You hate to see it: In Wolfe v. Wolfe, the ex husband filed a pro se motion to modify child support. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part. In its final order, it said: “Should either of the parties wish to appeal they must at the moving party’s cost
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Trends in SCOTUS Oral Arguments
By Jay O'Keeffe
Adam Feldman takes a look at “The Changing Face of Supreme Court Oral Arguments” at his Legalytics Substack. The whole article is interesting and worth reading. Here are his takeaways:
· Oral arguments are taking longer and there is no evidence that this will change soon.
· Attorneys are speaking more on the balance (than…
Baez v. Commonwealth–Trial Court Did Not Abuse its Discretion by Admitting Body-Cam Footage
By Jay O'Keeffe
SCOVA just handed down Baez v. Commonwealth, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting police body-cam footage. While some of the analysis is context-specific–commercial litigators and PI attorneys maybe aren’t going to spend too much time worrying about the Confrontation Clause–the opinion does have a few points worth considering…
Rebh v. County Board of Arlington County
By Jay O'Keeffe
SCOVA handed down a fun published order recently in a local-government case, Rebh v. County Board of Arlington County. I know, right? But bear with me.
Rebh and a bunch of landowners challenged a land-use plan adopted by the County Board of Arlington County. (That is a very silly name, County County Board County.)…
“The document speaks for itself.”
By Jay O'Keeffe
If you’ve practiced law for more than five minutes, you’ve received a responsive pleading or set of discovery responses telling you that x or y document “speaks for itself.” This claim usually answers a question or allegation about that document, intended in good faith to clarify a party’s position. For example, a complaint might allege…
You missed the deadline for filing a petition for appeal in an interlocutory appeal. Now what?
By Jay O'Keeffe
I’m always amazed at how people find new ways to lose appeals. Longtime friend of De Novo Monica Monday showed me a new one earlier this year: In two interlocutory appeals she was resisting, the petitioner missed the 15-day deadline for filing a petition for appeal. Because the Court of Appeals lacked authority to extend…
CAV Reverses Largest Verdict in Virginia History
By Jay O'Keeffe
On Tuesday, the CAV handed down its opinion in Pegasystems Inc. v. Appian Corporation, reversing the largest jury verdict in Virginia history. Pegasystems is a trade-secrets case. The jury tagged Pegas with a verdict of more than $2 billion. (Fun fact: This case was tried in Fairfax at the same time as the Johnny…
Justice Kagan’s Remarks at Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
By Jay O'Keeffe
Justice Kagan gave a fairly candid interview at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference on July 25. She touched on a code of conduct, separate opinions, collegiality, reading dissents from the bench, Chevron, and more. Pretty good stuff.
President Biden Outlines Proposed SCOTUS Reforms
By Jay O'Keeffe
Following up our last post, President Biden discussed his proposed SCOTUS reforms in an op-ed in the Washington Post today–basically, term limits, a code of conduct with an enforcement mechanism, and a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential immunity. The administration released a fact sheet on the proposals.
For what it’s worth, term limits and an…
Washington Post: Biden to Announce Support for SCOTUS Reforms
By Jay O'Keeffe
From today’s story in the Post:
President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans.
He is also weighing whether to call for…