Remittitur Ordered for FCA Damages

Contractor Suit Not Barred by Term Sheet

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this dispute between an Afghan company that subcontracted logistics services for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Pakistan and a Virginia global logistics services contractor, a counterclaim is not barred by the parties’ earlier “agreement to agree,” and the Alexandria U.S. District Court will not strike the counterclaim or impose sanctions. Plaintiff Global Hub [...]

AAA Rules in Contract Cover ‘Arbitrability’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Two independent contractors for a private security company operating in Iraq and Afghanistan must arbitrate their False Claims Act retaliation claims, as the incorporation of the American Arbitration Association Commercial Arbitration Rules in the governing agreement is a “clear and unmistakable” delegation of arbitrability to the arbitrator; the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants defendant’s motion [...]

No Arbitration of FCA Retaliation Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Liam O'Grady, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court says an arbitration clause in Independent Contractor Agreements signed by two firearms instructors does not require arbitration of the instructors’ claims that the government contractor violated the False Claims Act by terminating them for reporting falsified firearm certification results; the agreements were so substantively unconscionable as to be unenforceable. Plaintiffs [...]

Airport Shuttle Driver Must Arbitrate Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Contract, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

An arbitration clause in a franchise agreement signed by a driver for an airport shuttle service is not unconscionable because it includes a class action waiver and a requirement to split arbitration fees, and the 4th Circuit vacates the district court decision and remands the case for entry of an order compelling arbitration. Appellant was [...]

Association Said Logo Used in Ad Sales

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this case involving trademark infringement claims by a trade association against an individual due to the individual’s advertisements soliciting trade association members for listing in a directory, the Alexandria U.S. District Court adopts the magistrate judge’s recommendation as to plaintiff association’s trademark infringement claim because defendant’s ads contained marks that were distinguishable from plaintiff’s [...]

Patent Licensee Must Join Owners as Plaintiffs

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff technology company does not have the necessary substantive right to the patents at issue to confer constitutional or statutory standing to prosecute this suit alleging infringement of two U.S. patents relating to computer-assisted mapping technologies licensed to plaintiffs, and the Richmond U.S. District Court says the case will be dismissed unless the patent owners [...]

Former CFO Has SOX Claim for Firing

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Corporate, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A former chief financial officer for a video game publisher has a Sarbanes-Oxley claim against the company and corporate officers for firing her after she reported to the SEC an alleged effort to inflate company profits; however, the Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff’s Dodd-Frank claim because that statute cannot be applied retroactively to afford [...]

Pretrial Rulings Issued in Patent Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 29, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge James P. Jones, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this patent infringement suit, an Abingdon U.S. District Court rules on the parties’ motions in limine, including denying plaintiff’s motion in limine to preclude defendants from offering evidence construing claim terms not already construed by the court. Plaintiff specifically asks the court to prevent defendant from arguing any particular construction of the phrase “controlling [...]

Sub Has Claim for Excess ‘Retainage’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 29, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this contract dispute in which a masonry subcontractor alleges a general contractor unlawfully retained 10 percent of the required progress payments, a Roanoke U.S. District Court will not imply a cause of action for the subcontractor based on a Virginia statute that limits lawful retainage to 5 percent, but the court says the sub [...]