Misconduct in Virginia Family Courts

Fairfax delegation selects judges

By Alan Cooper

December 15th, 2009 ·

Fairfax Circuit Court, Judicial Elections
The Fairfax delegation to the General Assembly has selected General District Judge Lorraine Nordlund and substitute judges Michael F. Devine and Brett A. Kassabian to fill pending vacancies on the county circuit court.

Del. David Albo, the Republican who chairs the House Courts of Justice Committee, said members of the delegation interviewed candidates for the positions last night.

Under the delegation’s procedures each delegate and senator gets a vote, and the candidate with a majority of those votes gets the nod.
All members of the delegation accept the vote of the majority and back the candidates in the General Assembly, where support by the local delegation is tantamount to election.
Nordlund was elected to the general district bench in 1996. She is a former prosecutor in the county, and her practice before joining the bench included domestic relations and criminal and employment matters.
Devine is a partner in the firm of Devine, Connell & Sheldon PLC and has tried more than 100 jury cases since he began practicing in the county in 1991.
Kassabian is a principal in Kassabian & Kassabian PLC and started his career as a Fairfax prosecutor in 1985. He has a general practice that includes criminal defense and personal injury work.The Fairfax Bar Association’s judicial nominating committee highly recommended Devine and Kassabian and found Nordlund to be qualified.
Kassabian and Devine were two of the three most popular candidates in an electronic vote on the candidates by 714 of the association’s 1,715 members. The second most popular candidate, General District Judge Michael J. Cassidy, was highly recommended by the nominating committee.
The votes for each of the candidates are here. Members have a choice of voting “endorse,” “not endorse” or “no opinion” if they do not know enough about the candidate to vote one way or the other.
The vacancies were created by the retirements of Judges Gaylord L. Finch Jr., Stanley P. Klein and Michael P. McWeeny.