Practicing in the Western District of Virginia CLE

I attended a very informative and enjoyable CLE yesterday regarding practicing in the Western District of Virginia and section 1983 cases.  The CLE was put on by the Charlottesville Albemarle Bar Association.  Judge Dillon, Magistrate Judge Ballou and Magistrate Judge Hoppe were panelists. 

One interesting fact I learned was that 20% of the civil cases filed in the WDVa are 1983 cases or Bivens cases.  A significant number of these cases are pro se cases filed by prisoners.  Most of those cases are summarily dismissed at the pleadings stage or on summary judgment, but some of them proceed to trial, which can cause problems for the Court.  (Imagine a prisoner in shackles questioning a prison guard on the witness stand or giving the closing argument in a civil rights case.)  I remember Judge Wilson describing situations like this when I was a law clerk. 

The Court wants to create a list of attorneys who would be willing to take on some of these cases pro bono.  Sounds like a very good way for young attorneys to get federal court trial experience.  I expect that more information will soon be available on the Court's website.

Magistrate Judge Crigler to Retire September 30

Earlier this year, Magistrate Judge Waugh Crigler announced that he would be retiring at the end of his term in September 2013.  First appointed in 1981, Judge Cigler has served as a magistrate judge for over 30 years and was a mainstay in the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg divisions.  Judge Crigler grew up in Culpeper, graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, and was an attorney in Virginia and Tennessee before becoming magistrate judge.  

According to a press release about his retirement, “some of his most memorable civil cases have involved landfill, water supply and trash disposal disputes in both Charlottesville other communities in the Western District, the anti-trust action between the Daily Progress and the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors, and the bitter dispute over customers between the area’s two early cable television providers.”

Judge Cigler announced his retirement in advance in order to allow a replacement to be selected.  Earlier this year, the Western District of Virginia issued a Public Notice of Appointment of a New Magistrate Judge, which sought applications for full-time magistrate judge for the Harrisonburg Division.