Where the divorcing parties each seek attorneys’ fees from the other, the court provides the guidelines and considerations it uses to determine whether to shift attorneys’ fees and whether a fee request is reasonable. Discussion “[T]here is little authority to ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

While outlining a five-factor framework for domestic relations fee shifting, a Fairfax County judge nonetheless decided this month that the factors weighed against any fee award in a high-profile divorce case. Judge David A. Oblon found a gap in legal ...

Tagged with: Divorce Fairfax County Judge David A. Oblon

Plaintiff employer cannot recoup compensation paid to defendant employee while he allegedly concealed job-related wrongdoing. This letter opinion is issued to explain why it differs from an opposite conclusion another judge of this court reached in a related case. Overview ...

Tagged with: Employment Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

A power of attorney agent may not maintain a divorce action on behalf of the principal. The Uniform Power of Attorney Act expressly grants guardians the power to change a ward’s marital status. Overview The parties married in 1993. They ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

The court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to grant either party a divorce because both held a G-4 nonimmigrant visa, which does not indicate “an intent to indefinitely be a resident and domiciliary of Virginia subject to divorce jurisdiction. Competing complaints ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

After receiving notice to remove a truck from their property, defendant provided insufficient evidence that he successfully converted the truck from an impermissible commercial vehicle into a permissible recreational vehicle. As a result, an injunction will issue compelling defendant to ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Real Property Virginia Circuit Courts

Where plaintiff filed an errata sheet with 72 changes following her deposition, defendants are entitled to a limited deposition to “probe changes in her testimony.” Background Lohman, representing her mother’s estate, sued doctors and medical entities for medical malpractice. Lohman ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon

Where the parties’ antenuptial agreement is ambiguous, the court determines, after considering extrinsic evidence, that the agreement is best understood as barring equitable distribution of the parties’ separate property brought into, and acquired during, the marriage. This includes any gain ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiff, a solicitor in the United Kingdom and a California resident, has not demonstrated how this court can assert personal jurisdiction over his defamation claim against the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper, arising from matters occurring in the UK involving ...

Tagged with: Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

Where the parties in this medical malpractice case, a minor, his mother and several defendants, made a pretrial settlement of plaintiffs’ claims, the court will not seal the settlement terms. Although the wrongful death statute requires settlement terms to be ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts