Fees Reduced for Duplicate Work

Complaint Sufficient to Seize Cash

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this civil forfeiture action involving $17,550 seized by Fairfax County police officers from claimant’s vehicle during a traffic stop, the Alexandria U.S. District Court denies claimant’s motion to dismiss the action because the government’s complaint supports the initial seizure of the cash. The court finds the government has stated facts sufficient to support a [...]

Interstate Delivery Drivers Lose on Preemption Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant Lasership Inc. in this suit filed by a purported class of delivery truck drivers who allege they were misclassified under the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Statute, M.G.L. 149 § 148B. Though headquartered in Vienna, Va., Lasership maintains facilities in Woburn, Mass., and Meriden, Conn. In the [...]

Banking Practices ‘Bad Faith’ Claim Survives

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff company, who is suing defendant bank for refusing to honor a Debt Settlement Agreement settling $9 million in debts for $3 million, may sue for breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing by acting in bad faith and against usual and prudent business and banking practices in determining that plaintiff’s [...]

Failure-to-Insure Claim Assignment is Valid

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Insurance, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff Cincinnati Insurance Company, as assignee of a claim against defendant insurance broker and his agency, may sue those defendants for failure to place property insurance on a property that was damaged by fire after the prior insurance had lapsed; the Richmond U.S. District Court says the assignment is valid. Defendants are broker John Ruch [...]

Suit to Invalidate Trust OK in Federal Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court says the probate exception to federal court jurisdiction does not apply to a suit that seeks to invalidate an inter vivos trust, and it denies plaintiff’s motion to remand this suit back to a Virginia state court. Col. William P. Oliver Jr., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), created the William P. [...]

No Res Ipsa Loquitur Claim for Elevator Drop

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court dismisses a negligence claim filed by a woman who was injured when she stepped into an elevator on the 12th floor of the tower at One Commerce Place in Norfolk, and was injured when the elevator suddenly and violently dropped a number of floors; this court will not extend Virginia [...]

Parents Have no Claim for CPS Inquiry

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The parents of a 14-month-old daughter who did not promptly seek medical attention when the child suffered a second-degree burn to her shin as her father held her and her twin sister while riding an all-terrain vehicle, lose their suit alleging malicious prosecution and due process violations arising from their investigation by child protective services [...]

School Bus Driver’s FLSA Retaliation Claim Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge James R. Spencer, Labor, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court says a school bus driver who alleges she was fired in retaliation for filing a claim for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act may not amend her complaint because her additional allegations still do not show a causal connection between her protected activity and her later termination for [...]

Fees Awarded in Suit to Enforce Settlement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Claude M. Hilton, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit to enforce the parties’ settlement of alleged breaches of an agreement between a Virginia business and a German corporation, the Alexandria U.S. District Court, on remand from the 4th Circuit, awards defendant, as prevailing party, $893,771.64 in attorney’s fees and $55,249.76 in costs. The parties’ 2008 settlement agreement provided that in the [...]