Law Commons^™

Filling In The Gaps Of Virginia Bail Reform, R. Bryan Hatchett

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1960's and early 1970's witnessed an unprecedented reform of the bail laws of this country. The reform has made it possible for a greater percentage of criminal defendants to be released before trial thereby avoiding the stigma and considerable prejudice flowing from incarceration. Even though the reform has also produced a modest increase in the number of persons who fail to appear for trial, on balance critical response to the reform has been favorable.

Qualified Plans Under Erisa: Tax Shelter Or Bureaucratic Paper Chase?, Louise Cobb Boggs

University of Richmond Law Review

The enactment of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 has had a profound and far-reaching impact upon existing employee benefit plans and upon those which have since been created. ERISA, as the act is commonly designated, is a comprehen- sive federal statute with strong consumer protection overtones which sets up strict requirements for regulating most aspects of the operation and administration of private employee benefit plans. Its primary goals are: (1) to protect benefit rights and to provide retirement security for the participants of employee benefit plans by setting out minimum standards for nondiscriminatory participation, vesting, benefit accrual, and …

The Covenant Not To Sue: Virginia's Effort To Bury The Common Law Rule Regarding The Release Of Joint Tortfeasors, Linda Flory Rigsby

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1979 Virginia General Assembly turned the last shovel of earth onto the grave of the common law "release rule"' by adopting the covenant not to sue as a viable settlement device in joint tortfeasor actions. By this statutory adoption, Virginia became the last state to recognize, either by statute or judicial mandate, that a properly drawn covenant not to sue can act to release one or more tortfeasors without automatically releasing all those tortfeasors liable for the same injury or wrongful death. Judicial interpretations of the covenant not to sue, particularly those of California, Michigan and North Carolina, will …

The Questionable Validity Of The Automatic Exemption Of Attorneys From Jury Service, Barbara Ann Dalvano

University of Richmond Law Review

On January 10, 1980 Senator Emick proposed a bill in the Virginia General Assembly to abolish the automatic and optional exemptions from jury service of persons engaged in certain occupations. The bill was not passed in its proposed form. Section 8.01-341, providing optional exemptions, still remains in force in its entirety. Automatic exemptions, however, were eliminated for optometrists, clerks of both houses of the General Assembly, ministers, jail keepers, superintendents of public and mental hospitals, undertakers, veterinarians, members of fire departments, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and citizens of Broad Water and Cobb Islands. Licensed practicing attorneys, however, along with several other …

Multiple-Party Accounts: Does Virginia's New Law Correspond With The Expectations Of The Average Depositor?, Barbara M. Rose

University of Richmond Law Review

There are literally thousands of joint savings and checking accounts throughout Virginia in which the bank signature card provides that either party during their joint lives or the survivor may withdraw funds without limit from the account. The Virginia Supreme Court forthrightly recognized the problems of such accounts in the landmark case of King v. Merryman, stating, "For more than half a century, the courts of this country have struggled to discover whether a joing deposit bank account with an extended right of survivorship ...is a gift, a trust, a contract, or joint tenancy, or a testamentary disposition." In an …

University Of Richmond Law Review Index

University of Richmond Law Review

This is the index for Volume XIV of the University of Richmond Law Review.

Chapter 13: Its Operation, Its Statutory Requirements As To Payment To And Classification Of Unsecured Claims, And Its Advantages, David G. Epstein

Law Faculty Publications

This article will explore the operation of Chapter 13, the two major legal questions raised by the present Chapter 13, and the advantages of Chapter 13 over Chapter 7 and 11.

The "Plain English" Trust, J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Johnson argues in favor of, and then provides an example of, a trust drafted in "plain English."

Guaranteeing Solar Access In Virginia, W. Wade Berryhill

Law Faculty Publications

This article will address in order: the mechanics of a solar energy system; the problem of solar access; the traditional public and private remedies available at common law; Virginia's legislative response to the problem of assuring solar access; and some suggestions for the resolution of anticipated solar access conflicts in Virginia.

