Officers

Immediate Past President
The Honorable John F. Anderson
United States Magistrate Judge
Eastern District of Virginia
Alexandria Division
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, Virginia  22314
(703) 299-2118

President
John E. Coffey
Redmon, Peyton & Braswell, LLP
510 King Street
Suite 301
Alexandria, Virginia  22314
(703) 684-2000
jcoffey@rpb-law.com            

President-elect
Attison L. Barnes, III
Wiley Rein LLP
1776 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20006
(202) 719-7385
abarnes@wileyrein.com            

Vice President
Charles F.B. McAleer, Jr.
Miller & Chevalier
655 15th Street, N.W.
Suite 900
Washington, D.C.  20005-5701
(202) 626-5963
cmcaleer@milchev.com            

Secretary
Sean F. Murphy
McGuire Woods LLP
1750 Tysons Boulevard
Suite 1800
McLean, Virginia  22102
(703) 712-5487
sfmurphy@mcguirewoods.com       

Treasurer
R. Scott Caulkins
LeClair Ryan
225 Reinekers Lane
Suite 700
Alexandria, Virginia  22314
(703) 647-5945
scott.caulkins@leclairryan.com       

National Delegate
Damon W.D. Wright
Venable LLP
575 7th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20004
(202) 344-4937
dwdwright@venable.com            

Directors
The Honorable Ivan D. Davis
United States Magistrate Judge
Eastern District of Virginia
Alexandria Division
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, Virginia  22314
(703) 299-2119
Ivan_D_Davis@vaed.uscourts.gov   

Anne M. Devens
Reed Smith LLP
3110 Fairview Park Drive
Suite 1400
Falls Church, Virginia  22042
(703) 641-4315
adevens@reedsmith.com            

Craig C. Reilly
111 Oronoco Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
(703) 549-5354
craig.reilly@ccreillylaw.com
 

 

A Message from the Chapter President
Calendar of Events
The Rocket Docket News, the Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Federal Bar Association
Chapter News and Opportunities
Recent Events
Related Links


A Message from the Chapter President

As we head into the second quarter of 2009, it is my pleasure as the FBA Northern Virginia Chapter’s president to reflect on our Chapter's recent successes and look forward to a great remaining year.  Since the last Rocket Docket Newsletter in August (yeah, it's really been that long!), our Chapter has hosted or otherwise been involved in a number of significant events, many under the leadership of our immediate past President, US Magistrate Judge John Anderson.  With his leadership in 2008, Judge Anderson set the bar high for this year's officers and board of directors.

Last September was a busy month for our Chapter, kicking off with the annual Torrey Armstrong Memorial lecture and reception for this year's class of federal judicial law clerks.  The lecturer was US District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.  Judge Lee's lecture reflected on the importance of welcoming and mentoring new practitioners into our community of lawyers.  With its focus on diversity and mentoring, the Armstrong lecture provided an ideal prelude to another major event in September in which our Chapter played a significant role-- the Eighth Biennial Just the Beginning Foundation Conference in Washington, DC.

The 2008 conference of the Just the Beginning Foundation, under the leadership of Judge Lee, brought together a blue ribbon collection of lawyers, judges and other citizens for the purpose of celebrating, developing and nurturing diversity in the legal profession.  The conference’s first event was on Wednesday, September 24 with a golf and tennis outing at the Army Navy Country Club, hosted by our Chapter and organized by former Chapter President Michael Nachmanoff and current President-Elect Attison Barnes.  The following day, the conference kicked into high gear with the "Robes in the Schools" program, under the leadership of Chapter board member Damon Wright.  The "Robes" program was truly amazing, featuring over 70 federal and state court judges visiting local high schools and law schools in the Washington metropolitan area to talk about pathways for today's youth to a career in the law.  All told, some 2,000 young people were touched by this magnificent program.  The JTBF conference concluded with a full day of public programs for lawyers, judges and young people at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC on Saturday, September 27, followed by a gala celebration that evening.

In October, US Magistrate Judge Barry Poretz retired, and former First Assistant Federal Public Defender Ivan Davis was sworn in to take his place. Magistrate Judge Davis’s investiture took place at the Eastern District Courthouse in Alexandria on October 24, followed by a reception in the jury assembly room hosted by our Chapter. Judge Davis’s investiture also marked the first public appearance of the Alexandria Division's newest US District Court Judge, Anthony J. Trenga.  

Judge Trenga comes to the bench from an active civil litigation practice at DC's Miller & Chevalier and, prior to that, Alexandria's Hazel & Thomas.  Judge Trenga’s investiture took place on January 9, 2009 and played to a packed house, necessitating the broadcast of the proceedings to an overflow of spectators in an adjacent courtroom.

