Judge orders a 20-year ban in trade secrets case

Complaint Meets ‘Double Designation’ Test

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 28, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A defendant who removed a contract action to federal court has satisfied the “double designation” rule for alleging diversity jurisdiction based on allegations in plaintiff’s state court complaint and in the notice of removal, and the Richmond U.S. District Court denies plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court. Plaintiff argues that defendant’s Notice of Removal [...]

Partial Win in Asset-Discovery Motion

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In plaintiff company’s attempt to collect on a multi-million dollar award in a trade-secrets case, a Richmond U.S. District Court partially grants plaintiff’s motion to compel asset-related discovery by ordering defendant to produce customer identity information in the wake of defendant’s corporate reorganization during the underlying litigation. Under the Federal Rules, defendant Kolon Industries is [...]

Foreclosure Fight Remanded to State Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A plaintiff who appealed an unlawful detainer decision against him in state court and then filed his own quiet title action can defeat defendant mortgage association’s federal court removal of plaintiff’s quiet title action under the “prior exclusive jurisdiction doctrine,” and a Richmond U.S. District Court remands the case to state court. In order for [...]

Fees Awarded in Malicious Prosecution Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman who won her malicious prosecution case against a deputy sheriff who arrested the woman for allegedly withholding information about the location of a dog that bit her, is awarded attorney’s fees of $322,340.50 and costs of $10,305.51 by the Richmond U.S. District Court. After trial, a jury awarded plaintiff $2,943 in actual damages. [...]

Fee award more than jury award times 100

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Attorneys Fees, Civil Rights, Federal Courts, Judge Robert E. Payne

Hire a big dog lawyer to handle a dog-bite case, and you can expect a sizeable bill for services. But it was worth it for Eileen McAfee, who won an order requiring the other side to pay over $300,000 in legal fees on a jury award of less than $3,000. McAfee’s case wasn’t a dog-bite [...]

Employer Wins Age Discrimination Suit

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

A cleaning services technician for VCU Health System who alleges he was repeatedly passed over for promotions due to age discrimination loses his suit alleging age discrimination as the Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary judgment for defendant. Plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim in count I is time-barred. He makes numerous factual allegations concerning creation [...]

Lease Guarantor Sues on Purchase Right

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 15, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit by a commercial lease guarantor on an alleged breach of its right to purchase the leased property, the Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses a counterclaim filed by the owner of the property to force specific performance by purchase of the property at an appraised price. A guarantor on a laboratory’s commercial lease [...]

Joint Venture ‘Fraud’ Claim Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 15, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge David J. Novak, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A company that consulted on regulatory compliance for the pharmaceutical industry that had a joint venture with a software company to develop and market compliance software can sue the software company for a declaratory judgment that it’s part-owner of the copyright for the software that was developed and for breach of contract, but the Richmond [...]

No Pre-Injunction Evidentiary Hearing

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 17, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court declines to hold an evidentiary hearing on the propriety or scope of a requested permanent injunction against defendant’s future use of trade secrets misappropriated from plaintiff, as defendant appears to want to retry the case. First, plaintiff DuPont presented substantial evidence in its case-in-chief and in its rebuttal case that [...]