RECENT HONORS WITHIN THE APPELLATE FIELD

[Posted October 15, 2008] Supreme Court Justice Don Lemons and Appellate Defender Jane Chittom have each received signal honors lately. Justice Lemons has been named an honorary Master of the Bench for one of England’s ancient Inns of Court. This honor is usually reserved for our ambassador to the UK and the Chief Justice of the United States, but the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple was so impressed with Justice Lemons’s work in commemorating the Temple’s crafting of the Virginia Charter (in preparation for the settlement of Jamestown four centuries ago), they decided that this recognition was well justified.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly has recognized Jane Chittom as one of 2008’s Leaders in the Law for her appellate work. In my experience, Jane does a wonderful job despite being overworked and understaffed, not to mention routinely having clients who are not well-favored by the public.

I would be remiss if I did not also congratulate my cyber-colleague Steve Minor of Bristol, who also received the VLW recognition to commemorate the fifth anniversary of his SW Virginia Law Blog. Steve’s blog is #1 on my list of sites I check every day for his excellent commentary on the practice of law in Virginia (with an occasional foray into other fields).