Two Virginia circuit judges have reached opposite conclusions on whether Virginia law offers a window for “small loan companies” to charge unlimited interest rates.” In what one lender’s attorneys called a decision of far-reaching importance, a Richmond judge in January ...

Tagged with: Judge David Bernhard Judge Theodore J. Markow

An internet lender will face a suit brought by the Virginia Attorney General in Fairfax County alleging violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Background The commonwealth sued NC Financial Solutions of Utah LLC (“Net Credit”) for violations of the ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

A private school’s enrollment contract requiring parents to pay the school’s fees and costs in any litigation, regardless of which side prevails, is unenforceable, a Fairfax circuit judge held in a declaratory judgment action brought by a parent. Judge David ...

Tagged with: Contract Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard

Flint Hill School’s enrollment contract requires the parent to pay the school’s fees and costs in any litigation, irrespective of which side prevails. In advance of a suit for breach of contract against the school, a parent sought a declaratory ...

Tagged with: Contract Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

If facts could be gleaned from the existing record, a father seeking to modify support obligations wasn’t necessarily required to put on evidence of his children’s current needs, since the Child Support Guidelines include a rebuttable presumption of such needs. ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Evidence Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

A husband facing a possible overdue support obligation of up to $238,000 can breathe a little easier with a judge’s ruling that his long-term reconciliation with his wife invalidated her claim for the support arrearage. The husband’s return to the ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard

As momentum grows to curtail the use of cash bonds for accused criminal defendants, some prosecutors and bail bond purveyors are pushing back. A national discussion is underway as lawyers, prosecutors and judges challenge the assumption that the best way ...

Tagged with: Judge David Bernhard

Despite a support order entered in 2004, a husband didn’t owe arrearages dating to 2006. He’d stopped paying when the couple reconciled, resumed living together as husband and wife, and had two more children supported solely by the husband’s income. ...

Tagged with: Contract Domestic Relations Fairfax County Circuit Court Family Law Judge David Bernhard Virginia Circuit Courts

Applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Collins v. Virginia, a warrantless arrest in an area of the suspect’s driveway beyond the walkway to the front door was within the home’s curtilage and, thus, improper under the Fourth Amendment. ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard Search & Seizure

As seasoned attorneys know, the lofty principles that attract aspiring lawyers can quickly be overshadowed by client emergencies, Sisyphean scheduling conundrums, unreasonable opposing counsel, billing targets, intrafirm politics, and understaffed courts. But from time to time, our esteemed judges take ...

Tagged with: Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen Judge David Bernhard Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Judge Glen E. Conrad Judge Robert G. Doumar Judge Roger L. Gregory Justice D. Arthur Kelsey