Tort | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Aircraft Certification is ‘Discretionary’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Tort

A helicopter flight instructor cannot sue the Federal Aviation Administration for alleged harm to his flight instruction business resulting from the FAA’s suspension of an airworthiness certification of the helicopter leased by the instructor; the 4th Circuit affirms the district court’s finding that the FAA inspector’s original certification of the aircraft fell under the FTCA’s [...]

Trade Secret Damage Award Reduced

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 13, 2012
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Following a jury verdict awarding plaintiff $919.9 million in compensatory damages for defendant’s willful and malicious misappropriation of 149 trade secrets, the Richmond U.S. District Court awards plaintiff $350,000 in punitive damages: Virginia’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act caps punitive damages at $350,000 and defendant waived its right to have a jury trial assess punitive damages [...]

Defamation Claim for Inspection Comment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Judge Timothy K. Sanner, Louisa County Circuit Court, Tort, Virginia Circuit Courts

Taken in context, defendant’s alleged statement that he relied on plaintiff’s “description of a wall’s construction” when he prepared a letter about inspection of a retaining wall can be viewed as defamatory, and the Louisa County Circuit Court overrules defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s defamation claim.
There is no disagreement about the legal standard that must be [...]

No Fees for Conspiracy Defense Win

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 30, 2012
Tags: Judge Thomas D. Horne, Loudoun County Circuit Court, Tort, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although counterclaim-defendants won on Diamond Information Systems’ counterclaims alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and business conspiracy, a Loudoun County Circuit Court says they are not entitled to attorney’s fees, nor are they entitled to $13,599 in transcript costs; the court awards only $414 in costs to the winning parties.
Plaintiffs Neeraj Bhagat and Peak State Group [...]

Reversionary Trust in FTCA Award

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, Tort

In this case in which a family won a multi-million dollar Federal Tort Claim Act award from the U.S. for their child’s brain damage caused by government doctors, the 4th Circuit remands the case for a second time for the Virginia federal district court to grant the government a reversionary interest in the child’s future [...]

Courts speak, lawyers listen

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Best of 2011, Business, Criminal, Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Municipal, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Tort, Virginia Court of Appeals News

A Virginia Supreme Court case that struck a noncompete clause used by a pest control company – the same clause upheld by the high court over 20 years ago – caused the most buzz during 2011 among Virginia lawyers who track legal developments through their blogs.
Court watchers were charmed by the facts in Home Paramount [...]

Bivens Claim for Lead Poisoning Barred

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 28, 2011
Tags: Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this “troubling and tragic case,” an Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a claim filed by a former CIA employee who suffered permanently disabling lead poisoning after exposure to toxic levels of lead in connection with his employment conducting weapons training, as plaintiff’s claims under Bivens and the Privacy Act are barred by the exclusivity [...]

No Defamation for ‘Misconduct’ Firing

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 28, 2011
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A nurse supervisor terminated from her position supervising a telephone call-in line for health plan subscribers loses her suit alleging she was defamed when her employer stated in her employment records that she had been terminated for misconduct with regard to her representations about being cursed by an employee she supervised.
Here, there is no allegation [...]

No Notice of Smashed Grape

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 14, 2011
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary judgment for grocery store against a customer who allegedly slipped on a smashed grape on Saturday morning; customer could not prove actual or constructive knowledge of an unsafe condition when the employee responsible for cleaning the area was in the checkout line buying candy.
One Saturday morning [...]

Slip & Fall Plaintiff Can’t Prove Notice

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 14, 2011
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Adopting the recommendation of the magistrate judge, the Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary to defendant fast-food restaurant because customer failed to allege facts sufficient to find defendant had actual notice of the sticky spot customer claims caused her fall.
Customer met her friends for coffee at a fast-food restaurant early one Friday morning [...]

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