Upon his retirement from active service as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2011, Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr. had completed more than four decades of service to citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In order to recognize that service and help preserve Justice Koontz legacy as one of the outstanding jurists in Virginia and the United States, the Salem/Roanoke County Bar Association instituted this project to collect all of Justice Koontz's published opinions, both from his tenure as a Justice of the Supreme Court and as an inaugural member of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. The first volume to be produced by the Opinions Project includes opinions, concurrences and dissents authored by Justice Koontz during the first five years of his service on the Court of Appeals. During this time, he served as Chief Judge of the Court, having been elected to that position following the sudden and untimely death of E. Ballard Baker, the first Chief Judge of the Court.