Law Commons^™

Enforcing Competition Through Government Contract Claims, Michael K. Love

University of Richmond Law Review

One of the principal objectives of Congress in enacting laws to govern federal government contract awards is to insure competition by maximizing the number of contractors who compete for these contracts. To insure full and open competition, the specifications in government contracts must permit all responsible sources of goods, services, and construction to compete for the work. Specifications which are drawn so that only one source or a very limited number of sources can compete for the work may effectively thwart competition. Whether and how to enforce this requirement for competitive specifications during contract performance is this article's subject.

Toward A Modern Defamation Law In Virginia: Questions Answered, Questions Raised, David C. Kohler

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1964, the United States Supreme Court decided that defamatory statements are entitled to some first amendment protection. In later cases, the Court has continued to redefine the constitutional landscape of defamation, but many questions remain unanswered. In their attempts to accommodate the Supreme Court's new doctrine, the Virginia state courts have often struggled with the task of redefining their common law rules so that they are consistent with the constitutional prescriptions. Since 1985, the Virginia Supreme Court has issued five opinions attempting to clarify various aspects of defamation law in Virginia. Part I of this article examines these opinions …

Casting Stones: The Role Of Fault In Virginia Divorce Proceedings, Donald K. Butler, Marilyn D. Russell

University of Richmond Law Review

The national trend is toward eliminating fault as a factor in many aspects of divorce, and in some states it plays virtually no role at all. However, Virginia is among those few remaining states where fault is potentially involved in every aspect of a divorce case.

Voice Spectrography Evidence: Approaches To Admissibility, Sharon E. Gregory

University of Richmond Law Review

The admissibility of the results of voiceprint' analysis as evidence in a criminal trial has received a great deal of attention in the last ten years, both from legal scholars and in the courts. Although a relative newcomer to the field of forensic science, voice spectrography is not a recent development in the field of evidence; Wigmore foresaw the use of a voiceprint as early as 1937, when he suggested that the individuality of a person's voice provided a possible means of speaker identification.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Civil Procedure And Practice, W. Hamilton Bryson

University of Richmond Law Review

This article considers recent developments in the field of Virginia civil procedure and practice, including statutes, rules of court, and opinions of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia that have appeared between May 1985 and May 1986. This article also comments on cases in volumes three and four of Virginia Circuit Court Opinions, many of which were decided before 1985, but it is appropriate to mention them here since they were only recently made generally available through publication.

Virginia Should Open Its Courthouse Doors To Review Administrative Decisions Involving Public Assistance, Christopher Allen Stump, Jill A. Hanken

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia's courts interpret the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) to prohibit judicial review of administrative decisions that grant or deny public assistance funds. Virginia is therefore one of only three states which fail to provide judicial review of such decisions. This article advocates judicial review of public assistance hearing decisions on the basis of principles of statutory construction and constitutional law. The article concludes that Virginia's minority status indicates a failure to meet traditional notions of fairness.

Lowe V. Sec: Investment Advisors Act Of 1940 Clashes With First Amendment Guarantees Of Free Speech And Press, Stacy P. Thompson

University of Richmond Law Review

In the wake of mounting controversy over whether federal securities laws can withstand first amendment scrutiny, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Lowe v. SEC to consider whether the first amendment prohibits an injunction against publication and distribution of an investment advisory newsletter by an unregistered investment advisor. However, the Court bypassed this constitutional question, and instead adopted a statutory construction of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the "Act") that excluded Lowe's newsletters as "bonafide financial publications" of general circulation under section 80(b)- 2(a)(11)(D). The majority ruled that the petitioners were not investment advisers, and therefore did …

A Tribute To D. Dortch Warriner, Robert R. Merhige Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

On May 31, 1974, D. Dortch Warriner, an attorney from Emporia, Virginia, took the oath of office as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. That solemn and auspicious occasion, which took place before the bench of the Circuit Court of Brunswick County, Virginia, was the genesis of twelve exciting and contributing years not only for Judge Warriner but for those of us, like myself, who came to know, admire, respect and love him.