University Of Richmond Bulletin: Catalog Of The T.C. Williams School Of Law For 1979-1980, University Of Richmond

Law School Catalogues

History:

The Law School was established as a department of Richmond College in 1870. In 1890 the family of the late T. C . Williams, who had been a devoted and valued Trustee, donated $25,000 as the nucleus of an endowment for the Law School. In recognition of this gift, the name of the School was changed to The T. C . Williams School of Law. At various times the School has received further generous gifts from members of the family of Mr. Williams. A substantial gift came through a bequest from Mr. T. C. Williams, Jr. who, like his …

Note: Enforcing The Right To An "Appropriate" Education: The Education For All Handicapped Children Act Of 1975, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 197 in response to the need for increased funding brought about by the widespread recognition by courts and state legislatures of the right of handicapped children to an adequate education. Although the Act sets forth general requirements states must meet in order to qualify for receipt of federal funds, it does not prescribe the specific educational programs local schools must make available in order to fulfill those requirements. Instead, the heart of the federal control mechanism is a system of procedural .safeguards which provides for parental involvement in educational placement …

Notes On Virginia Civil Procedure, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

This book is an outline of the introductory course on Virginia civil procedure which the author teaches at University of Richmond. The purpose of this publication is to give the students an introduction to the subject which can be read prior to the classroom discussion. It is a very brief sketch of the subject, but there are references in the footnotes to cases and statutes or to secondary works which give case references. The scope of my course and of this book excludes all federal law, criminal law and habeas corpus, evidence, creditors' rights, and probate proceedings; these matters are …

Limiting Congressional Denationalization After Afroyim, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

This Comment discusses the constitutional aspects of loss of United States citizenship. It contrasts expatriation with procedures developed by the state in treaty and statute for involuntary deprivation of citizenship. It distinguishes early judicial and legislative debate over the existence of a citizen's constitutionally guaranteed right to forfeit his citizenship with the twentieth-century controversy surrounding unilateral government action to denationalize. Examining existing statutes in light of recent Supreme Court decisions limiting congressional authority in this area, it suggests an analysis of contemporary statutory presumptions based upon the relationship of proscribed activity and allegiance.

The History Of Legal Education In Virginia, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

Many methods of legal education have been used over the years. Each has its strengths and its weaknesses. The study of the past is instructive and useful in showing both the good and bad goals and methods. We must cultivate the good and uproot the bad. This study suggests that there has always been progress, slow but constant improvement. The teaching of law is vital to the administration of justice, a noble cause. The continuing challenge is ever to strive for the improvement thereof.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. V. San Diego County District Council Of Carpenters: Garmon Reconsidered And The Reaffirmation Of Property Rights, Keith Barker

University of Richmond Law Review

Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego County District Council of Carpenters resolves the problem of a jurisdictional hiatus facing an employer when a union's peaceful picketing on his property is within the ambit of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act). Prior to the Sears decision, the right of the states to enjoin labor union picketing on an employer's private property, when the union's picketing was arguably protected and arguably prohibited, was uncertain. As a rule, conduct which is arguably protected under the Act or arguably prohibited under the Act, with few exceptions, cannot be the subject …

University Of Richmond Law Review Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Outpatient Mental Health Care Services - A Minor's Right, John V. Cogbill Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1979 Session of the General Assembly made important changes in Title 54 of the Code of Virginia pertaining to health care for minors. One of the principal changes involved the right of unemancipated minors to seek outpatient treatment for mental health problems without the consent of their parents. Additionally, lawmakers deleted the criminal sanctions imposed against medical practitioners who performed authorized abortions on consenting minors. This bill appears to bring into Virginia a partial realization of a child's right to due process and equal protection under the law.

University Of Richmond Law Review Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Professional Ethics And Trial Publicity: Another Constitutional Attack On Dr7-107- Hirschkop V. Snead, Stephen E. Baril

University of Richmond Law Review

Philip J. Hirschkop brought an action seeking a declaratory judgment that Disciplinary Rule 7-107 of the Virginia Code of Professional Responsibility, was unconstitutionally vague and over broad. DR 7-107, generally referred to as the "no-comment" rule, prohibits extrajudicial statements by attorneys regarding pending litigation in which they are involved, "if there is a reasonable likelihood that such dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice."

University Of Richmond Law Review Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Divorce Planning In Antenuptial Agreements: Toward A New Objectivity, Peter Nash Swisher

University of Richmond Law Review

Within the past fifty years, there have been numerous articles written about the validity and enforceability of antenuptial agreements. Such agreements are generally favored by the law when prospective spouses privately contract to vary, limit, or relinquish certain rights which they would otherwise acquire in each other's property or in each other's estate by reason of their impending marriage. Traditionally, this antenuptial agreement is typically made by older people who are about to be remarried, and who have acquired considerable property from a prior marriage that they wish to control.

