February 200246

News & NotesF R O M T H E B A R C O M M U N I T Y

Joseph Condo ReceivesFreedom of Information AwardVSB Past-president Joseph A. Condo, was honored by theVirginia Coalition for Open Government on November 30,2001, for “exemplary work in keeping government open topublic participation and scrutiny.”

He was given the Laurence E. Richardson Award, presentedeach year to an individual who makes “exceptional contribu-tions in achieving greater freedom of information in Virginia.”

Shortly after taking office, Condo appointed a Task Force onPublic Access to the Disciplinary System that supported open-ing disciplinary hearings, once investigators find evidence ofserious attorney misconduct. Presumptions for openness woncouncil endorsement with a 46 to 11 vote.

Condo was presented his award at the Virginia Coalition forOpen Government’s annual conference, held at the VirginiaHistorical Society in Richmond. In addition to Condo, awardrecipients were the “Virginia Regulatory Town Hall,” a stateagency’s pioneering e-government project and two reportersfrom Lynchburg’s News & Advance.

The Virginia Coalition for Open Government is a nonprofit,nonpartisan group that advocates easy access to public recordsand government meetings. Its 180-plus members include media,government, librarians, trade associations, individual citizensand public policy organizations.

Robert E. Shepherd, Jr., a member of the VSB Family LawSection, was a recipient of the Champions for Children Award,presented by the Action Alliance for Virginia’s Children andYouth. The award was presented at the Alliance’s “Beat theOdds Celebration” on November 15, 2001, spotlighting the pos-itive accomplishments of youth as well as the significant roleplayed by mentors and other supporters.

In addition to Shepherd, Art 180 and Target were award recipients.

Shepherd serves as chair of the Virginia Bar AssociationCommission on the Needs of Children, and previously servedon the Virginia Commission on Youth. In 1999 he was presentedwith the Virginia State Bar’s Family Law Section’s LifetimeAchievement Award for his commitment and advocacy for children in the juvenile justice system.

Shepherd Given Award forSupport of Virginia Children

Maria Keritsis, Action Alliance board president; Robert E. Shepherd, Jr.,and Suzanne Clark Johnson, executive director of the Action Alliance.

Notice Regarding District CommitteeHearings Open to the Public

On October 10, 2001, the Supreme Court of Virginiaapproved amendments to Part Six, Section IV,Paragraph 13 of the Rules of Court, which will opendistrict committee hearings to the public.

The new rules become effective on January 1, 2002.The Standing Committee on Lawyer Discipline hasdecided as a policy matter that only hearings in casesset for hearing after January 1, 2002, will be open tothe public. For example, if a hearing date after January1, 2002, were set in a case before December 31, 2001,that hearing would not be open to the public. On theother hand, if a hearing date is set after the new rulesbecome effective on January 1, 2002, the hearing willbe open to the public.

District committee dockets listing the time and place of hearings open to the public will be posted on theVirginia State Bar Web site at www.vsb.org.

A Note about Recent Events at the Appalachian

School of LawWe join the community of Grundy and the law schoolfaculty, staff and students of the Appalachian Schoolof Law in mourning the loss of its dean, L. AnthonySutin, professor Thomas F. Blackwell and law studentAngela Denise Dales.

A longer report on the tragedy will appear in the Apriledition of this magazine.

Virginia Lawyer 47

News & NotesF R O M T H E B A R C O M M U N I T Y

Statewide Bar Association Presidents Meet at VSBThe presidents of 10 statewide bar associations convened in November 2001 inRichmond for the initial meeting of the Presidents’ Council. The goal of the Presidents’Council is to serve as a mechanism to foster cooperation among statewide bar associa-tions on matters of mutual interest and concern.

