As businesses have suffered and shuttered over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless contractual obligations have gone by the wayside. In ensuing litigation, many businesses have sought to escape or limit their liability for contractual nonperformance, citing various considerations ...

Tagged with: Business Law Commercial real estate Contract covid Force majeure Insurance Pandemic

Where the parties agreed to place their separate businesses into a jointly owned corporation, the parties’ business leases are corporate assets and must be included when valuing the corporation’s shares in this dissolution action. Overview Biton and Kreinis are equal ...

Tagged with: Business Law Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

A limited partner’s demand to inspect partnership records must state a proper purpose for doing so. Overview Plaintiff is a limited partner of defendant Arrowhead Apartments. Plaintiff petitioned to inspect partnership records after becoming concerned about declining profitability, mismanagement and ...

Tagged with: Business Law Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Bruce D. White Virginia Circuit Courts

Where plaintiffs and defendants were guarantors of a defaulted loan, and plaintiffs funded the settlement with the lending bank, defendants are liable to plaintiffs for $1.7 million on an unjust enrichment theory. Background The Coves, the Wallens and the Blacks ...

Tagged with: Business Law Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Virginia Circuit Courts

On remand from a prior appeal, the trial court erred by finding that appellant failed to prove a successor liability claim by a preponderance of the evidence. Overview In a previous phase of this case, the circuit court awarded appellant ...

Tagged with: Business Law Order Supreme Court of Virginia

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: Business Law Civil Procedure Discovery Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A out-of-state defendant is subject to the court’s jurisdiction, based on the numerous purchase orders (of large dollar value) that it placed with a Virginia health-care-products company. Background Plaintiff Belmora, a Virginia pharmaceutical company, is suing Defendant Midway Importing Inc. ...

Tagged with: Business Law Civil Procedure Constitutional Due Process Fifth Amendment Judge Liam O'Grady U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A company that obtained a trademark for the phrase “we buy houses” cannot enforce it, because the phrase was used extensively by industry participants to describe a class of services rather than any particular service provider. Background Plaintiff Express Homebuyers ...

Tagged with: Business Law Intellectual Property Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In arranging a site visit from a competitor, a cooking-oil refinery’s attempt to safeguard its technology via prior agreement was only partially successful. Though largely unenforceable, the agreement demonstrated the plaintiff’s desire and reasonable efforts to maintain its technology as ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

In trade-secret litigation concerning a disputed international patent for a sugar substitute, a defendant’s attempt to “join” related counter-defendants was procedurally improper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(h). Background Sugar tastes good. But it’s unhealthy. So companies and scientists ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Business Law Civil Procedure Contract Judge Norman K. Moon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District