Quick question: What year is it? 1. The federal government has intervened in failing financial institutions. 2. Real estate prices which had been sky-high are lower than a year or so before. 3. Wall Street faces a bear market. 4. The incumbent party in the White House has just lost the presidential election. Answer: 2009? [...]

Virginia Court of Appeals interprets language from Va Code § 33.1-386, identical to language in the Virginia Public Procurement Act In their recent article, the Sands Anderson Marks & Miller construction litigation team commented on the Virginia Court of Appeals case, Commonwealth v. AMEC Civil, LLC, 54 Va. App. 240, 677 S.E.2d 633 (2009). Their [...]

Sands Anderson Marks & Miller’s environmental law team has a new post that raises some important issues. As written, could the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s proposed new storm water regulations pose an unintended obstacle to the redevelopment of our urban areas, and run counter to the many localities’ desire – and in high [...]

Virginia Court of Appeals interprets language from Va Code § 33.1-386: Identical to language in the Virginia Public Procurement Act In their recent article, the Sands Anderson Marks & Miller construction litigation team commented on the recent case, Commonwealth v. AMEC Civil, LLC, 54 Va. App. 240, 677 S.E.2d 633 (2009). Their article can be [...]

The Tale of 248 Erroneous Tax Assessment Cases: Round Four, The Second Appeal and the Supreme Court’s Opinion The stakes had never been higher. On appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court for a second time, the West Creek LLCs were asking for complete reversal of Circuit Court Judge Sanner’s comprehensive ruling in favor of the [...]

The Tale of 248 Erroneous Tax Assessment Cases: Round Three, The Second Trial (2004-2006) After having walked away from $34 million in assessment relief on appeal, the 144 West Creek plaintiff LLCs re-filed 159 lawsuits in December 2004. Some were later dismissed for various reasons. One hundred thirty (130) of these cases were later consolidated [...]

The Tale of 248 Erroneous Tax Assessment Cases: Rounds One and Two, The First Trial and Appeal (2001-2004) As County Attorney in Goochland County from 2001 to 2009, I was counsel in 248 erroneous assessment cases, resulting in two multi-day trials and two appeals to the Virginia Supreme Court, resulting in one incredible opinion issued [...]

Why in the world would a local government attorney want to use Twitter? I, for one, have found it helpful and informative, and it need not invite further public scrutiny if properly used. What is Twitter? Twitter is an online social media service in which folks send out short messages of 140 characters or less [...]

One of Attorney General Bill Mims’ first official opinions stated that localities may not require the review and approval of “boundary survey plats and physical survey plats as a prerequisite for recordation.” http://www.oag.state.va.us/OPINIONS/2009opns/08-105-Bell.pdf I agree, to a point. The Attorney General has accurately summarized the statutes from the subdivision article of Chapter 22, Title 15.2. [...]