U.S. District Court – Eastern District | Virginia Lawyers Weekly

No Garnishment of Mineral ‘Headright’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Creditor’s Rights, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants garnishee Osage Indian Agency’s motion to quash a garnishment summons a creditor obtained in Virginia state court to collect on a $63,565 judgment from debtor’s mineral “headright”; the creditor filed her summons against the U.S. government, which has not waived its sovereign immunity in this matter.
The Osage Nation is [...]

No Corporate Debt Relief Under SCRA

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Creditor’s Rights, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A military reservist ordered to active duty who lost the hardware store she and her husband had purchased, cannot collect money damages under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for a bank’s foreclosure on their business loan and sale of corporate assets to satisfy the debt, as corporations are not protected by the SCRA; but the [...]

$1M Default Judgment for Tortious Interference

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

Applying Florida law, a Richmond U.S. District Court enters a $1 million default judgment for plaintiff broker-dealer, who alleges defendant, a Florida brokerage employment recruiter, violated a nonsolicitation agreement and tortiously interfered with plaintiff’s contracts with seven brokers who defected to a competitor after the Florida recruiter failed to broker a sale of the Richmond [...]

Lawyer Fined, But Discovery Response Approved

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although plaintiff continues to complain that defendant lawyer has not complied with discovery orders in this suit alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, the Richmond U.S. District says defendant’s responses are now compliant, but the court orders defendant to pay $1,250 for the five days he [...]

Fees Awarded in ‘Hostile Environment’ Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A female firefighter recruit who won her sexual harassment suit against Fairfax County with a jury award of $250,000 in damages, is awarded $306,705,69 in attorney’s fees and costs by the Alexandria U.S. District Court.
Plaintiff prevailed in her Title VII hostile work environment suit, in which a jury awarded her $250,000 in damages, which the [...]

Jury Award Reduced on Title VII Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A female firefighter recruit who won a $250,000 jury award on her Title VII hostile environment claim against Fairfax County has the award reduced by the Alexandria U.S. District Court to $50,000, which is proportional to the injury sustained and within precedent.
Based on the evidence adduced at trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict [...]

Qualified Immunity on ‘Privacy’ Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge M. Hannah Lauck, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A former special education teacher who alleges the county school board failed to take action against another employee who was abusive to students and staff, and who has sued on a variety of claims may not pursue her claim that the board violated her rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when it allegedly shared information [...]

‘Conversion’ Covers Intangible Property

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this multi-million dollar intellectual property case, a Richmond U.S. District Court grants judgment as a matter of law to defendant Kolon Industries Inc. on plaintiff DuPont’s claims for conversion and civil conspiracy; the federal court says Virginia courts would recognize a conversion action for converted intangible property, such as confidential business information about the [...]

Motion to Unseal Partly Granted

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 16, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this multi-million dollar intellectual property case, a protective order entered by the Richmond U.S. District Court during discovery to protect the identities of witnesses who might be future witnesses or subjects of criminal proceedings cannot be extended to cover a later motion to stay and related documents, and the court says there is a [...]

Court Conveys Titanic Salvage Artifacts

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2012
Tags: Admiralty, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court conveys title to the artifacts salvaged from the R.M.S. Titanic to R.M.S. Titanic Inc., but such title is fully subject to the covenants and conditions that the U.S., through the U.S. Attorney, negotiated and finalized with RMST and the court.
On Aug. 12, 2010, this court granted R.M.S. Titanic Inc. a [...]

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