Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

Where property owners’ slander of title claim rested on allegedly false statements, but the statements weren’t false, their claim was dismissed. Background This case involves a commercial, retail and residential common plan development known as Celebrate Virginia South, located in ...

Tagged with: Commercial Judge David J. Novak U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a woman was allegedly injured when she fell off a Yamaha WaveRunner personal watercraft, there was admiralty jurisdiction over her suit alleging faulty design and failure to properly warn because the accident occurred on the Rappahannock River. Background Danielle ...

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

Although a Virginia-based company alleged it was owed commissions by an Illinois corporation because it assisted in selling over $28 million of personal protective equipment, or PPE, the suit was dismissed because the alleged breach of the agreement concerned entities ...

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

Where a roofing company alleged its former salesperson received unauthorized payments, he prevails on the conversion claim because there was no evidence the payments were wrongful or unauthorized. Because there was no evidence he agreed to injure the company, he ...

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

Where a defendant sued for his alleged role in the “Unite the Right” rally failed to preserve a laptop, two cell phones and three social media accounts, an adverse inference instruction at trial was warranted. Background This matter is before ...

Tagged with: Judge Joel Hoppe Sanctions U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a county’s expert testified that two tax assessments were more than the property’s fair market value, the property owner overcame the presumption that a taxing authority’s assessment is presumed to be correct. Assessments and opinions In 1988, CSHV leased ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia Taxation

The Court of Appeals erred by reversing appellee’s reckless driving conviction. There was sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could conclude that appellee’s collision with a stopped motorcycle resulted from “a ‘lengthy, total, and complete’ failure to keep a ...

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

Where a father and son jointly owned a brokerage account and contractually agreed that if the brokerage received conflicting instructions, both had to agree before the brokerage could act, the father’s other children gained no rights to the account after ...

Tagged with: Contract Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a father disclosed a sealed report to the children’s stepmother concerning a court-ordered independent psychological evaluation, the court erred by dismissing his de novo appeal of the J&RD court’s custody award to mother. Dismissal was an “unduly severe sanction” ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Judge Robert J. Humphreys Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant sought to withdraw his guilty plea to several sex crimes, claiming that he misunderstood his requirement to register as a sex offender, there was no error when defense counsel testified at the hearing about appellant’s misunderstanding that registration ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Wesley G. Russell Jr. Virginia Court of Appeals