IT Contract, Audit Statements Support Fraud Claims

Lender’s Indemnity Claim Proceeds

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 19, 2012
Tags: Judge Henry E. Hudson, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In lender’s action to enforce indemnity provisions of its agreement with originator, the Richmond U.S. District Court denies originator’s motion to dismiss: the agreement terms do not require originator awareness of fraud when loan applications are submitted. A 2001 agreement between lender and originator required originator to indemnify lender for losses arising from misrepresentation. A [...]

Debtor Can’t Point Finger at Lawyers for Fraud

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 19, 2012
Tags: Attorney-Client Privilege, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A debtor who attempted to blame a series of bankruptcy lawyers for his own failure to disclose assets during bankruptcy proceedings cannot fall back on the attorney-client or work product privileges to keep the lawyers from providing documents during debtor’s prosecution for fraud, says a Richmond U.S. District Court. It is well established that providing [...]

No Link Between Ads & Virginia Purchases

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit involving competing claims to the trademark “Diamonds Direct,” the Richmond U.S. District Court says plaintiff has failed to offer evidence establishing its prior use of the mark in Virginia, and defendant Capri Jewelers’ presumptive ownership of the trademark stands unrebutted; the court permanently enjoins plaintiff from using the “Diamonds Direct” trademark in [...]

Homeowner Has DOT Good Faith Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 19, 2012
Tags: Judge Henry E. Hudson, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman who is suing defendant bank on a claim that it denied her a permanent loan modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program for which she allegedly qualified states claims for claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing implied in the Note and Deed of Trust. Defendant JP Morgan [...]

Ex-HR director settles suit against Chesterfield

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Federal Courts, Judge Henry E. Hudson, Judge John A. Gibney Jr.

A former human resources director for Chesterfield County has settled her lawsuit alleging the county discriminated by giving her a less generous severance package than the “sweetheart deals” given to her male counterparts. The county has paid Karla Gerner $42,000, which includes fees for attorney Mark D. Dix, according to a copy of the release [...]

Venue Not Controlled by Expired Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 24, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although the parties’ 2008 written contract, for plaintiff to provide business development services for an internet company that wanted to move into the U.S. marketplace, identified Irish courts and the laws of Ireland as controlling any dispute, that contract expired in 2009 and the parties continued to work together, and the Richmond U.S. District Court [...]

No Intentional Bias for Pregnancy Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 24, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman who was hired through a temporary staffing agency to work as a “flagger” directing traffic at a construction site and who was dismissed when she was two months pregnant and allegedly told she could not perform the job for safety reasons may not sue the construction company for sex discrimination claim under Title [...]

Tobacco Assessment Calculation Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 22, 2012
Tags: Administrative, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff tobacco company loses its challenge to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s method for determining assessments against manufacturers and importers of tobacco products under the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004, in this decision from Richmond U.S. District Court. The controversy centers on whether the USDA should use the current federal excise tax [...]

Injunction Issued for ‘Diamonds Direct’ Mark

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 22, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit involving competing claims to the trademark “Diamonds Direct,” the Richmond U.S. District Court grants a preliminary injunction to defendant, who registered the mark with the Virginia State Corporation Commission after learning plaintiff, who had used the mark in North Carolina since 1996, planned to open a store in the Richmond market. Until [...]