the page is a button to Renew Your Membership Now. Clicking that takes you to a secure page where you can update your professional information and input payment data.

Renewing now ensures seamless continuity of your discounts, including for quality conferences. VBA sections members can deepen your knowledge in specific areas of the law. The VBA provides opportunities for public service. Through the VBA, you help shape the laws of Virginia. 
LOG IN AND RENEW
Still wowing the ABA Young Lawyers
The broad swath of programming coordinated by the VBA Young Lawyers Division earned another top finish nationally.

For the third year in a row, overall programming placed second in state bars of our size in the Awards of Achievement. These annual awards are judged by the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.   
Member News
  • Style Weekly named three VBA members to its Top 40 Under 40 list for 2014. The list includes Joley Eason, a lawyer with ThompsonMcMullan PC, Rudene Haynes, a partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, and Vidal J. Torres Jr., vice president and associate general counsel at Genworth Financial.
  • Thomas R. Bagby, immediate past president of the VBA, and six other VBA members are part of the 2015 class of Virginia Law Foundation Fellows. The others are Matthew E. Cheek of Richmond, Kimberly A. Fiske of Alexandria, Michael E. Harman of Glen Allen, Sharon D. Nelson of Fairfax, Stuart A. Raphael of Richmond and M. Pierce Rucker of Richmond. They will be inducted Jan. 22, 2015, in Williamsburg during the VBA Annual Meeting.  
  • UR Law Professor Ann Hodges This month in Atlanta, University of Richmond law professor Ann Hodges will receive the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award and its $25,000 honorarium. The national honor recognizes faculty who have inspired former students to dedicate their work to the betterment of the community. She was nominated by Victor Narro, a former student who became a prominent immigrants' rights advocate.
  • JJoins Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Co. board of directorsoAnne Nolte, principal of The Nolte Law Firm, P.C., in Richmond, has joined the board of directors of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. She was elected to serve a vacated term through June 2016, at which time she will be eligible for re-election.
  • The 2014 class of Virginia Leaders in the Law chose Robert E. Payne as Leader of the Year. Payne, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, is an active member on the VBA's Committee on Special Issues of National and State Importance. Leaders in the Law is a program of Virginia Lawyers Weekly.
  • Treasurer of NACUA Leanne M. Shank, general counsel at Washington and Lee University, has been elected to a three-year term as treasurer of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.
  • This month, Virginia lawyers will vote online for the 2016-17 president-elect of the Virginia State Bar. The candidates are Tom Edmonds of Richmond, who served as VSB executive director for 19 years, Michael W. Robinson, who serves as ethics counsel at Venable firm in Tysons Corner and on the VSB Standing Committee on Legal Ethics, and Ray Benzinger, who recently retired from a 45-year career practicing family law in Arlington. Doris H. Causey, a Richmond legal aid lawyer, has announced her candidacy for 2017-18 president-elect.
  • Karen ElliottKaren S. ElliottAnnemarie Cleary (left) and Annemarie DiNardo Cleary have joined the Richmond office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC. Elliott will be leading the efforts of the firm's Labor and Employment group in Virginia. Cleary is also part of that group and also is part of the Financial Services Litigation practice. Both previously worked at Sands Anderson PC in Richmond.
  • James W.C. "Jamie" Canup joined Hirschler Fleischer as a Richmond-based partner and chair of the firm's Tax Practice. He has more than a quarter century of experience, including work in the chief counsel's office of the Internal Revenue Service and at Am Law 100 firms.
  • Kathleen Vea joined Williams Mullen's Intellectual Property team in the Virginia Beach office. She is a first-year associate.
  • The dean of the law school at Liberty University for eight years is resigning his position. Mat Staver founded the nonprofit law firm Liberty Counsel and was instrumental in the law schools founding in 2004, according to the university. Liberty Law professor Rena Lindevaldsen is interim dean.
The Virginia Bar Association is the largest statewide voluntary group for lawyers, judges and law professors.
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