We are in the midst of an aural revolution. Many millions have invited electronic eavesdroppers into their homes, calling them Siri, Alexa, or some other name. Do you trust the spoken words from these devices? Do you trust "her" to hold your confidences? At some point, will you claim, "It's my word against Alexa's?" Are we seeing a societal shift from ...
The recent 35-day federal government partial shutdown rippled through America's fabric in big and little ways. One small way: a Virginia case1 had to be continued because a witness, a federal agent in Nebraska, could not fly to Virginia during the shutdown. Granting a continuance in this case preserved the defendant's rights and safeguarded the integrity of the case. So, ...
Judges rightly have a lot of power in Virginia. We entrust them to know the law, which includes the United States and Virginia constitutions, case law, and the Code of Virginia. We expect them to render fair and impartial verdicts. One of their most solemn duties is to sever the bonds of matrimony for Virginia couples. And, frankly, that takes ...
Standards of conduct for Virginias Guardians ad litem (GAL) exist; you can find them through Virginia's courts. The problem is not what is written on the paper. The problem, for many Virginia men, is how the actual person, the one fulfilling the valuable role of child advocate, handles the job day to day. Personal bias, what appears to be a predetermined ...
We turn today to those noted legal authorities, Monty Python's Flying Circus1, who have previously explained — in a single three-minute children's show — how to play the flute, split the atom, construct box girder bridges, and irrigate the Sahara to make vast new areas cultivatable. For many Virginia men, creating a divorce settlement agreement may seem as elusive as those ...
More than 168,400 special needs children were enrolled in Virginia's public schools in 2016, according to the Virginia Department of Education. For 2013 (the most recently available year) Virginia recorded over 29,400 divorces. Those two typical statistics intersect far more often than most people realize. If you are contemplating a divorce and you are the father of a special needs child, ...
The legal word "consent" is often associated with intimate matters like sex, statutory rape and marriage. It also extends, though, to the often-inevitable outcome of sex: pregnancy. Women in Virginia have powerful rights to give or deny consent to the fathers of their unborn children, such as consent to attend prenatal appointments, consent to hear information from their obstetricians, and ...
The NBA has brought us a pulse-pounding history of slam-dunk wins, but for Virginia Dads, one slam dunk may turn you into Paul Pierce when Ron Artest pulled his pants down. Thinking you can stop paying child support when your kid turns 18? Not so fast. The “Age of Majority” … Not a Slam Dunk Bar room "lawyers" (your buddies who ...
How will your life change after a divorce? Much like stopping smoking, your body will know immediately that you have shed some of the worry, stress, and apprehension you have been bottling up for months or possibly years. Other parts of your world change, too, like your taxes, finances, savings, and estate. One matter to tend to immediately: updating your ...