The "Fresh Start" Policy In Consumer Bankruptcy: A Historical Inventory And An Interpretive Theory, Charles G. Hallinan

University of Richmond Law Review

In part II, the article traces the historical development of the idea of providing relief to troubled debtors in bankruptcy, an idea usually summarized as the "fresh start" policy of bankruptcy law. The article catalogs and describes the empirical assumptions and normative judgments underlying the various explanations offered for the availability of a discharge or "fresh start" in bankruptcy. In part II, the article examines the existing Bankruptcy Code in the light of these various theories. The article concludes that the Code's debtor relief provisions are best understood as a form of compulsory insurance for debtors. The nature of insurance …

A Tribute To Willard I. Walker, Murray H. Wright

University of Richmond Law Review

The University of Richmond Law Review respectfully dedicates this issue to the memory of Willard I. Walker, 1929-1986. Judge Walker had served as a Virginia Circuit Court Judge for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit for more than ten years before his untimely death. He received his law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1956. Judge Walker practiced law in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia, before his appointment to the bench. As an adjunct faculty member, Judge Walker inspired law students at both the T.C. Williams School of Law and the University of Virginia. The pages that follow serve as a tribute …

The Purchase Money Security Interest In Inventory Versus The After-Acquired Property Interest-A "No Win" Situation, Nathaniel Hansford

University of Richmond Law Review

Extending credit entails risk. Seldom is a creditor absolutely assured of complete payment of his debt. Not only is there a risk in almost every loan, but the types of risks that must be weighed are manifold. The debtor may be a poor business person and never make a profit sufficient to repay the debt. The debtor class is replete with scoundrels and outright crooks who borrow money without any intention to service the debt. The economy may slump to such a degree that even astute business persons are pressed to pay their outstanding obligations. The creditor's collateral may deteriorate …

The Status Of The At-Will Employment Doctrine In Virginia After Bowman V. State Bank Of Keysville, Gary S. Marshall, Maris M. Wicker

University of Richmond Law Review

The development of the employment-at-will doctrine has tracked the changing character of the work force from the days of simple master-servant domestic relations to the commercial realities of twentieth-century industrial capitalism. The rule grew out of the humane principle that it would be unjust to employ a laborer during the planting and harvesting months, only to discharge that laborer during the harsh winter. Hence, the realities of the agrarian economy of the British Isles and the closeness of the master and domestic servant relationship shaped the yearly hiring rule. This rule developed into a presumption that a hiring for an …

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Changing Focus Of Peer Review Under Medicare, Peter M. Mellette

University of Richmond Law Review

Consumers today rely on both physicians and the federal government for health care services. A consumer/patient's visit to a physician is the usual method of access to such services. After examining the patient, the physician will typically send the patient home with a prescription for medication or refer the patient for admission to an appropriate health care provider, such as a hospital. In either instance, the patient incurs medical bills. If the patient is age sixty-five or older, the federal government probably pays for most of those bills through the Medicare program.

Federal And State Remedies To Clean Up Hazardous Waste Sites, Janis L. Kirkland, James A. Thornhill

University of Richmond Law Review

Over fifty-seven million metric tons of hazardous waste are produced as a by-product of manufacturing in the United States each year. Only ten percent of this waste is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. The improper disposal of hazardous waste has given rise to crisis areas of national notoriety such as "Love Canal" and "Valley of the Drums." Although the danger to public health and the environment cannot be precisely calculated, the disposal of hazardous waste presents a problem that can no longer be ignored. Virginia's own experience with kepone contamination in the James River exemplifies the dangers and …

Products Liability: The Continued Viability Of The Learned Intermediary Rule As It Applies To Product Warnings For Prescription Drugs, Barbara Pope Flannagan

University of Richmond Law Review

Judicial decisions, as well as statutory enactments, have removed many of the traditional stumbling blocks which formerly hampered an injured plaintiff's recovery against the manufacturer of a defective product. Concomitantly, the past few decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of product liability suits brought by injured consumers directly against manufacturers. These product liability suits have involved the full range of manufactured products and have proceeded under three basic theories of recovery. While no single type of product, either because of its use or purpose, has been immune from products liability suits, some types of products have special …

Aids And Employment Discrimination Under The Federal Rehabilitation Act Of 1973 And Virginia's Rights Of Persons With Disabilities Act, Leisa Y. Kube

University of Richmond Law Review

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a fatal illness that attacks the immune system, rendering it incapable of defending the body from a variety of rare infections. In the United States, the syndrome was first observed in 1979 in isolated cases in major metropolitan areas. At that time, it affected a limited group of people, mainly homosexual men and drug abusers. Faced with a deadly illness whose cause and mode of transmission were unknown, the public understandably reacted with fear. Many AIDS victims were shunned from schools, workplaces, housing, courts, and medical facilities.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of Laws, Men, And Judges, D. Dortch Warriner

University of Richmond Law Review

This essay was originally delivered by Judge Warriner as a speech on March 19, 1985, at the T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond. Copyright 1985 by D. Dortch Warriner, all rights reserved.

A Tribute To D. Dortch Warriner, Theodore J. Burr Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

I first met David Dortch Warriner in the spring of 1976 when I called him at his Emporia, Virginia office to see if he had a position available in his law firm for a lawyer just out of law school. Although I had not met him prior to my call, I knew a little of him because he was a district chairman in the Republican Party of Virginia at the time.

