Payment Never Made Under Release Agreement
Although plaintiff lender and defendant cosmetics company entered into a Mutual Release Agreement to settle plaintiff’s claims arising from a factoring agreement, plaintiff is not entitled to summary judgment in its suit against the cosmetic company’s managing director under her Validity Guaranty; the Alexandria U.S. District Court says the cosmetics company did not pay the […]
Arbitration Ordered for Shipping Contract
In this dispute over plaintiff coal company’s suit for damages to a shipment of mining shovels from Australia to Hampton Roads, the Norfolk U.S. District Court construes the chartered vessel’s motion to dismiss as a motion to compel arbitration, which the court grants. Plaintiff Southern Coal Corporation, through its agent AAMAC, contracted with defendant IEG […]
No Super-Majority Needed to Sell LLC’s Assets
An LLC’s operating agreement does not require a super-majority vote to approve a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the company, a maritime engineering training school, but the Norfolk Circuit Court says the issue of the compensation a dissenting member will receive in exchange for his membership interest in the LLC […]
Dental Practice Sues Consultant for Conspiracy
A dentist has stated a claim for business conspiracy against a consultant hired to evaluate a dental practice that plaintiff had contracted to buy from his partner, and who allegedly assisted the partner in their dispute when the partner refused to sell the practice; however, the Harrisonburg U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff’s claim for breach […]
Suit Challenging Foreclosure Not Too Late
Although a homeowner may have alleged breaches of contract by defendant prior to the foreclosure sale of her home, her suit, filed exactly five years after that foreclosure sale, is not time-barred, the Norfolk U.S. District Court says. It is undisputed that the five-year limitations period governing Virginia contract actions applies in this diversity action. […]
Spice Supplier Can Try Contract Claims
In this contract dispute between spice suppliers Kancor Americas/Kancor India, who are suing their U.S. spice distributor, ATC Ingredients Inc., an entity engaged to sell Kancor spices in the U.S., the Alexandria U.S. District Court says plaintiffs may try their breach of contract, unjust enrichment and conversion claims related to the alleged contract and ATC’s […]
No FCA Claim Based on Bottled Water Charges
An Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a would-be whistleblower’s claim that defendant government contractor intentionally overcharged the U.S. Department of State for bottled water supplied to various facilities in Iraq, and fired plaintiff in retaliation for questioning the propriety of the subcontractor selection process. Plaintiff was employed by defendant PAE Government Services Inc. a[...]
No FCA Claim for Army-Approved Tech Manuals
An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant contractor in a relator’s False Claims Act suit alleging the contractor created Technical Manuals for the 910 MCV-Mine Clearing System under Task Order 10 of its Army contract without a government-furnished technical data package; relator presents no evidence to contradict the contractor’s evidence that the […]
Magazine Story Did Not Bar FCA Suit
Relators who alleged in their first-amended complaint that defendant security training company defrauded the government by falsifying weapons qualification scores for their security contractors are not barred from pursuing their False Claims Act suit by the subsequent discussion of the weapons qualifications scheme in an article in Wired.com magazine; the 4th Circuit vacates the district […[...]
Qui Tam Suit Still Barred by First-to-File Rule
An Alexandria U.S. District Court declines to reconsider its earlier decision that a new U.S. Supreme Court decision will not save relator’s qui tam action dismissed as barred by the first-to-file rule, as the law of the case and 4th Circuit precedent cannot change that basis for dismissal and relator’s amended complaint will not confer […]
No FCA Claim from Billing Code Errors
A medical coder has failed to state a claim under the False Claims Act against an oncology practice group with allegations that defendants, including defendant breast surgeon, filed false claims for payment by the government for unnecessary breast exams, by falsifying patients’ presenting symptoms; however, relator’s FCA claim will proceed against Bon Secours Health System. […]
Dominion Wins Damages for Coal Quality
Defendant Bransen Energy Inc. breached a series of contracts governing the quality of coal it was to send to plaintiff Dominion for use in its “new environmentally friend and technologically sophisticated power plant,” the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center; the Richmond U.S. District Court awards Dominion damages totaling $20,936,688. Defendant produced coal which simply fell […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Jury reaches defense verdict in $4M med mal action
- Dental hygienist tripped, fractured right wrist, foot — $190,000 settlement
- Couple contracted Hepatitis A after dining at restaurant — $5.5M settlement
- Elderly man suffers hip fracture after attack by neighbor’s dog — $350,000 settlement
- Motorcyclist injured when vehicle abruptly changed lanes — $300,000 verdict
- Passenger ejected from car in high-speed chase crash — $685,000 settlement
- Defense verdict reached in fraud suit
- 8-year-old killed in crash involving tractor-trailer — $1,100,000 settlement
- Plaintiff conceived child after vasectomy — $250,000 settlement
- Delay in diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy led to surgery — $283,432.18 settlement
- Golfer stepped in sinkhole, fractured ankle — $442,000 verdict
- Jury sides with woman injured in rear-end collision — $300,000 verdict
Viewpoint
- The promise and peril of artificial intelligence in patent law
- Keys to becoming an unfrazzled lawyer
- Confused about federal COVID-19 emergencies ending? You’re not alone
- Generative AI in law: New survey of lawyer perspectives and plans
- Four misconceptions about appeals
- Font choice exposes fabricated document
- USPTO launches first-time filer expedited exam pilot program
- In times of crisis, the ‘tug of war’ is over
- The ever-evolving Fourth Circuit
- Federal protections for pregnant, nursing employees coming
- It’s time for employers to embrace the ‘Big Quit’ and adapt
- Tell the whole truth? I’ll do better than that