Members of the council are:

Linda D. Curtis, Virginia Association of Commonwealth AttorneysKathleen A. Dooley, Local Government Attorneys of VirginiaMark A. Fleckenstein, Virginia Real Estate Attorneys LeagueJeanne F. Franklin, The Virginia Bar AssociationMarilynn C. Goss, Old Dominion Bar AssociationMichael A. Glasser, Virginia State BarCharles Franklin Hilton, Virginia Association of Defense AttorneysJames M. Hingeley, Jr., Virginia College of Criminal Defense AttorneysLinda M. Jackson, Virginia Women Attorneys AssociationJohn L. Machado, Hispanic Bar Association of VirginiaM. Janet Palmer, Virginia Association of Black Women AttorneysRobert P. Quadros, Virginia Creditors AssociationHansel Hongsang Rhee, Asian American Attorneys AssociationJohn C. Shea, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association

In attendance at the initial meeting of the Presidents’ Council were: (seated) Kathleen A. Dooley,Michael A. Glasser, Marilynn C. Goss, John L. Machado, John C. Shea, (standing) Mark A. Fleckenstein,M. Janet Palmer, Jeanne F. Franklin, Charles Franklin Hilton, James M. Hingeley, Jr. and (via teleconfer-ence) Linda M. Jackson.

LOCAL & SPECIALTYBAR ELECTIONS

Virginia Creditors Bar AssociationEdward S. Whitlock, III, President

Elizabeth Godwin-Jones, Vice President

Mary Christine Maggard, Secretary

Mark Kevin Groves, Treasurer

IN MEMORIAM

Wesley Reid BobbittAlbuquerque, NM

December 1948–September 2001

Homer S. CarpenterLocust Grove

October 1910–May 2001

Thomas C. CrouchRichmond

August 1911–January 2002

Carrol Walter HughesRichmond

September 1963–December 2001

Michael Neale ZirkleArlington

October 1933–September 2001

VSB Offers Confidential Law Practice Management Reviews to Solos and Small Firms*

If you are concerned about being a competent professional and want your practices and procedures to reflect this, consider having ahalf-day confidential review of your law practice management systems for the low cost of $150 per attorney. The VSB’s risk manage-ment program covers the remainder of the cost associated with these reviews. Since the number of reviews that can be conductedeach year is limited, please don’t delay in writing to or calling Janean S. Johnston, J.D., in order to receive an application form.Johnston is a licensed attorney in Minnesota, and she has conducted legal risk management and ethics audits and reviews nationwidesince 1987. She has recently returned to Virginia and has been retained by the VSB Malpractice Insurance Committee to assist withits overall risk management efforts on behalf of Virginia lawyers. You may reach her at 250 South Reynolds Street, #710, Alexandria,VA 22304, or at (703) 567-0088.Take advantage of this limited offer and gain peace of mind as a result of improved practices and procedures that can reduce yourexposure to both malpractice claims and ethics complaints.*(law firms with a maximum of five attorneys)

February 200248

News & NotesF R O M T H E B A R C O M M U N I T Y

Handbook Available on the Web

A copy of the So You’re 18 booklet is available on theVSB Web site in pdf format at www.vsb.org/publications/

brochure/soyou’re18.pdf. Please feel free to downloadand reproduce the booklet as needed for presentations.

The So You’re 18 video wasmailed to all public and pri-vate high school libraries,central libraries, police andsheriffs’ departments, andJ&DR Courts last year. If youare unable to obtain a copyof the video for a presenta-tion, please contact the VSBat (804) 775-0521 or atclba@vsb.org.

Mason Receives Women ofAchievement Award

Darrel Tillar Mason was presentedwith the Women of AchievementAward at the annual holiday lun-cheon of the MetropolitanRichmond Women’s BarAssociation on December 5, 2001.

Mason is an attorney in privatepractice in Richmond where shefocuses on special education law.She is the founder of the VirginiaCoalition for Students withDisabilities Legal Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization thatprovides families with legal assistance necessary to representchildren’s educational rights.

She is contract counsel for the Department of Rights ofVirginians with Disabilities and served as Special EducationHearing Officer through the Virginia Supreme Court.

