Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

After being released with a verbal warning for a broken brake light and driving on a suspended license, a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have felt free to leave. Therefore, his consent for a vehicle search was valid, ...

Tagged with: Judge Glen A. Huff Search & Seizure Virginia Court of Appeals

After “only the latest in a string of frivolous lawsuits” against Loudoun County and its various departments, a pro se litigant must pay the county more than $4,000 in attorneys’ fees. She is also barred from bringing more petitions against the County without ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia

Sufficient evidence supported the State Corporation Commission’s determination that a requested pilot infrastructure surcharge was just and reasonable. Background In 2015, the Virginia-American Water Company applied to the State Corporation Commission for a general increase in water rates, claiming increased ...

Tagged with: Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Supreme Court of Virginia Utilities

Most of a tenant couple’s debt to their former landlord, based on unpaid rent and the poor conditions in which they left the rental, was dischargeable. The court held a small percentage to be non-dischargeable based on evidence that, in ...

Tagged with: Judge Paul M. Black Landlord/Tenant U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The court granted default judgment against infringement defendants who did not respond to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, but awarded only the minimum in statutory damages and found counsel’s requested fees unreasonable. Background According to its complaint, Plaintiff LHF Productions holds the ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Panel interviews of four candidates – even split by gender – to fill a U.S. Marshals Service leadership position provided no basis to find that the proffered reasons for selecting a male candidate were a pretext for gender discrimination. Background ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Under Virginia law, “smoke” composed of suspended particulate matter caused by concrete dust qualified for an exception to the “pollution exclusion” in the insured company’s policy. Background In this insurance coverage dispute, Plaintiff Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Anthony J. Trenga U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The actions of 28 Chinese entities selling counterfeit goods on the internet did not arise out of the same transaction or occurrence, and they must be severed into individual suits. Background The Defendants, 28 unrelated individuals and entities located in the People’s ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Holding that “unclean hands” is not a defense to equitable relief in antitrust, the court excluded the defendant’s evidence that the plaintiff misappropriated its trade secrets, finding such evidence not probative under Federal Rule of Evidence 402. Background Plaintiff Steves ...

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

A contract employee plausibly stated claims for FLSA violations and breach of contract based on allegations that his employer withheld two weeks of paychecks. Because the state court in his earlier-filed action on the same grounds had not made any ...

Tagged with: Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District Wage & Hour