Our first CLE program of the new year-- "Criminal Law for the Civil Practitioner," took place on January 7, 2009 in the jury assembly room of the Eastern District Courthouse, and featured Magistrate Judge Ivan Davis and Assistant US Attorney Rosie Haney together with distinguished practitioners Aaron Book and Fred Sinclair.  The very well received panel discussion, moderated by Federal Public Defender Michael Nachmanoff, was geared to assisting civil practitioners in the basics of Eastern District Criminal practice.  
On February 25, 2009, our Chapter sponsored a two hour litigation ethics program featuring nationally renowned ethics guru Tom Spahn. True to his reputation, Tom's presentation was both informative and entertaining, and resulted in one of the Chapter's most heavily attended programs in recent history.  

Despite our recent successes, we are not resting on our laurels. Please mark your calendars now for two of our popular annual events --the "Introduction to the Courthouse" program on April 24 at 1:00 p.m., as well as our "Bench Bar Dialogue" with the Magistrate Judges from the Alexandria Division, on May 13 at 3:00 p.m.  All in all, the remainder of 2009 promises to be an exciting year for our Chapter, and we hope to see many of you at our upcoming events.
 
Jack Coffey

Northern Virginia Chapter President

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Calendar of Events

July 14, 2009
E-Discovery: Identifying Issues and Sharing Practical Solutions

A CLE Presentation and Interactive Workshop Featuring:
Hon. John F. Anderson, U.S. Magistrate Judge; Patrick Oot, Director of Electronic Discovery and Senior Litigation Counsel, Verizon Communications; Anne M. Devens, Reed Smith LLP; Charles F. B. McAleer Jr., Miller & Chevalier Chartered.
Presented by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the FBA
Time: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Location: Albert V. Bryan Courthouse, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA, Jury Assembly Room, Third Floor
CLE: 2 hours of CLE credit pending
Cost: $70 for FBA members, $90 for Non-members
Registration: View form

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The Rocket Docket News
the Newsletter of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the FBA


August 2008
April 2008
January 2008

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Chapter News and Opportunities

 

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Recent Events

May 13, 2009
A Bench-Bar Dialogue on Federal Civil Motions Practice

Presented by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the FBA
Featured speakers: Magistrate Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Albert V. Bryan Courthouse, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA, Jury Assembly Room, Third Floor
CLE: 2 hrs. pending
Cost: Members - $50; Nonmembers - $60
Registration: View flyer


April 24, 2009

An Introduction to the Court House and a Special Admissions Ceremony To the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Presented by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the FBA
Time: 1:00–4:00 p.m. (with reception to follow)

To register for the Introduction to the Court House:
(1) complete and mail the attached Introduction to the Court House registration form and a check payable to “FBA – Northern Virginia Chapter” to:Ms. Pam Dreas, McGuireWoods LLP, 1750 Tysons Boulevard, McLean, VA 22102
Cost: FBA members $60, non-members $75. Join the FBA
 
To register for the Special Admissions Ceremony:
(1) complete the attached Application to Qualify as an Attorney form and have it notarized;
(2) have the formed signed by two members of the bar of the EDVa;
(3) mail the form and a check made payable to “Clerk, U.S. District Court” to: Ms. Lorri Tunney, Albert V. Bryan Courthouse, U.S. District Court, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
Cost: $150.

Please note
that if you are registering for the Special Admissions Ceremony, you should also register for the Introduction to the Court House program, and the two forms must be mailed to different addresses, with separate checks.
 
Seating is limited, so register today. Please pass this invitation on to your colleagues. If you have any questions, please contact Caitlin Lhommedieu at (703) 712-5489 or clhommedieu@mcguirewoods.com.

February 25, 2009
Tom Spahn on Litig
ation Ethics: Part II (Discovery)
Time:  3:00-5:00 pm
Location: Jury Assembly Room, United States District Courthouse, Eastern District of Virginia
 
This interactive program will use hypotheticals to address topics of interest to litigators (and transactional lawyers whose clients might face litigation), focusing on the ethics of pretrial discovery.  The topics include:  (1) aggressive and deceptive discovery tactics (including surveillance videotapes; the use of body wires; tape recording telephone calls; the use of admittedly deceptive tactics during public interest investigations such as housing discrimination tests, purely commercial investigations and government investigations); (2) discovery mistakes (including the ethical responsibilities of lawyers who receive privileged communications inadvertently sent by an adversary, electronic documents accompanied by metadata, and privileged documents during litigation).  
CLE: 2.0 HOURS OF ETHICS CLE CREDIT PENDING
Registration: Use the registration form or email R. Scott Caulkins, Treasurer, FBA NOVA at scott.caulkins@leclairryan.com


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Related Links

JOIN THE FBA!

Eastern District of Virginia

http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/

Local Rules
http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/rules/pdf_format.htm

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