An opinion about the damage caused by the loss of marketability of real property, during and after construction of a natural gas pipeline, was unsupported by any facts or data and relied on an inaccurate measure of damages. Background Mountain ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the owner of real property that was condemned for a natural gas pipeline sold the property, and the sale documents did not assign the condemnation award, the original owner was entitled to the compensation. Background Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

The bench trial testimony of a man allegedly injured when his vehicle collided with a mail truck contained enough “misperceptions” and “exaggerations” to doom his claim. The court instead found the testimony of a postal employee consistent and credible, and ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Negligence U.S. District Court - Western District

Two people who intentionally squatted in trees in order to protest the construction of a pipeline were held in contempt, fined and ordered to pay all of the pipeline’s attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in obtaining the contempt order. Background ...

Tagged with: Commercial Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Although prior decisions applied the pleading standards in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009), and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), to affirmative defenses, the recent trend declines to do so. But, even under the less-stringent ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Although the defendants in a suit claiming breach of contract, indemnification and engineering and design malpractice argued the plaintiff’s common law indemnification claim should be dismissed, their motion was denied because they did not provide the settlement, design services and ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Volvo’s change in legal position as to whether its direct payments to union employees under a collective bargaining agreement violate the Labor Management Relations Act, or LMRA, does not give rise to a case or controversy warranting court intervention as ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Labor U.S. District Court - Western District

Nature Conservancy, the holder of a conservation easement on property that has been taken as part of a permanent easement for construction of a natural gas pipeline, will receive the majority of the payout, based on its majority ownership of ...

Tagged with: Commercial Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Real Estate U.S. District Court - Western District

A student involved in a university investigation of alleged domestic and dating violence can proceed anonymously in his civil rights suit against Virginia Tech and university employees because the suit implicates privacy interests, revealing his name could expose him or ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where alleged differences in the way a male student was treated during a domestic violence investigation could lead a reasonable fact finder to conclude that gender bias played a role, the student’s Title IX claim survived a motion to dismiss. ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District