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

The case was ordered to arbitration because, although the warranty company selected the arbitration service, there was no evidence the rules and processes would be one-sided, unfair or biased against the homeowners. In addition, the homeowners only speculated the arbitration ...

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

In a trial over damages for land taken for an easement required for construction of a natural gas pipeline, the landowners’ expert may testify about the high demand for residential subdivisions, but cannot testify about the stigma attached to pipelines, ...

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

A federal judge has vacated an opinion on the handling of expert witnesses after the parties settled and together requested the opinion be removed from the record. The judge had excluded experts on both sides of a property valuation dispute ...

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

A Chapter 7 discharge is no impediment to a bank’s pursuing an action against the owner of real property because the bankruptcy did not void the deed of trust. Background In 2010, Dale Gene Hall and Rebecca Lind Thompson-Hall purchased ...

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