A mother’s petition to change her minor child’s name by replacing her maiden name with the stepfather’s surname, while retaining the natural father’s surname, is approved. The change serves the child’s best interests because she is in therapy to deal ...

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

Petitioner, a convicted felon whose civil rights have been restored, will have his right to possess firearms and ammunition reinstated because he has met Code § 18.2-308.2’s “good cause shown” standard as determined by the court’s evaluation of “a non-exhaustive ...

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

A man with a clean record after his 1989 drug conviction won reinstatement of his right to purchase, possess and carry firearms, as the court found he satisfied the “good cause shown” standard by demonstrating the risk that caused him ...

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

A man who twice submitted forged documents with his court pleadings was ordered to pay $127,702 in sanctions, fees and a fine. The plaintiff in the Fairfax County case also was jailed for 10 days, the maximum for criminal contempt, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Contempt Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard

Where the Board of Zoning Appeals granted reconsideration of its original decision beyond the seven-day deadline set by its by-laws, its subsequent decision was void. Background The Board of Zoning Appeals heard the landowners’ application on June 28, 2017, and ...

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

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