Virginia State Bar staff and past presidents of the bar attended afarewell party for retiring VSB Executive Assistant Judith A. McBrideon January 16. McBride worked at the bar for over 17 years.Shown with her are Bar Executive Director Thomas A. Edmonds;Past-president Joseph A. Condo; President-elect Bernard J. DiMuro;Past-president W. Scott Street, III and current VSB PresidentMichael A. Glasser.

Newly-Revised PamphletsAvailable from the VSB Publications Department• Marriage in Virginia• The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act

$10.00 per 100 pamphlets • Single copies FREETo order, please send a check to:

VSB Publications, 707 E. Main Street, Suite 1500Richmond, VA 23219-2800

Virginia Lawyer 49

News & NotesF R O M T H E B A R C O M M U N I T Y

Virginia Courts TapLexisNexis For Exclusive

Research Contract

LexisNexis has been chosen as the exclu-sive provider of online legal researchinformation services for Virginia’s judgesand court staffers for the next five years.The announcement was made at the112th Annual Meeting of The VirginiaBar Association in Williamsburg.

The exclusive contract for legal researchservices complements the publication byLexisNexis of Michie’s Code of Virginia.LexisNexis is the official publisher of thecode, which is compiled, edited andpublished by LexisNexis in Charlottesville,under the supervision and direction ofthe Virginia Code Commission.

The agreement for legal research servicesmakes available to all 340 judges andtheir staffs throughout the Commonwealtha variety of primary and secondary legalresearch information from LexisNexis

LexisNexis is a trademark of Reed ElsevierProperties Inc., used under license.Shepard’s and lexis.com are registeredtrademarks of Reed Elsevier PropertiesInc., used under license. Copyright 2002LexisNexis, a division of Reed ElsevierInc. All rights reserved.

UNLOCK THE MAGICABA TECHSHOW® 2002

Who couldn’t use a little magic these days? The ABA TECHSHOW returns thisMarch to conjure up a little technical wizardry with more than 65 sessions, 9educational tracks, cyber cafes and 100-plus exhibitors. The keynote speaker issecurity software maker Steve Gibson, president and founder of GibsonResearch Corporation. Here’s a look at program highlights within the educa-tional tracks.

• General, Solo & Small Firm—Technology for tightwads, cool billing tools, the$5,000 law office and 60 Tips in 60 Minutes.

• Litigation—All the basics are here: multimedia, imaging, real-time deposi-tions, electronic trial notebooks, plus the latest in e-briefs and e-pleadings.

• Enterprise—Extranets, training, Web development, document management,online recruiting and employee monitoring.

• Security—Sessions on viruses, security measures, encryption and battlingthreats from within.

• In-House/Government—Surviving discovery, managing outside counsel andKM lessons.

• My Favorite Tools—Friday sessions cover PDAs, utilities, operating systemsand outlines, timelines and knowledge management.

• Additional tracks are Ethics, Strategies and Collaboration/Net.

• And on Saturday, attendees are invited to lift a glass and ask a question or twoat the new “Tech Pub” ask-the-experts gathering reception.

ABA TECHSHOW takes place March 14-16, 2002, at the Sheraton ChicagoHotel & Towers.

XYZ Bar Association is an ABA TECHSHOW Program Promoter. Each of ourmembers will receive a discount of $100 off every TECHSHOW registration. Toregister, call 800-888-8300 extension 9191. Be sure to mention the ProgramPromoter Code: PPxx. For more information on ABA TECHSHOW, visit theWeb site at www.techshow.com.

Attending the VSB Young Lawyers ConferenceCelebration of Women and Minorities in theProfession Bench-Bar Dinner on November 14were (l-r): Keynote speaker, the HonorableRoger L. Gregory; O’Kelly McWilliams, III, YLCpresident; Thomas A. Edmonds, VSB executivedirector; and Bernard J. DiMuro, VSB president-elect. The annual event was held at the VirginiaMuseum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Gregory Speaks at Annual Bench-Bar Event