Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where the fraternal order of Freemasons sued a splinter group that started their own chapter for unlawfully holding itself out as an extension of the original organization, the fraud, tortious interference and intellectual property claims were properly dismissed. Background This ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Pamela A. Harris Tort

Where a district court allowed a government “filter team” to review privileged attorney-client documents unrelated to the investigation of lawyer A and client A, it was in error because it assigned judicial functions to the filter team and failed to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Attorneys Judge Robert B. King

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS,  application of the law that was in effect when an Alien Relative petition brought by an immigrant and his wife was adjudicated, rather than the statute that was in effect when the ...

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

Where an employee was injured on the job by the owner of the home that was under construction, his suit against the owner is not precluded by the worker’s compensation exclusion or the employee indemnification and employer’s liability exclusion in ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Insurance Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where the Medicaid Act’s free-choice-of provider provision creates a private right enforceable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Medicaid recipient established she would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction, South Carolina was stopped from terminating ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The Fairfax Board of Zoning Appeals correctly upheld the county zoning administrator’s violation notice to petitioners, who were making short-term rentals of their residential home. Violation notice Petitioners own a home in a district zoned for “dwellings.” The applicable ordinance, ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Daniel E. Ortiz Real Estate Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a city charter provides that the treasurer is the custodian of municipal funds, and the city council passed an ordinance giving that authority to the city’s tax collector instead, the court denies defendants’ demurrer to the treasurer’s complaint that ...

Tagged with: Judge Joseph M. Teefey Jr. Municipal Petersburg Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Petitioner is entitled to have her plea-based petit larceny conviction vacated because counsel did not advise her of the consequences the plea could have on her immigration status. Facts Petitioner, born in El Salvador, became a lawful permanent United States ...

Tagged with: Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Stephen C. Shannon Virginia Circuit Courts

Even though petitioner is a “person with a legitimate interest” in visitation with respondent’s minor child, the visitation petition is denied. For a court to award a non-parent visitation over a parent’s objection, there must be clear and convincing evidence ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Charles N. Dorsey Roanoke Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a child’s therapist, who is not a party to this divorce action, moved to quash a subpoena duces tecum of the child’s mental health care records, the motion is granted. The controlling statute allows a health care professional to ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard E. Gardiner Virginia Circuit Courts