The Library

Contracts are critical to commercial relationships, but unforeseen events, such as high tariffs, can disrupt performance. This article discusses how Virginia courts may handle doctrines like force majeure, commercial impracticability, and frustration of purpose, and explores related issues such as price adjustments, tariffs as taxes, and cost allocation.  It includes considerations that apply to contract drafting, contract interpretation and contract litigation. Doctrines to Excuse Performance Under a Contract in Virginia Excuse of performance obligations evidenced by a written contract is an option in light of extraordinary circumstances when renegotiation may not be an option. Courts often strictly interpret force majeure […]

The Governor took legislative action on over 960 bills laid on his desk from the 2025 General Assembly Session, including the budget. Governor Youngkin vetoed nearly 160 bills and made recommendations to just as many. In the budget bill, the Governor made 205 amendments and 8 vetoes. A complete list of the Governor’s amendments to the budget may be read here. The General Assembly will have a Reconvene Session on April 2 to respond to his amendments and vetoes. For bills which the Governor vetoed, the threshold for his veto to be overridden is a 2/3 vote of members present. […]

Article originally featured in the Legal Backgrounder, Vol. 40 No. 3 from the Washington Legal Foundation One may have missed the Executive Order issued February 19, 2025, entitled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulator Initiative” (“Executive Order”).[1]  It orders agency heads to identify regulations to target for deregulatory action.  Although that may be a substantial opportunity for certain heavily regulated industries, those same industries and their regulators should be careful that the unintended consequence is not more regulation at the state and local level.  The railroad industry is such an industry; the Federal Railroad […]

On March 21, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an Interim Final Rule which serves as an update to reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The update revised the definition of “reporting company” to only include entities formed under the laws of a foreign country AND that are registered to do business in the United States. Additionally, U.S. persons that beneficially own foreign entities do not need to report under the CTA. This update removed U.S. entities from the definition of “reporting companies,” removing any obligation of U.S. entities to file beneficial ownership reports under the […]

On March 14, 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the Trump Administration’s motion to stay enforcement of a district court’s preliminary injunction against three aspects of President Trump’s executive orders (EOs) banning “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) preferences and programs. Key points of the ruling: The stay allows the Trump Administration to resume implementation of certain challenged aspects of EOs 14151 and 14173, i.e., the termination of equity-related grants or contracts, the ability to require certifications from government contractors that they do not operate programs promoting “illegal DEI” and to […]

The Virginia General Assembly Adjourned Sine Die on Saturday, February 22. As the political focus of Virginia shifts to the coming statewide and House of Delegates races, let’s look at significant policy decisions the General Assembly made. Over the coming weeks, Governor Youngkin will take action on the bills sent to his desk. His deadline for action is March 24. The General Assembly will have a Reconvene Session on April 2 to respond to his amendments and vetoes. All laws signed by the Governor will take effect July 1 of this year unless otherwise stated in the legislation. It should […]

On February 17, 2025, in the case of Smith, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, et al., 6:24-cv-00336 (E.D. Tex), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division issued an order granting the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s motion to stay the January 7, 2025 nationwide injunction of reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) pending appeal. This order marks an end to the final standing injunction blocking enforcement of reporting requirements under the CTA by the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). On February 19, 2025, FinCEN posted an update addressing the reinstatement […]

Matt Broughton was featured on Roanoke news station WSLS 10 about the dangers of snow and ice falling from vehicles and how Virginia’s negligence laws apply. Watch the Feature Here In the wintertime, weather advisories are often issued cautioning drivers to be extremely careful on roads and interstates. Snow and ice on these surfaces can result in extremely low friction between the tire and the pavement, often resulting in horrible crashes and sometimes involving serious bodily injury or death. Unfortunately, it is not only the snow and ice on the road surfaces that pose a substantial danger. Snow and ice […]

Gentry Locke is honored to announce the publication of the first Administrative Law update in the Annual Survey of Virginia Law since 2014. Noah Sullivan was chosen to pen this first update in ten years because of his unique perspectives on administrative law and regulatory issues. Sullivan has practiced administrative law in the private sector and also been “in the room where it happens” in the Virginia Governor’s office. While Virginia administrative law has been stable, Virginia politics have not. The state’s political dynamics have significantly changed in the last ten years. This article predicts that, because of those trends, […]