Fairfax County Circuit Court | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

No ‘Publication’ for Defamation Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Robert J. Smith, Tort, Virginia Circuit Courts

In this suit by three employees discharged by defendant IBM, the Fairfax Circuit Court sustains demurrers filed by IBM and individual defendants to plaintiffs’ claims for defamation, conspiracy, tortious interference and negligent retention, arising from allegations that plaintiffs were terminated because one plaintiff purportedly violated IBM policy by hiring her brother and then trying to [...]

Rezoning Challenger Gets Hearing

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Virginia Circuit Courts, Zoning

Plaintiff office park owner’s allegations that the board of supervisors did not adequately consider traffic impact when it rezoned an adjacent parcel from single-family homes to a planned development community have earned plaintiff an evidentiary hearing on whether the rezoning was arbitrary and capricious, says a Fairfax Circuit Court.
The primary issue at bar is whether [...]

Contract Case Meant for Texas Courts

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jan L. Brodie, Virginia Circuit Courts

Under a “Sales Teaming Agreement” between defendant Project Resource Consulting LLC (PRC) and plaintiff ITech Consulting Group Inc. Texas law would govern the Agreement, and further, the Fairfax Circuit Court does not have personal jurisdiction over defendant PRC, a New York LLC, and over defendant Agility Solutions Inc.
In the past, forum selection clauses in contracts [...]

Waiver Upheld Despite Language Issues

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Michael F. Devine, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although this 44-year-old murder defendant claims he could not make a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of his rights because of his intellectual disabilities and difficulties, as a speaker of Vietnamese, the Fairfax Circuit Court denies defendant’s motion to suppress his statements to police.
All defendant’s interactions with police, from the moment he voluntarily entered the [...]

Lien Priority Hearing Should Precede Sale

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jane Marum Roush, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court agrees with the special commissioner of sale that it is erroneous to decree a sale of lands to satisfy liens without first ascertaining all of the liens binding thereon, and the court directs the commissioner to convene a hearing to ascertain all the liens binding on the property, including delinquent taxes, [...]

No Non-Party Subpoena to Agency

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 28, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Virginia Circuit Courts

An adult defendant charged with burglary and grand larceny cannot subpoena from the local social services department confidential records about defendant or his minor siblings, involving alleged abuse or neglect or defendant’s responsibility to care for his siblings due to parental neglect, in order to mitigate his punishment; and the Fairfax Circuit Court grants the [...]

Court Corrects Country Club Assessment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 22, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jane Marum Roush, Taxation, Virginia Circuit Courts

A country club wins its case to correct four years of tax assessments on its 231-acre golf course in the city of Fairfax, as the city used a disfavored “development cost” approach to assess the property at $65 to $69 million; the Fairfax Circuit Court orders a correction of the assessment to value the property [...]

Rear-ender settles for just under policy limits – $97,500 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: March 19, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Personal Injury

A 55-year-old employee of the Department of Defense was stopped at an intersection, waiting to make a left turn, when her car was rear-ended, at speed, by another vehicle. The impact propelled her vehicle forward into the back of
a pick-up truck stopped in front of her, causing extensive damage to her vehicle. Plaintiff suffered, among [...]

Pedestrian hit on store sidewalk recovers for emotional injuries – $324,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: February 27, 2012
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jan L. Brodie, Personal Injury

On March 9, 2007, the vehicle driven by the defendant approached a set of parking spaces in front of a gas-station convenience store. The defendant did not stop, ran over the curb onto the sidewalk in front of store, and hit the pedestrian plaintiff.
Plaintiff refused medical attention and first visited his primary care physician four [...]

Motion to Supplement Record Untimely

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 24, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court denies defendant’s motion to supplement the record with audio recordings and require a court reporting firm or the circuit court to make copies of certain relevant audio recordings in these proceedings, as the court lacks jurisdictional power to do so.
This court does not read Rule 5:12 as modifying or superseding the [...]

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