THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995 TAG: 9508170562
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SALEM LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Lawrence L. Koontz Jr., sworn in Wednesday as a Virginia Supreme Court justice, said two challenges facing the court are dealing with a case backlog and keeping in touch with real life.
Koontz, 55, replaces Justice Henry H. Whiting of Winchester, a senior justice who retired this month. Koontz is the first Roanoke Valley jurist to serve on the Supreme Court in 61 years.
Koontz took the oath of office before about 600 spectators as the Supreme Court convened in an auditorium at Roanoke College, where Koontz is an adjunct professor and his wife an assistant professor of sociology. It is rare for the high court to gather outside Richmond.
Justices in Virginia are nominated by a legislative committee and elected by the General Assembly to 12-year terms. Traditionally, a justice stays in office until retirement, which is mandatory at age 70.
In a news conference, Koontz declined to comment on specific legal issues that have confronted or will confront the court.
``In a very generic way, one of the biggest issues it faces is really a manner of case management,'' he said.
Koontz, a former circuit judge, was a charter member of the Virginia Court of Appeals when it was created in 1985 to help reduce what was then a four-year case backlog in the Supreme Court.
``Litigation being what it is today, we are rapidly moving toward the time when the Supreme Court faces the challenge of not letting that repeat,'' Koontz said.
It is important, he said, that appellate courts not stray too far from the accepted practices of society.
``The danger that appellate judges have is allowing themselves to become too isolated, too out-of-step with what you and I know is real life out here,'' Koontz said. ``I have always made an effort not to let that happen.''
Lawyers interviewed by Virginia Lawyers Weekly said Koontz has been popular as a judge because of his neutrality.
The publication said a small sample of his appellate opinions tends to show an inclination for defendants in criminal cases and for employers in compensation cases.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS by CNB