I am often asked. “What kind of law do you practice?”  As a long-time local government attorney, most of my practice involves representing and defending litigation against governments, governmental entities, officials and their employees.  That is what I have done for most of my legal career in private practice and as a full-time attorney with Arlington, Culpeper [...]

At the end of June, the Virginia Secretary of Transportation announced a new study dated June 16, 2011 that says something we all have known for a decade or more — the state has no funds to adequately maintain our roads, let alone construct new ones, and that our roads and bridges are in a [...]

Looks like blight. Or is it? And what can a locality do about it? One of the problem issues for Virginia local governments and their officials and employees across the state is how to deal with blight. Such structures, singular or in groups, can become a large problem to a community.  Often, historic structures fall [...]

Virginia Supreme Court Opinions Affecting Local Government Law, issued on April 21, 2011: The Virginia Supreme Court issued several opinions today affecting Virginia local government law.  The following summaries come from the Virginia Supreme Court website: 092583 Volpe v. City of Lexington In a suit by the administrators of a minor decedent who was an [...]

As discussed in the last post, many localities are struggling after the Virginia Supreme Court’s opinion in Tanner v. City of Virginia Beach to adopt ordinances to comply with that decision.  No longer can localities use a “reasonable person” standard in a criminal noise ordinance without risking a run-in with Tanner. What can replace that [...]

As in the Virginia Supreme Court’s November 4, 2010 FFW Enterprises v. Fairfax County opinion, the issue of excluding residential properties by classification from a special tax was addressed the same day

Another opinion issued by the Virginia Supreme Court on November 4, 2010, TB Venture LLC v Arlington County involved the proper assessment of a 21-unit condominium development in urban Arlington County, which is a lot different

In Town of Leesburg v Giordano, the Virginia Supreme Court faced clearly-settled law but an interesting argument. And, as can happen in such cases, it resulted in a well-reasoned majority opinion and a strongly-worded dissent.

A number of local government attorneys have been asking tough questions about HB 374 and SB 632, identical bills which became effective law on July 1. 2010 Va Acts of Assembly ch. 549, 2010 Va Acts of Assembly ch. 613.

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 [...]