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Southwest Virginia Law Blog

Items of interest to lawyers in Southwest Virginia and beyond.
By Steven R. Minor

Post Frequency: 2.3/day

Last Entry: July 09, 2020 at 12:40:00

The end of babysitting and sleepovers

Posted on November 05, 2009
I read the "new" opinions in Kellerman v. McDonough. I thought both the majority and Justice Kinser's opinions were off the mark.The majority opinion converts the mom hosting a sleepover into some kind of service provider with a duty of reasonable care, to protect the kids from criminals...

A football case, from a few years back

Posted on September 23, 2009
Here's part of an old brief, apropos of the high school football season:Plaintiff was in a fight on school property at the High School, where he is a student and was a member of the football team. The altercation occurred on the football practice field following football practice...

Don't I post this every year about now?

Posted on August 31, 2009
Here's my alltime favorite piece of writing about college football in Tennessee. Probably I posted it last year and will again next year, until the IP police tell not to do it any more:It's Football Time in Tennesseeby Jake Vest -- Orlando Sentinel -- Jake Vest is the creator of the comic strip That's Jake...

You can't negligently misrepresent your own intentions

Posted on August 03, 2009
I don't remember if I knew this or not, but in the case that was tried in July and continues on, one thing that I wrote about was the Virginia Supreme Court has concluded it is impossible to state a constructive fraud claim based on a misrepresentation about one's intention to do something in the future:"Under no circumstances ...

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On Batson and earrings

Posted on August 03, 2009
The VLW Blog has a post up about non-discriminatory reasons that have passed muster under a Batson challenge to the use of peremptory strikes.I tried a case back in January before Judge Turk, where I represented a African-American claiming racial discrimination and retaliation...

Nomination of Tim Heaphy announced today

Posted on July 31, 2009
In this press release, the White House announced the nomination of Tim Heaphy as the next U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia. That's all to the good, as he is a fine fellow (haven't I said that before?). He was looking forward to the nomination when I saw him and kids enjoying dinner al fresco on the downtown mall in Charlottesville, earlier this summer.

That jury trial earlier in the week

Posted on July 25, 2009
On Wednesday and Thursday, I tried a case in the W.D. Va., representing two fellows from Texas who were sued for fraud, where the amount in dispute was fixed at $2.3 million, and we got a defense verdict. The jurors deliberated for over three hours, counting the time they were eating pizza for dinner...

Fourth Circuit en banc upholds Virginia's partial-birth abortion statute by 6-5 vote

Posted on June 24, 2009
Today in Richmond Medical Center v. Herring, the Fourth Circuit en banc upheld the Virginia law on partial-birth "infanticide," with the six including Niemeyer, Chief Judge Williams, Wilkinson, Shedd, Duncan, Agee, and the five including Motz, Michael, Gregory, King, and Traxler...

Why I'm voting for Brownlee

Posted on May 27, 2009
Why I'm going to Richmond this weekend to vote at the Republican convention for John Brownlee:1. He was the U.S. Attorney for the W.D. Va., the head lawyer for the United States of America in (the better) half of Virginia. That's more like being Attorney General than about any other law job there is...

On the next U.S. Attorney for the W.D. Va.

Posted on May 08, 2009
The Roanoke paper reported earlier that Tim Heaphy will be the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.As I wrote here, I knew Tim Heaphy a little back in the day. And, I've seen him a few times since, at VBA meetings and in the Abingdon courthouse, a fine fellow and excellent lawyer...

Watch what you ask for

Posted on May 04, 2009
VLW Blog cited to this opinion by Judge Moon, in McIntyre v. Aetna, wherein Judge Moon refused to grant the parties' motion to vacate a final judgment on appeal to the Fourth Circuit. Judge Moon held, consistent with any number of prior W.D. Va. cases, that if the parties burn the court's time by taking a case to final judgment, they're stuck with it...

