The Library

Charlie Williams joined Gentry Locke in 1970 and heads the firm’s Environmental Law practice. His work includes advising corporate and municipal clients in the areas of environmental compliance, including enforcement and environmental tort litigation. He has extensive experience in contaminated land renewal and the management of environmental aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Everyone in the country that operates a business or owns property should be mindful of impending regulatory action regarding newly identified contaminants. These “emerging contaminants” are generally described as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFASs”) which are perfluoroalkyl acids that have been commonly and widely used in the United […]

Cynthia Kinser was the first woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Her seventeen years of distinguished service to the Court ended with her retirement in 2014. In 2015, she joined Gentry Locke as Senior Counsel, where she focuses on appeals, criminal matters, and government investigations. The Supreme Court of Virginia amended Rule 5:17 and added a new rule, Rule 1:5A.  The amendment to Rule 5:17(a)(1) simplifies calculation of the time period for filing a petition for appeal.  The addition of Rule 1:5A eliminates a harsh outcome when a pleading or other paper is not signed or is signed by a person […]

Christen Church is a partner who focuses her practice on intellectual property, data privacy and security, corporate advisory services, and health care regulation and compliance.   Over $1,300,000,000.00 and 298,728. Respectively, these numbers represent reported losses and number of complaints the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received in 2016. Many of these losses resulted from ransomware, tech support fraud, and Business Email Compromise (BEC), with most originating from phishing emails. BEC scams represent the increasingly sophisticated efforts of internet criminals. A criminal sends a phishing email to allow the scammers into your email accounts and computer system.  Once you click […]

Amanda Morgan is Of Counsel to Gentry Locke’s Lynchburg office, where she focuses on municipal, civil, and business litigation.  Companies formed in states other than Virginia (known as non-Virginia or “foreign companies”) must register with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (“SCC”) before transacting business in Virginia. Registration involves completing an annual form and paying a nominal fee (which varies depending on the type of company) to the SCC along with appointing a registered agent in Virginia to accept service of any lawsuit papers or other legal notices. Companies that merely own real estate or other assets in Virginia generally are […]

Travis Graham is a partner at Gentry Locke, where he practices estate, commercial, and personal injury litigation. It is usually possible to avoid most legal difficulties following a loved one’s death through open discussions with family members, sound advice, and prior planning. But not always. And when legal problems do arise, the emotional and financial toll can be devastating. Legal battles following the death of a family member can destroy families and futures, and prevent closure for months or years. Unfortunately, certain aspects of estate planning and administration almost seem to invite controversy. But, these situations are not hopeless. The […]

Bankruptcies are at times an unfortunate necessity. Our clients often find themselves financially overwhelmed, especially when they are the victims of medical malpractice, a defective product or car, and trucking crashes. At times, the financial burdens become so great that clients are left with no choice but to seek the protection of bankruptcy. When clients do so, they must notify their attorneys of this. Failure to do so can lead to drastic consequences. The strange case of Ricketts v. Strange The recent case of Ricketts v. Strange, (February 16, 2017), highlights what can happen when lawyers and clients don’t communicate […]

In case you haven’t heard, Virginia is for lovers — of craft beer, spirits and wine! In recent years, many craft breweries, wineries, and distilleries have chosen to call Virginia home. To facilitate the growth and expansion of this industry in Virginia, during its 2017 session, the Virginia General Assembly brewed up a number of bills governing the sale and marketing of alcoholic beverages in the Commonwealth. Let’s take a moment to distill some of the new Virginia laws that will go into effect on July 1, 2017. Showcasing Virginia Craft Spirits To support the burgeoning craft spirits industry, the […]

On January 4, 2017, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) filed a lawsuit against the tech mega-giant Google for its refusal to submit compensation data for its employees as part of a compliance review. The complaint alleges that Google repeatedly refused to provide specific compensation data about its employees. The request, which was issued by the OFCCP under Executive Order 11246, asks Google to provide job and salary history for employees which includes a variety of employee-specific data, including “starting salary, starting position, starting ‘compara-ratio,’ starting job code, starting job family, starting job level, starting organization” and any […]

This article by Gentry Locke attorneys Lindsey Coley and Brad Tobias was published by Law360 on February 8, 2017. You may read the formatted article here. In the waning days of President Obama’s administration, before President Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) forged several new lawsuits against technology and financial companies in a continuing effort to crack down on compensation discrimination. The OFCCP, which is expected to take a more employer-friendly approach under the Trump Administration, still has yet to have a new director appointed. But for now, […]