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Published with the permission of the Virginia State Bar. Originally published in the Virginia Lawyer, Vol. 67/No. 3. The Supreme Court of Virginia has approved a pilot program for limited appellate mediation in the Court of Appeals of Virginia and Supreme Court of Virginia beginning January 1, 2019. The Court’s announcement recognizes the importance of expanding the availability of alternative dispute resolution to all levels of Virginia’s court system. The pilot program will run for two years. It is designed to support mediation in Virginia’s appellate courts so litigants may make informed decisions about resolution of their disputes and fashion […]

I. Introduction and Executive Summary On December 14, 2023, a legal earthquake hit Virginia when the Supreme Court of Virginia issued its decision in Vlaming v. West Point School Board, 895 S.E.2d 705 (Va. 2023).  But, to the extent there is a “legal” Richter scale, that earthquake has yet to register.  Headlines covering the decision noted the result dealing with a hot-button social issue: a teacher fired for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns on religious grounds could continue to pursue his case against the school board for alleged violations of constitutionally protected religious rights.  But that context has […]

On February 8, 2024, a unanimous United States Supreme Court ruled that whistleblowers bringing a retaliatory discharge claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) are not required to prove that the employer acted with “retaliatory intent,” but need only prove that their “protected activity” was a “contributing factor” in the employer’s unfavorable personnel action.  The ruling reversed a Second Circuit decision which had overturned a $900,000 jury verdict in favor of a former employee against UBS Securities, LLC.[1] The Court’s ruling is yet another disappointment for businesses hoping for greater judicial protection from the growing number of retaliation claims.[2] Justice Sotomayor’s […]

As of July 1, 2020, Virginia became one of twelve (12) states that imposed a ban  on the use of non-compete agreements for “low wage employees.”[1] At the time of adoption, the salary threshold for a “low wage employee” was $59,124 annually (or $1,137 per week). This salary threshold was not fixed by statute, but instead, the General Assembly adopted a moving target definition that ties the “low wage” salary threshold to the “average weekly wage of the Commonwealth” as determined by the Virginia Employment Commission. The practical effect is that a new average weekly wage is calculated before or […]

Navigating how to bring a personal injury claim in Virginia can be very confusing without experienced medical malpractice attorneys. Adding to that confusion, bringing a lawsuit for an injury caused by medical negligence, or medical malpractice, by a healthcare provider, adds additional complexities. Some requirements are so important that failure to comply with them can derail a lawsuit before it even begins. One such requirement is that you must bring your lawsuit within the time allowed under Virginia law, or it will be forever barred. This is known as a statute of limitations. The General Rule What is a statute […]