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
MichieHamlett Blogs
Latest from MichieHamlett
“The document speaks for itself.”
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,
You missed the deadline for filing a petition for appeal in an interlocutory appeal. Now what?
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
CAV Reverses Largest Verdict in Virginia History
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.
Justice Kagan’s Remarks at Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
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
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
Washington Post: Biden to Announce Support for SCOTUS Reforms
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
Claude 3 does SCOTUS
Adam Unikowsky has a fascinating Substack article about running SCOTUS briefs through Claude 3 (h/t Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution). Here’s a taste:
. . . I decided to do a little more empirical testing of AI’s legal ability. Specifically,
VTLA Appellate Panel
At the VTLA’s annual meeting earlier this month, Kyle McNew moderated an appellate panel featuring Justice Mann and Judges Malveaux and Ortiz. High-level takeaways:
- Letting Judge Ortiz respond to a moderator opens the door for some quality shithousing. This probably
Tatusko v. Commonwealth–CAV on the Importance of Selecting Issues for Appeal
The Court of Appeals of Virginia recently handed down its opinion in Tatusko v. Commonwealth, 79 Va. App. 721 (2024). It’s a reckless-driving case where the defendant was clocked doing 103 in a 60 mph zone. Tatusko doesn’t strike me