On the upcoming retirement of Justice Mims

I learned today from Steve Emmert by way of Paul Fletcher that Justice William Mims has announced his plans to retire from the Supreme Court of Virginia in a few months.

Justice Mims laughed out loud at my foolishness the last time I was before the Court. Years ago, we sat at the same table for a VBA banquet, and I spoke with him a little bit. My favorite story about him is one I read in Lawyers Weekly, in which he supposedly said that he stopped writing lengthy concurring opinions after someone in his family pointed out to him that there has never been an appellate jurist known as 'the Great Concurrer."

The judging tree

Earlier this week I appeared before Judge Fred Rowlett who was sworn in two years ago, joining Circuit Judge Randy Lowe, Juvenile Judge Florence Powell, Bankruptcy Judge Trish Brown, ALJ Linda Howell, Magistrate Judge Cynthia Eddy, Circuit Judge John Kilgore, and Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kinser, among those who clerked for him and became judges themselves. The last of our law clerk reunions with him was eleven years ago this week, which was the only time Jill got to meet him.

On the passing of Brenda Dillard

Years ago my friend Howard McElroy got me on the Board of The Virginia Bar Association.

I went to all the meetings from 2006-2010, and stopped by many of them in the years 2010-2016, and every one of those I hung out for at least a bit with Brenda Dillard, who organized the meetings, but she always made time for me.

In the last few years I kept up with her by message and text, and a couple of years ago she told me about her illness, and I was afraid every time that I heard from her would be the last time, and so if nothing else she knew how much I have enjoyed being her friend, because I told her.

Rest in peace, Brenda.