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Assistance Animals and Fair Housing

Imagine a newly-minted real estate licensee acting as a rental agent for residential property. The agent knows the property inside and out, including all restrictions applicable to the use of the property. Those restrictions include a prohibition...

December 04, 2014 in Residential Real Estate

Written by Stephen Pfeiffer

3 Little Known Facts About Field Sobriety Tests In Virginia

Your Weight May Be A Defense One of the tests you perform in the SFSTs is the One-Leg Stand test. When the tests were conducted it was concluded that people who are overweight by 50 or more pounds had difficulty performing this test. If you are 50...

July 27, 2014 Criminal Defense - State & Federal; DUI Defense

Arthur Walker: Spy or Sap

Over the years I have reflected on the wild ride that surrounded Arthur’s arrest, indictment and trial. I have also thought of him – the man. I have never been able to decide if he was a spy or a sap. There is no doubt that Arthur took...

July 11, 2014 in Criminal Defense - State & Federal

AN ALFORD PLEA LEADING TO MORE TRIALS?

Tonya Bundick has been granted the right to approximately 60 separate trials on the approximately 60 charges of arson she faces arising from the fires on the Eastern Shore. She has already been found guilty of one offense of arson and one offense...

May 19, 2014 in Criminal Defense - State & Federal

When Are Public School Funds “Expended”?

In Portsmouth this issue has become contested. Each year, all Virginia public school divisions are required to prepare an annual budget for operating their respective schools and the “locality” is obligated by statute to fund a portion of the...

May 06, 2014

Written by Stephen Pfeiffer

YOU CAN REFUSE FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS

This article will focus on the popular misconception surrounding Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (“SFST”). In Virginia, there are laws that require a driver to provide their identification (Virginia Code 46.2-104) or to submit to a breath or...

May 02, 2014 in DUI Defense

EXPUNGEMENT IN VIRGINIA: THE BRUTAL TRUTH

Almost weekly, I get a call from someone asking me to help them with an expungement in Virginia. Typically, they want to wipe out “old” charges from their record. The reasons vary: employment and educational applications, security clearance...

April 29, 2014 in Criminal Defense - State & Federal

Written by Arthur Robinson

Foreign Bank Account Reporting: The Dragon has Teeth

A little known and sometimes extremely troublesome reporting requirement exists for United States persons who own foreign bank accounts in various countries around the world. To the extent that such accounts exceed the aggregate value of...

April 16, 2014 Estate Planning; Wills, Trusts & Estate Administration

Written by Arthur Robinson

Income Tax Planning Using Estate Planning Techniques

Over the last several years, we have seen a substantial evolution in the transfer tax arena here in the United States. As a result of several favorable legislative changes, it has become the case that only for a very small and rarified layer of...

April 16, 2014 in Estate Planning

Wetland Mitigation Banking Agreements Are Binding Contracts Against The Corps

For the first time since Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 a federal court has ruled that a wetland mitigation banking instrument (“MBI”) is a contract enforceable against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The decision came from the...

April 07, 2014 in Environmental Law