The Library

Cross-examination can determine whether you win or lose your case. It’s a crucial opportunity to reinforce advantageous points and undermine problematic ones. Maintaining control of the process is key. Here are some ways to do so. Know where you are going. Organize your strategy and questions, prepare rigorously, and know what you want to accomplish with each witness. Pay close attention to the order of your questions, because jurors tend to remember the first and last things they hear the most. Always ask yourself: Is it even necessary to cross-examine this witness? Never ask open-ended questions. Ask only questions you […]

Environmental justice is rapidly evolving in Virginia. As a result, regulators are unsure of how to incorporate, or weigh, environmental justice considerations in their decision-making process. However increasingly progressive legislation and landmark judicial decisions that check the power of state’s regulatory bodies have made environmental justice not only a significant but required element in permitting decisions. Gentry Locke Environmental and Government and Regulatory Affairs attorneys Jasdeep Singh Khaira, Patrice Lewis, D. Scott Foster, and Government Affairs Specialist Abigail Thompson provide a legal update on environmental justice in Virginia within the University of Richmond Public Interest Law Review. In general, with […]

On July  15, 2020, Virginia, adopted the first in the nation COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (the “ETS”). The ETS required Virginia employers to take certain actions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infections in the workplace. On January 23, 2021, VOSH replaced the ETS with a permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention (the “Permanent Standard”), which it amended in August 2021. On January 15, 2022, Governor Youngkin issued an Executive Order directing the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (the “Board”) to convene an emergency meeting to discuss if there is an ongoing need for the Permanent Standard. The Board […]