Blog: Opinions & Observations
New Laws in Virginia Effective July 1, 2020 and Noteworthy Actions by the Virginia Legislature
June 29, 2020
Many of the new laws passed in the 2020 legislative session reflect concerns that dominated the news last year, such as legalizing marijuana, mass shootings and gun control. The 2021 session will, no doubt, have bills introduced reflecting current concerns raised by the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19.Decriminalization of MarijuanaPenalties for offenses involving personal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana are now a civil violation and no...
Read MoreSeparation and Divorce During COVID-19: Steps to Take During Lockdown
May 05, 2020
Despite being told that “this is the new normal”, there is nothing normal about the current coronavirus pandemic shutdowns and the related experiences people are enduring throughout Virginia, and the world. Many families are hunkered down in a home where parents are trying to assume new roles that may include classroom teacher, child entertainer, and in some cases, a full-time spouse. Every family has its own dynamic which develops into their “normal”...
Read MoreNew Unemployment Benefits Under the CARES Act
April 24, 2020
The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, includes three new federally-funded programs to provide additional unemployment compensation for workers. While the federal government is providing the funding, the programs will be administered by the states as part of their unemployment insurance systems. What follows is a brief summary of each program.PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCEThe CARES Act creates...
Read MoreApril 24, 2020
UPDATED 4/27/20 - Virginia Governor signed the legislation.Our Community Association Practice Group has been fielding many questions from concerned Boards of Directors regarding their ability to conduct association business during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act and the Virginia Condominium Act, require at least two directors to be physically present at a board meeting in order for the rest of the...
Read MoreBrown Water Seamen and the Stowaway Virus: Coronavirus Precautions
April 23, 2020
When one thinks of the seamen of old or of modern times, images of sailing across the deep, blue ocean between continents on wooden sailing ships or, perhaps, making long voyages on ultra-large container vessels comes to mind. These “blue water” seamen, however, constitute only a small fraction of the crews that work onboard the vessels that make our economy run. Most vessels ply the waters closer to home, including tug boats, tow boats, pilot boats,...
Read MoreEvaluating Recent Legislative Efforts to Reform Oyster Leasing in Virginia
April 23, 2020
In January of 2016, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, concerned about reports of conflicts in the Lynnhaven River system between oyster farmers harvesting from leased grounds and upland property owners, boaters, and other users and about proposed legislation that would have instituted a moratorium on new leases within that river system, formed a working group to review the matter and make recommendations about how to address the conflicts. Very...
Read MoreWhy Everyone Needs an Estate Plan and Why It Probably Should Involve a Trust
April 21, 2020
We all know that you can’t take it with you, but too many people have not taken the time to properly consider an appropriate estate plan. Many people are like Fred and Sally Smith. Fred and Sally have been delaying getting an estate plan. They don’t like thinking about dying and what the world will be like when they are no longer in it. Unfortunately, death, as Benjamin Franklin pointed out, is one of the two great certainties in life (the other, of...
Read MoreCo-Parenting During Lockdown in Virginia
April 17, 2020
Faced with a worldwide pandemic, governors across the country have issued, for the first time in my lifetime, universal stay-at-home orders virtually shutting down our way of life. While it is an extremely difficult transition for in-tact families, persons who must co-parent with another parent during this current crisis are experiencing extra-ordinary difficulties. Under the best of conditions, it is sometimes difficult to work with the child’s other...
Read MoreCommercial Landlord-Tenant Relations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 17, 2020
Amid the health and economic crisis created by COVID-19, landlords, property managers, and tenants of commercial property are scrambling for information and establishing new policy. Briefings by the President and Governor change the way businesses can be conducted with little or no advanced warning. What makes sense one day, may not be an option the next.What has become clear, is that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing economic upheaval for businesses....
Read MoreCan Virginia Renters Be Evicted During the COVID-19 Crisis?
April 16, 2020
There seems to be a common belief that landlords may not evict residential tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like most beliefs, it’s rooted in truth, but the details may be surprising.On March 16, 2020, the Virginia Supreme Court made an emergency judicial order in response to COVID-19 that essentially put the brakes on all cases for 21 days. On March 27, the Court extended the order by another 21days. At the present time, all civil matters are...
Read More