On rural broadband

Posted on April 27, 2009
The Washington Post article that weighs the merits of rural broadband against the stories of Rose Hill and Lebanon cites my sister Joan.

Article on SVLAS

Posted on April 01, 2009
This article begins: "A six-year increase in legal aid for victims of domestic abuse in Southwest Virginia has been a success. The Southwest Legal Aid Society (SVLAS) greatly increased its outreach over that period, and the result has been a dramatic 35-percent decline in the number of requested protective orders; a much greater decline than seen statewide...

On the Irish literary form

Posted on March 17, 2009
Responding to one of my posts about a notorious Virginia Supreme Court case, a reader once sent me this:There once was a couple named ZyskWho did quite a bit more than just kissShe sued him for herpesHe said, "I demur, please.I think it was your *."This limerick led to another -From: Steve Minor Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 01:39:12 -0400Subject: Re: ZyskYours deserves a "punctual" reply:There can be no worse destinationFor sodomy or fornicationThan here in VirginnyFor instead of sin, weare only allowed "!"

Hello Bristol Republicans

Posted on March 10, 2009
Come and say hello to Lee Ann Necessary on Thursday, lunchtime at K.P. Duty.And, if you were making a list of good reasons to support John Brownlee, wouldn't she be one of them?

On the connection between the Uniform Arbitration Act and the Federal Arbitration Act

Posted on March 06, 2009
Today, in A & G Coal v. Integrity Coal Sales, Chief Judge Jones of the W.D. Va. held that the parties' dispute was subject to arbitration.His analysis began with this point: "Since the purchase orders at issue involve interstate commerce,1 the Federal Arbitration Act (?FAA?), 9 U...

On being a Super Lawyer

Posted on March 04, 2009

Oof, Supreme Court rejects FDA preemption in Wyeth case

Posted on March 04, 2009

On replacing Judge Blankenship

Posted on March 04, 2009

On picking judges in Virginia

Posted on March 02, 2009

The cow chase case

Posted on March 01, 2009

Another Bill Eskridge case

Posted on February 27, 2009

Well done, Rip Sullivan

Posted on February 27, 2009

Well done, more or less

Posted on February 27, 2009

Tennessee Supreme Court in Virginia

Posted on February 26, 2009
Today's TBAtoday says:"Next Thursday, March 5, the Tennessee Supreme Court will hold a public meeting in Bristol on legal needs and access to justice issues in east and northeast Tennessee. The meeting will be moderated by Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade and feature a panel with state Representative Jon Lundberg, 2nd Judicial District Chancellor E...

Funniest thing I heard said about me in 2009

Posted on February 24, 2009
Someone told me at the VBA meeting in Williamsburg that someone else had said this: "Steve Minor . . . is an acquired taste."

On the USDA broadband grant program

Posted on February 23, 2009
Southwest Virginia through LENOWISCO and other entities has been a prime beneficiary of the grant program mostly bashed in this Washington Post article, which does cite the example of Tannersville, Virginia, here in the Ninth District. The Tannersville grant was written by my sister, who also wrote the grant for Rose Hill, where she lives and works...

On court-packing, stacking, etc.

Posted on February 23, 2009
The Post has this on too-smart law professors thinking up ways to get the Supreme Court to do what they want.People who are aggrieved by the Supreme Court always think of ways to change it, not because they are high-minded but because they want to get different outcomes...

Two new judges for the 29th

Posted on February 19, 2009
Daniel Gilbert reports here that Mike Bush and Richard Patterson will get district judgeships in the Russell, Buchanan, Tazewell, Dickinson district.I never heard of Richard Patterson but that's ok, he probably never heard of me.The Gilbert article includes some additional gratuitous John Farmer bashing from Senator Puckett, which seems lame.

On being the swami

Posted on February 10, 2009
Here it was written in 2006 that by November 2009, Mary Lynn Tate would be on the Fourth Circuit.Here it says she has put in for the job.

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