Annual Report
ANNUAL REPORT LITIGATION SECTION
VIRGINIA STATE BAR
By Vicki Divine, 2006-07 chair
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The Litigation Section had a membership of 2,722 for fiscal 2007, and the total allocated budget was $33,155.
Law In Society Essay Contest
Participation significantly increased this year. In an effort to keep up this trend, in 2007 the Virginia State Bar will start advertise and distribute literature in the fall so that schoolteachers will have more time to incorporate the subject matter of the essay into their curricula.
Appellate Subcommittee
L. Stephen Emmert began holding mini-appellate seminars (he calls them “symposia�) for small groups around the state. With ten to fifteen attendees at each symposium, the give-and-take of information and ideas has been quite successful.
Additionally, the Appellate Subcommittee is working with the Supreme Court of Virginia in putting together two panels of appellate lawyers (one panel of experienced appellate lawyers and the other panel not-so-experienced) to assist pro se parties. A team of two lawyers (one experienced and one not-so) will assist with the appeal. The pro se litigant benefits; the Court benefits; and the not-so-experienced attorney benefits. It’s a win-win-win situation.
Annual Summer Meeting Showcase Workshop
Jennifer Lee Parrish worked with representatives of the VSB Criminal Law Section and Special Committee on Bench-Bar Relations to present the Showcase Workshop at the 2007 Annual Meeting. The workshop featured Bill Haltom, a legal humorist, as well as panel members David P. Baugh of Richmond, moderator; retired Circuit Judge Ann Hunter Simpson of Hartwood; Joseph A. Condo of McLean, a past president of the VSB; and Karen A. Gould, 2006-07 president of the VSB.
2007-08 Officers
R. Lee Livingston, chair; Jennifer Lee Parrish, vice chair; Gregory J. Haley, secretary; Vicki H. Devine, immediate past chair; and Kevin W. Holt, newsletter editor.