Email Arbitration Clause Enforceable Against Consumer

Fraud, Securities Claims All Stayed for Arbitration

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although not all claims may be arbitrable in a retired physician’s suit arising from alleged fraudulent investment advice, the Roanoke U.S. District Court nevertheless will stay the entire lawsuit pending the outcome of FINRA arbitration with a co-defendant securities firm. Plaintiffs are a retired physician and an irrevocable trust by its trustee, the physician. This [...]

Investors Not ‘Customers’ for FINRA Arbitration

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Contract, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Investors who purchased allegedly fraudulent securities directly from a business on the recommendation of a lawyer who was working with a broker for a financial services company were not “customers” of the company entitled to FINRA arbitration; the 4th Circuit says that to compel arbitration in this case, in which the investors did not buy [...]

Court Reverses Land Sale Order

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 7, 2013
Tags: Contract, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Supreme Court of Virginia

In this litigation to enforce multiple mechanic’s liens filed by the general contractor and subs on a $17 million church construction project, the Supreme Court of Virginia upholds the trial court’s decision on the enforceability of the liens, but reverses the order to sell the church’s entire 22-acre parcel to satisfy the liens, as the [...]

Lot Description Has ‘Scrivener’s Error’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 25, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Robert P. Doherty Jr., Roanoke County Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although the scrivener’s error exception is to be narrowly construed in allowing any changes to language in a contract or other document, on this record, the Roanoke County Circuit Court will apply the exception to a deed of trust to correct the Lot Number of a parcel from “Lot 1” to “Lot 15.” A scrivener’s [...]

Parties Should Discuss Discovery Issues

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 25, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Clifford R. Weckstein, Salem Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

In this long-running contract dispute between a homeowner and a home builder, a Salem Circuit Court denies a motion to reconsider and motions to compel and admonishes the lawyers that “ad hominem attacks, bitterness and biting sarcasm upon or about opposing counsel” are not consistent with the standards of professionalism endorsed by the Supreme Court [...]

Gas Company Faces Royalty Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James P. Jones, U.S. District Court - Western District

An Abingdon U.S. District Court denies a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims alleging defendant gas company improperly calculated royalty payments which did not reflect the actual price for which the gas was sold. Defendant argues that pursuant to the pooling orders issued by the Virginia Gas and Oil Board, royalties are due from the production [...]

Cable-Theft Claim Against Restaurant Advances

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge M. Hannah Lauck, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff sports production company that had a license agreement to show on closed-circuit television a professional boxing championship match may sue defendant restaurant for allegedly intercepting the broadcast and allowing its patrons to see the match; the magistrate judge for the Richmond U.S. District Court denies the restaurant’s motion to dismiss the complaint. The complaint [...]

Payment Fight in Titanic Artifact Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court denies dismissal of a counterclaim in this litigation over contracts for the appraisal and sale of artifacts from the RMS Titanic. This is a declaratory judgment action concerning the enforceability of two purported contracts, which pertain to the appraisal and sale of artifacts from the RMS Titanic. Marmargar Inc., a [...]

Economic Loss Rule No Bar to Fraud Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 12, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this dispute over defendants’ follow-through on multi-million dollar contracts to buy plaintiff’s coal, a Roanoke U.S. District Court says plaintiff’s claim for fraudulent inducement is not barred by the economic loss rule, and plaintiff may sue both defendant company and its owner. Plaintiff alleges defendant Ernie Thrasher, owner of defendant Xcoal Energy & Resources, [...]