Improving Expert Testimony, Jack B. Weinstein

University of Richmond Law Review

Our real world outside the ivory towers of academia and the courts grows more and more complex. The law's use of expert witnesses has expanded at a pace reflective of society's reliance on specialized knowledge. Hardly a case of importance is tried today in the federal courts without the involvement of a number of expert witnesses.

Pigeonholes In The Public Forum, Gary C. Leedes

University of Richmond Law Review

Streets, parks, and similar places traditionally used for purposes of discussion and assembly are public forums where people have liberty to communicate their thoughts. Persons lacking the status, money or charisma necessary to command coverage by the mass media often desperately seek access to the public forum. Once access is obtained, ideas can be communicated in a cost-effective manner. However, like other first amendment cases, public forum cases are not fungible. The varying weights of competing interests and the instability of ad hoc balancing tests have created a need for doctrinal structure. The Supreme Court's evolving public forum doctrine is …

To Bare Or Not To Bare: The Constitutionality Of Local Ordinances Banning Nude Sunbathing, Richard B. Kellam, Teri Scott Lovelace

University of Richmond Law Review

One of America's favorite and most popular summertime activities is sunbathing. Millions of Americans enjoy this recreational pastime each year. Sunbathing is a form of relaxation shared by all people, regardless of economic or social status in society. In recent years, the social nudism movement has grown and gained considerable support. One statistic boasts that approximately thirty-three million people have, at some time in their lives, engaged in social nudism in one form or another. As a result of this growth, nudist groups have become highly organized national associations with local chapters throughout the country. It is through these national …

Double Jeopardy And The Commonwealth's Right To Writs Of Error In Criminal Cases, Roger D. Scott

University of Richmond Law Review

In the 1986 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly attempted to produce a constitutional amendment designed to expand the right of Commonwealth's Attorneys to appeal criminal cases. The Virginia Constitution prohibits appeals by the commonwealth in criminal cases in which the accused might be sentenced to death or imprisonment, unless the case involves state revenue. Advocates of an amendment to expand prosecutorial appeals have never fully explained the historical context of the prohibition against such appeals and their complex relationship to other constitutional, statutory, and common law provisions. The subject of prosecutorial appeals involves such fundamental legal issues as former …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, John Paul Jones

University of Richmond Law Review

Since the last report, administrative law in Virginia has continued to develop on both the legislative and judicial fronts. This year's General Assembly enacted amendments to the state's administrative procedure statute which embody the third and final round of recommendations by the Governor's Regulatory Reform Advisory Board. The major changes were the standardization of procedures for obtaining judicial review of state agency action and the embodiment in statute of a corps of independent hearing officers.

Note: This submission also includes a small preface from the Law Review Editorial Staff.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Business And Corporate Law, David R. Ruby

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews recent developments in the law affecting Virginia businesses and corporations. The most significant development was the enactment by the 1985 session of the Virginia General Assembly of a completely revised Virginia Stock Corporation Act (the "Revised Act"), which generally became effective January 1, 1986. This article does not review the entire Revised Act, but instead focuses on the powerful anti-takeover devices contained in the Revised Act and all of the amendments pertaining to the Revised Act enacted by the 1986 session of the Virginia General Assembly. Additionally, this article will review judicial developments, including the establishment by …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Commercial Law, Michael J. Herbert

University of Richmond Law Review

It has been a quiet year in the Commonwealth of Virginia, at least in the area of commercial law. There have been only a smattering of cases, for the most part routine, and slight amendments to Virginia's Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code"). The most significant commercial law development occurred neither in the General Assembly nor the courts, but at the Federal Trade Commission, which is again busying itself with the regulation of consumer credit.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Criminal Law, Richard A. Williamson

University of Richmond Law Review

Effective January 1, 1985, the Court of Appeals of Virginia was established. The new intermediate appellate court possesses exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from any final judgment of conviction in a circuit court for a traffic violation or a crime, except where a sentence of death is imposed. The operation of the court of appeals is likely to have a twofold effect on the criminal justice system. First, it should reduce the current backlog of cases in the supreme court; second, it should produce an increase in the number of reported criminal decisions, thereby facilitating an understanding of criminal law and …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Virginia Criminal Procedure, Ronald J. Bacigal

University of Richmond Law Review

Reversing a recent trend, the past year was relatively quiet with respect to search and seizure cases. The United States Supreme Court decided two cases dealing with open fields and the curtilage of a dwelling. Dow Chemical Co. v. United States held that the open areas of an industrial plant complex with numerous plant structures spread over an area of 2,000 acres are not analogous to the "curtilage" of a dwelling for purposes of aerial surveillance; such an industrial complex "is more comparable to an open field and as such is open to the view and observation of persons in …