President's Page ...John M
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President’s Page ........................................ John M. Ryan 2 Limitations of Actions In Virginia: Do Too Many Clocks Spoil the Broth? ................... J. R. Zepkin 4 The Employment-At-Will Rule in Virginia: Miller v. SEVAMP, Inc .............................. Carol D. Rasnic 13 Court Costs in Virginia .................................. W. H. Bryson 19 23 25 THE VIRGINIA BAR ASSOCIATION OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President . ~. President-Elect Past President , John M. Ryan Thomas T. Lawson R. Gordon Smith 500 World T~ade Center P.O. Box 720 One James Center Norfolk, Virgin.ia 23510 Roanoke, Virginia 24004 Suite 800 Richmond, Virginia 23219 Chairman, ¯ Chair-Elect " Secretary-Treasurer Young L~wyers Section Young Lawyers Section Robert C. Wood, III Peggy O’Neal Haines David G. Shuford P.O. Box 958 P.O. Box 2009 P.O. Box 1122 Lynchburg, Virginia 24505 Bristol, Virginia 24203 Richmond, Virginia 23208 Executive Committee F. Claiborne Johnston, Jr., Chairman Howard W. Martin, Jr. Thomas C. Brown, Jr. P.O. Box 1122 1640 Sovran Center 8280 Greensboro Drive Richmond, Virginia 23208 Norfolk, Virginia 23510 Suite 900 McLean, Virginia 22102 John E. Donaldson John H. Roberts, Jr. George H. Heilig,°Jr. School of Law 90 North Main Street .15 Stony Point Center College of William and Mary Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801 700 Newtown Road Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 Norfolk, Virginia 23502 Allen C. Gooslby, III Thomas G. Hodges P.O. Box 1535 340 W. Monroe Street Richmond,.Virginia 23212 Wytheville, Virginia 24382 Executive Director Director, Committee Activities Sue Gift Sanders Emerson G. Spies Suite 1515, 7th & Franklin Streets ’ School of Law 701 E. Franklin Street University of Virginia Richmond, Virginia 23219 Charlottesville, Virginia 22901 Articles and Other Contributions Subscription Information Membership Inquiries, Applications and Address Changes Contributions are welcome, but the right Subscription inquiries from libraries and is reserved to select material to be pub- out-of-state individuals should be directed Membership dues include the cost of lished. Publication of any article or state- to: one subscription to each member of the ment is not to be deemed an endorsement Association. Bess Wendell, Associate Editor of the views expressed therein by the The Virginia Bar Association Journal Inquiries about and applications for Association. 3849 W. Weyburn Road Association membership and changes of Material submitted for publication in Richmond, Virginia 23235 address should be sent to: the Journal should be sent to: The Virginia Bar Association Charles E. Friend, Editor Suite 1515, 7th & Franklin Bldg. The Virginia Bar Association Journal 701 E. Franklin Street Post Office Drawer H F Richmond, Virginia 23219 Williamsburg, Virginia 23187 The ldrginia Bardssociation..Journal Volume XIV Spring 1988 Number 2 CONTENTS President’s Page ........... " ........ EDITORIAL BOARD John M. Ryan Appointed Members Limitations of Actions In Virginia: Do Too Many Clocks Spoil the Broth? ........ ...... David W.’Parrish, Jr. J. R. Zepkin Chairman Charlottesville The Employment-At-Will Rule in Virginia: Vernon M. Geddy, Jr. Miller v. SEVAMP, Inc ............................. 13 Williamsburg Carol D. Rasnic John L. Walker, Jr. Roanoke Court Costs in Vi}ginia ............................. John F. Kay, Jr. W. H. Bryson Richmond Book Reviews : .................................... 23. Ex-Officio Members Bar Association Proceedings ....................... 25, John M. Ryan The Winter Meeting ...................... ’ ....... President Norfolk YLS News ....................................... : Thomas T. Lawson Announcements .................................. 32: President-Elect Sponsors ..................... , ................... Roanoke Patrons ........................................ 34 Sue Gift Sanders Newly Admitted Members ................. ¯ ...... 35 Executive Director Richmond YLS Chairman’s Report ......................... 38 Peggy O’Neal Haines Committee Reports ..... : ........................ 41 Chairman, Young Memorials ....................................... 49 Lawyers Section Bristol The Virginia Bar Association Journal (ISSN 0360-3857) is published Editorial Staff quarterly for $20.00 per year by The Virginia Bar Association, Suite 1515, 7th Charles E. Friend & Franklin Building, 701 E. Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, as a service to the profession. Second-class postage paid at Richmond, Virginia, Editor 23232. Bess Castle Wendell POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the above address. Associate Editor Membership dues include the cost of one subscription to each member of the Robert E. Spicer, Jr. Association. Subscription price to others, $20.00 per year; single copies $5.00. Editor, Young Lawyers Contributions @1988 The Virginia Bar Association JOHN M. RYAN IN, the coming months lawyers across the Common- ument to Marshall’s determination to preserve America wealth will be asked to contribute to a particularly as a nation of laws, not of men. Mr. Justice Carrico worthwhile endeavor. The John Marshall Foundation stated: is seeking contributions totalling one million dollars The simple truth is that .while James Mad- to restore the John Marshall House, to permanently ison, with his authorship, may have given endow its operation and maintenance and to preserve the Constitution a body, and George Mason, its collection and artifacts. with his insistence upon a Bill of Rights, This year, The Virginia Bar Association is celebrat- may have given it a heart, John Marshall, ing its Centennial while the nation continues to cele- with the use of his brilliant analytical mind, brate the Bicentennial of the United States Constitu- gave it a soul and made it the greatest politi- tion. The Virginia Bar Association has chosen to cal document the world has ever known. commemorate these events in a practical yet inspira- Few Americans, however, and too few Virginians, are tional manner by assuming a leading role in raising aware of John Marshall’s contribution to his country the funds necessary to meet the Foundation’s needs. and our Commonwealth beyond his service on the It is a sad fact that John Marshall’s residence, a highest court. The house we seek to preserve is more significant building in itself, has fallen on hard times. than a memorial to our greatest Chief Justice. The roof is in bad condition and the building is Born in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1755, Mar- plagued with moisture problems. Its wooden portions shall first served his country in the American Revolu- are in immediate need of restoration and its furnish- tion where he commanded a company at the Battle of ings, carpeting and garden areas need to be restored Great Bridge, wintered at Valley Forge with George or replaced. Implied in the physical decline of the Washington in 1777-78 and again fought the British house is a parallel decline in today’s level of respect at Monmouth, New Jersey. After the war he studied for John Marshall, the man. Virginia’s lawyers, first law under George Wythe at William and Mary and and foremost, should not let this happen. married a young lady from Yorktown, Polly Ambler. Participation in a fund raising effort is a unique He became a member of the Richmond Bar, a member venture for this association. We have not done so for of the House of Delegates and, 200 years ago, served the past 100 years and we may not do it for another as a Delegate to the Virginia Convention which rati- century. It is my purpose on this page to tell you, the fied the United States Constitution adopted a year Virginia lawyer, why such an unusual step is entirely earlier in Philadelphia. appropriate. , John Marshall was then called to national service. Chief Justice Carrico in a recent address commem- President John Adams selected Marshall as one of orating the Bicentennial of the United States Consti- his Ministers to France following that nation’s revo- tution chose to link the enduring strength of the doc- lution. "At George Washington’s urging, John Mar- shall next successfully ran for Congress. President Adams thereafter chose him for the post of Secretary of War but, after a month in that position, he became Secretary of State. Less than a year later, at age 45, John Marshall took his seat as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. I recount these highlights in the life of John Mar- shall before he assumed the position on the Supreme Court to emphasize his role in the very fabric of Vir- ginia’s history. Two hundred years ago John Mar- shall, debating Patrick Henry, successfully urged Virginia’s ratification of our Constitution; thirteen years later he began the task of bringing the docu- ment to its dominant position in the nation’s history. As Virginia lawyers we honor one of our own when we act to preserve the residence of John Marshall. Seldom in the history of our profession have lawyers suffered from a more unhappy public image than they enjoy today. From Watergate to Wedtech, the public’s perception of a lawyer in today’s society is far closer to "L.A. Law" than it is to reality. At such a time it seems particularly worthwhile to remind ourselves as well as nonlawyers that public service is a legal tradi- tion and that among the finest exemplars of that tra- John lYl. Ryan is a partner in the Norfolk, Vir- dition stands John Marshall, a Virginia Lawyer. ginia firm of Vandeventer, Black, Meredith & With these thoughts in mind I urge all members of Martin. He has been in the private practice of The Virginia Bar Association and their firms to lend law in the Tidewater Virginia area since 1963, is substantial financial support to the John Marshall a graduate of Dartmouth College and received Foundation when you are contacted as to a contribu- his LLB from the University of Virginia. tion. John Marshall gave us a great deal; quoting Mr. Ryan has been active in civic, professional again from Chief Justice Carrico’s remarks, "To and bar related activities for many years. For ten years he taught a seminar at the Marshall- gauge the extent of John Marshall’s legacy, one need Wythe School of Law at the College of William only guess what this country would have become & Mary. His practice is primarily in the field of without him.