Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

In a ruling that denied both sides’ motions for summary judgment involving a man’s 25-foot fall while installing a tree step, the court rejected both sides’ efforts to exclude the other’s experts in their entirety but limited the testimony of ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Products Liability U.S. District Court - Western District

The plaintiffs’ failure to provide an expert report meant their physician would be limited to testifying as to his treatment of the plaintiffs and the opinions reflected in his records, and not about possible future complications or treatments. Background Plaintiffs ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

The estate of an 18-year-old who was shot by an off-duty police officer plausibly alleged a claim against the City of Richmond and the officer under § 1983, because it contained sufficient allegations that the officer acted under color of ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge John A. Gibney Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The court rejected defendant’s objection to his sentence, finding prior Virginia convictions for possessing heroin with intent to distribute fell within the definition of crimes involving “controlled substances,” thus implicating the career-offender provision of the sentencing guidelines. Background Timothy A. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although a tort action cannot be based solely on a negligent breach of contract under Virginia law, a plaintiff may, under maritime law, maintain contract and tort claims simultaneously, even if they arise out of the same facts. Background Thomas ...

Tagged with: Admiralty Judge Rebecca Beach Smith U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The court denied the defendant’s motion for a hearing at this stage and found, based upon a Bureau of Prisons psychiatric report, that defendant had a substantial probability of regaining competency if medicated another 120 days. Background Defendant was charged ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An employer who did not hire a hearing-impaired man as a shipyard pipefitter was granted summary judgment based on evidence that the ability to hear alarms and announcements was essential, that pipefitters are subjected to high noise activities and that ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although the subcontractor’s lender’s conversion and unjust enrichment claims against a general contractor were barred by the economic loss rule, its fraud claims were not affected by the rule because they involved omissions prior to the contract. Background Defendant W.M. ...

Tagged with: Judge Raymond A. Jackson Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The court refused to enter a permanent injunction, despite the jury’s finding that eight trade secrets were misappropriated, because the moving party argued to the jury that a reasonable royalty would adequately compensate it for the theft, and the jury ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

While the court dismissed some claims brought by an addiction recovery business that the defendant attempted to steal clients, it found allegations that the defendant changed the recovery business’s phone number on the Internet in order to redirect customers, were ...

Tagged with: Judge John A. Gibney Jr. Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District