The Washington Post has a piece about Judge Luttig, opening with a lovely anecdote involving Justice Scalia. (But are we sure that Judge Luttig “clerked for [Scalia] at the federal district court in Washington?”) [Update: He did not! The Post has corrected this in its story. Also, autocorrect got me the first time around,
DeNovo: A Virginia Appellate Law Blog
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Hawkins v. Town of South Hill–Objections in Final Order
Let’s start with the punchline from Hawkins v. Town of South Hill: Merely stating an objection above your endorsement to an order is not enough to preserve the objection for appeal. You must object with reasonable certainty, giving the court a chance to rule intelligently on your issue, and the court must in fact…
Colas v. Tyree
Here is Kyle McNew on Colas v. Tyree.
On January 26th, the Supreme Court of Virginia issued its decision in Colas v. Tyree. This was a tragic case where a police officer shot and killed Mr. Tyree, who was in the midst of a severe mental health emergency. The shot followed a multi-hour…
New CA4 Opinion on Regulatory Takings
The Fourth Circuit just handed down a new regulatory-takings opinion, Blackburn v. Dare County. Judge Richardson wrote for a unanimous panel that also included Judges Agee and Rushing. Here is the opening paragraph:
Joseph Blackburn, Jr. and Linda Blackburn own a beach house in Dare County, North Carolina. In the early days of the COVID-19…
Annual Mark Herrmann Appreciation Post
For a few years now, I’ve taught a spring class at UVA on something called “Federal Litigation Practice,” which I interpret to mean critical motions and appeals. (UVA offers other, much better, classes about trial practice.)
Every year, we start the class by going over “How to Write: A Memorandum from a Curmudgeon” by the…
VBA Panel: What We’ve Learned from the Expansion of the CAV
The highlight of the VBA’s annual meeting this year was its Saturday panel on What We’ve Learned from the Expansion of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. Judge Ortiz and Jason Konvicka were the panelists, with Henry Willett moderating.
Here are a few takeaways:
- Judge Ortiz is funny! I had not realized this. Also, he
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Handling Drinkard-Nuckols Issues
One of the nastier waiver traps in Virginia practice is the Drinkard-Nuckols rule–that is, the principle that if you unsuccessfully object to a piece of evidence, you waive that objection if you introduce evidence dealing with the same subject in your case in chief. (You can still introduce the evidence on cross-examination or rebuttal.)
This…
What I’m Reading
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Here’s what I’ve been reading:
- Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger. I loved this book and can’t believe I haven’t read it until now. It’s somehow both clear-eyed and sympathetic, and compelling throughout. My only regret is that coach never said, “Clear eyes, full hearts,
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Quick Thoughts After a Few CAV Arguments
I’ve done two oral arguments at the revamped Court of Appeals of Virginia, and I have a few more in the pipeline. Some initial thoughts:
- Good vibes. The clerk’s office is (as always) extremely helpful, and the arguments have been very enjoyable. The judges are well-prepared and extremely polite. Both panels freely doled out extra
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Should the Court of Appeals Require Binding Assignments of Error?
As the great and the good work on revising the rules for the expanded Court of Appeals of Virginia, I have a question: Should the Court of Appeals have binding assignments of error?
The current rules, of course, require assignments of error, and a key part of the revision project is minimizing any unnecessary changes.…