Huzzah! The codified Rules of Evidence has passed the Virginia’s legislature after some late opposition from four Senators. The Sands Anderson Risk Manager blog first reported on the proposed rules back in October. In a comment to that article, attorney and then-President of Sands Anderson Pierce Rucker noted, “We certainly have [Sands Anderson's] own Bunky Miller to thank, and many of his colleagues [...]

This encouraging news certainly brightened my day as a practicing Virginia litigator:  Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly has posted an article indicating movement to codify Virginia Rules of Evidence.  Virginia has long considered codification of its rules of evidence, but previously, the proposed rules never made it past Virginia’s Supreme Court. As discussed in the Virginia Lawyer’s [...]

Amen to Ted Tjaden for writing this article about why “and/or” should never be used in legal writing.  Although I know that “and/or” has its place – it certainly is economical – that place is not in well-crafted discovery requests. Too often I see it when the drafter of the document simply failed to really think about [...]

The leader of our Life and Health team, Robert B. “Chip” Delano, Jr., writes: Regardless of how carefully plaintiff’s counsel may attempt to disguise claims for severance in state law clothing, employers should remember that claims of entitlement to severance benefits by former employees under a plan established by the employer for the purpose of [...]

Under Virginia statute, an ex-felon is competent to testify as a witness, but his credibility can be impeached on cross-examination with the fact of his conviction. Virginia’s statute differs from the Federal Rules of Evidence in this regard, because there is no time limitation on when a felony can be used to impeach a witness’s credibility.