‘General counsel’ services now available part-time

Court Should Hear Auto-Accident Dec Action

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: Insurance, Judge M. Hannah Lauck, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this dispute over insurance coverage for an employer-owned vehicle an employee was driving when she struck another vehicle and a man was fatally injured, a Richmond U.S. District magistrate judge recommends denying the motion filed by the employer’s insurance carrier to dismiss this declaratory judgment action. Plaintiff administrator of the estate of William Horner [...]

No ‘Exclusivity’ Clause in Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this contract dispute involving companies that marketed services to golf club professionals, the Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses breach of contract and tortious interference claims under Virginia law because the contract at issue did not clearly say the parties’ agreement about an online learning course was exclusive, and dismisses a tortious interference claim under [...]

Delivery Driver Discipline Not Discriminatory

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Claude M. Hilton, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An African-American package delivery driver who alleges race discrimination in his termination and retaliation when he was reassigned to a different route after he successfully grieved his termination, loses his case on summary judgment as the employer has demonstrated plaintiff’s termination was due to insubordination and the employer had authority to change his delivery route. [...]

PSR ‘Facts’ Don’t Pass Muster for ACCA

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Roger L. Gregory

A district court committed plain error when it used the presentence report’s discussion of the circumstances surrounding defendant’s two prior violent-felony convictions to apply an Armed Career Criminal Act enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 924 when sentencing defendant as a felon in possession of a firearm; the 4th Circuit vacates the sentence and remands for [...]

No ADA Claim for Med Student’s ADHD

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Henry F. Floyd

A medical student with ADHD and anxiety disorder can’t sue Wake Forest medical school for disability discrimination after his dismissal due to a pattern of unprofessional conduct with staff; with or without “reasonable accommodation,” the student is unqualified for the medical program, the 4th Circuit says. Plaintiff alleged his dismissal violated the Rehabilitation Act and [...]

Court Cautions Against ‘Drive-By’ Jurisdiction Rulings

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Admiralty, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Invoking the Supreme Court’s warning against “drive-by jurisdictional rulings,” the 4th Circuit sorts out the differences between motions under 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) and reverses the district court’s dismissal of a Jones Act claim, saying plaintiff’s allegation of injury to his hand from a dockside conveyor belt stated a Jones Act claim. Plaintiff’s complaint purports to [...]

Vehicle Search Did Not Exceed Consent

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, Search & Seizure

The 4th Circuit offers a refresher course in assessing “probable cause” and reverses a district court order suppressing drugs found in a secret compartment of defendant’s car because the district court applied the wrong standards for determining whether police had defendant’s consent to search the vehicle and whether there was probable cause to search it. [...]

School Board Policy Covers Attorney’s Fees

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Insurance, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

An Albemarle County school board’s failure to pay its school bus drivers and transportation assistants overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act was a “wrongful act” under the school board’s commercial insurance policy, and the policy does not cover wage payments but should cover liquidated damages and attorney’s fees, the 4th Circuit says. The [...]

Attorney’s Fees Awarded at NoVa Rates

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 29, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court awards defendant lender $20,000 in attorney’s fees that plaintiff borrower will have to pay should he bring a new lawsuit against defendant, after determining defendant was entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees for defendant’s costs for summary judgment and for plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2). Recent decisions [...]