Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Construction Law

This article will review recent legislation and judicial decisions in Virginia affecting owners, contractors, and design professionals in the construction context. The discussion will include legislative amendments to the Code of Virginia ( Code ) by the General Assembly promulgated in 1990 and the first half of 1991, as well as important cases on construction law decided by Virginia\u27s state and federal courts for the last half of 1989, 1990, and the first half of 1991

Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Construction Law

This article reviews recent legislation and judicial decisions in Virginia affecting owners, contractors, and design professionals in the construction context. The discussion includes amendments to the Code of Virginia promulgated by the General Assembly in the 1992 and 1993 legislative sessions, as well as important cases dealing with construction law issues decided by Virginia\u27s state and federal courts in 1992 and the first half of 1993

Social Psychology of Public Defenders: A Qualitative Study

The right to an attorney is a one to which all U.S. citizens are entitled, in conjunction with the constitution\u27s sixth amendment. Difficulty arose when people who were unable to provide necessary funds to hire a lawyer and, subsequently, went into trial pro se. Resolution was met with the creation of the public defense system -- a system which is unfortunately understudied, and sometimes regarded in a negative light, including a negative perception that public defense is a broken system. This belief sometimes bleeds into the minds of potential clients who may believe a public defender is not sufficiently competent to represent them. The present qualitative research study reports the perspectives of public defenders, from their own vantage points and perspectives. We interviewed 22 public defenders (Male = 13, Female = 9) from three counties in Southwest Ohio. The public defenders reflected on their respective viewpoints, from when they first started in this career path, with their current perspectives. In our initial findings, motivations for becoming a public defender seem to fall under one of three categories: a desire for justice and a strong belief in the Constitution, a desire to help people who are less fortunate, or a desire for a steady paycheck. While many positives came forth through in the interviews, struggles of the career of a public defender also seemed to appear. These include low pay and a small budget for cases, a lack of time for each case because of a heavy caseload, and the perception of incompetence and indifference that their clients come in with