Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A company seeking damages for misappropriation of trade secrets will be able to offer, through its expert, alternative methods among which the jury can choose to calculate an award. Damage calculations Cross-plaintiff JELD-WEN seeks damages only for Cross-defendant Steves & ...

Tagged with: Business Law Evidence Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A life insurance company was under no fiduciary duty to solicit required additional materials from the insured party in order to approve his coverage level, even though his employer had been deducting premium payments for the unapproved amount. Background Steven ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Employment Insurance Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A defendant on the hook for almost $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages for conversion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, since the plaintiffs’ conversion claim was based entirely on losses covered by the parties’ contract. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Evidence Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Tort

A long-term commercial lease with neither a common-law seal nor statutory seal substitutes was effectively month-to-month after a five-year term, and the trial court erred in focusing on “substance not form” to enforce the 15-year term. Background In 2000, a ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Landlord/Tenant Supreme Court of Virginia

Deciding that its prior contract interpretation had relied on a definition provided by an inapplicable article of the agreement, the court reconsidered its ruling granting partial summary judgment as to the plaintiff’s substantial breach-of-contract claim. Background In December 2007, Meritage ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Judge Michelle J. Atkins Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

A Yelp reviewer who successfully defended against defamation claims couldn’t claim attorneys’ fees under Va. Code § 8.01-223.2 because 2017 amendments weren’t retroactive, a Virginia circuit court held. Background Defendant Jeremiah Jones retained Plaintiff Will Nesbitt Realty LLC to assist him in renting a ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

Although written documents were unclear as to whether a therapy service contract transferred to a subsequent facilities operator, the successor’s acceptance of therapy services as if the service contract applied created a contract implied-in-fact, with the same payment terms as ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

When the Department of Justice published in the Federal Register a group effort by table saw manufacturers to develop a new safety component, a company already marketing such a component was on sufficient notice that the manufacturers were working together ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Antitrust Business Law Judge G. Steven Agee

Regarding its use of the mark “Backyard Grill,” genuine issues of material fact should have prevented the trial court’s conclusion as a matter of law that Walmart was liable for infringement damages of approximately $32.5 million, plus attorneys’ fees and ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Intellectual Property Judge Henry F. Floyd

A U.S. Department of Health & Human Services contractor that used an auto-dialer to send pre-recorded messages about the availability of health insurance enjoyed derivative sovereign immunity for what may have otherwise been a TCPA violation. Background The Affordable Care ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Judge Henry F. Floyd Telecommunications