Copyright Implications Attendant Upon The Use Of Home Videotape Recorders, Sandra Gross Schneider

University of Richmond Law Review

Copyright is the Cinderella of the law. Her rich older sisters, Franchises and Patents, long crowded her into the chimney-comer. Suddenly, the fairy godmother, Invention, endowed her with mechanical and electrical devices as magical as the pumpkin coach and the mice footmen. Now she whirls through the mad mazes of a glamorous ball.

"Indecent" Language: A New Class Of Prohibitable Speech? F.C.C. V. Pacifica Foundation, Robert T. Billingsley

University of Richmond Law Review

Courts in this country have long recognized that the first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, while written in absolute terms, is not an unyielding bar to all government regulation. The basic question left unresolved, however, is under what circumstances the government may intervene on behalf of itself or its citizens to place restrictions upon the great protected right of communication. Mr. Justice Holmes, speaking for the Supreme Court in Schenck v. United States, indicated that the question was whether the words used would create a "clear and present danger" of bringing about "substantive evils that Congress has a right …

The Supreme Court And The Not-So-Privileged Press, John D. Epps

University of Richmond Law Review

The first amendment mandates freedom of the press, but the extent of that freedom has been the issue in scores of Supreme Court opinions. Whether press freedom is above and beyond that provided the general public by the first amendment has been a fertile question for debate. The question is more than academic, however; its answer has determined, for example, that reporters must be jailed for refusing to comply with subpoenas and that newsrooms can be searched for evidence of criminal activities.

Rights Of The Convicted Felon On Parole, Howard E. Hill

University of Richmond Law Review

The forfeiture of various civil rights upon conviction of a felony is no modem innovation. Conviction of a crime in the Roman Republic resulted in the deprivation of many of the same rights denied convicted felons today. Most statutes define a "felony" in terms of the possible punishment for a particular act rather than in descriptions of the actual conduct forbidden. In Virginia "such offenses as are punishable with death or confinement in the penitentiary are felonies," while "all other offenses are misdemeanors." One unfortunate enough to be convicted of a felony becomes subject to sanctions imposed by the state. …

Virginia's Reaction To An Implied Warranty In Real Estate Transactions: Bruce Farms, Inc. V. Coupe, Deborah C. Welsh

University of Richmond Law Review

Years ago, caveat emptor was the rule in real estate transactions. A home buyer's own inspection was considered reliable in determining if the house was structurally sound and habitable. Today, the situation is different. Potentially troublesome conditions in a house are easily concealed, and inspection by the buyer may not reveal latent defects. For this reason, the doctrine of implied warranty has replaced caveat emptor in many jurisdictions.

Virginia's Insanity Defense: Reform Is Imperative, William C. Waddell Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia is no exception to the statement that a great deal of time and energy has been expended by writers in addressing the defense ofinsanity. Unfortunately, instead of generating some notable reform, this fact has served to desensitize the legislators, the legal profession, and the public in this controversial area. In view of the current knowledge in the field of psychiatry, the approach for implementing the insanity defense in Virginia courts is not satisfactory.

Census Of Law Books In Colonial Virginia By William Hamilton Bryson, E. Lee Shepard

University of Richmond Law Review

A decade ago Stanley Katz asserted that the eighteenth century American lawyer exhibited "a surprising familiarity with contemporary English law and a high degree of technical competence," and challenged legal historians to reappraise traditional views of the colonial bar. To a great extent this task has been undertaken, but the legal history of early Virginia still languishes. Anxious to rectify this situation, Professor W. Hamilton Bryson of the University of Richmond School of Law has compiled a "census" of law books in early Virginia, hoping to "shed some light on the law which shaped the lawyers who shaped the nation."

University Of Richmond Law Review Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Federal Strip Mining Act: Environmental Protection Comes To The Coalfields Of Virginia, Edward Shawn Grandis

University of Richmond Law Review

Strip mining, for those of us who are touched by it, either as residents of areas affected by the mining or as professionals or bureaucrats concerned with the legal or technical issues involved, conjours up vivid images of land devastation, offsite property damage and high profits with little risk involved for the operator.