A settlement agreement allegedly procured by the defendant’s “debt negotiator” will not be enforced, and the defendant must produce responsive documents in compliance with the court’s most recent discovery order. Background Plaintiff Innotec LLC sued Defendant Visiontech Sales and its ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Business Law Civil Practice Contract Corporate Corporations Discovery Judge Glen E. Conrad U.S. District Court - Western District

A business owner suing his partner for contribution to their company’s shared debt could assert the claim even if he had not completely satisfied the debt, but he had not done so within the three-year limitations period. Background Plaintiff Timothy ...

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

A defendant on the hook for almost $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages for conversion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, since the plaintiffs’ conversion claim was based entirely on losses covered by the parties’ contract. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Evidence Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Tort

A long-term commercial lease with neither a common-law seal nor statutory seal substitutes was effectively month-to-month after a five-year term, and the trial court erred in focusing on “substance not form” to enforce the 15-year term. Background In 2000, a ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Landlord/Tenant Supreme Court of Virginia

Deciding that its prior contract interpretation had relied on a definition provided by an inapplicable article of the agreement, the court reconsidered its ruling granting partial summary judgment as to the plaintiff’s substantial breach-of-contract claim. Background In December 2007, Meritage ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Judge Michelle J. Atkins Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

An employer’s collective bargaining impasse rights did not override its ERISA obligations to employees hired post-impasse. The employer also didn’t plead its fraud-dependent affirmative defenses with sufficient particularity. Background Appellant Just Born II Inc. and the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Contract Judge G. Steven Agee Labor Tort

A Yelp reviewer who successfully defended against defamation claims couldn’t claim attorneys’ fees under Va. Code § 8.01-223.2 because 2017 amendments weren’t retroactive, a Virginia circuit court held. Background Defendant Jeremiah Jones retained Plaintiff Will Nesbitt Realty LLC to assist him in renting a ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

Despite past litigation on the parties’ agreements that ended in a nonsuit, the present litigation – though based on the same contracts – is eligible for separate nonsuit because the present claims arise out of a separate transaction or occurrence ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert J. Smith Virginia Circuit Courts

Although written documents were unclear as to whether a therapy service contract transferred to a subsequent facilities operator, the successor’s acceptance of therapy services as if the service contract applied created a contract implied-in-fact, with the same payment terms as ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

After reports of sexual misconduct appeared in the Washington Post, a private school sued its former executive director for allegedly sharing sensitive documents with the paper, and she counterclaimed based on the circumstances of her resignation. No reasonable jury could ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Corporate Education Judge Claude M. Hilton Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District