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 Henry F. Floyd Judge Jackson L. Kiser Judge Randolph A. Beales Judge Robert J. Humphreys Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A plaintiff who persistently overwhelmed the court with meritless filings was sanctioned under Rule 11 and banned from filing in the Western District for two years. The court also ruled that violations could incur further sanctions of $300 each. Background ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Civil Procedure Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

Although written documents were unclear as to whether a therapy service contract transferred to a subsequent facilities operator, the successor’s acceptance of therapy services as if the service contract applied created a contract implied-in-fact, with the same payment terms as ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

Inmates file lawsuits all the time, sometimes attacking their convictions, sometimes complaining about prison conditions. Some are pretty good jailhouse lawyers. But a Virginia federal judge expressed surprise this month when he realized that the inmate plaintiff in a civil ...

Tagged with: Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiff Joseph Fleming is an inmate at the River North Correctional Center. He is not able to support his body weight or walk unassisted because of a “slipped spine” and pinched nerve. He can stand with assistance, but only with ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

A Danville U.S. District Court grants relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to a petitioner whose sentence on a firearm conviction was enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act’s residual clause for prior North Carolina convictions of common law robbery, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiff dentist who, under a contract with defendant Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, allegedly was treating 75 percent of eligible Medicaid patients in the Roanoke Valley, has not stated any antitrust claims against DMAS or additional dentists for dental ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiffs who allege they were tenants of the purchasers of their home at foreclosure, under an oral agreement for additional time to relocate in exchange for allowing the buyers to inspect the property prior to plaintiffs’ relocation, may sue the ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

In this False Claims Act suit alleging the Duke University defendants knowingly falsified medical research data in order to obtain federal grants from various agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health, the Danville U.S. District ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

A Wal-Mart store wins summary judgment in a plaintiff’s suit alleging she was injured when she, while wearing rubber flip-flops, entered the store and began pushing a shopping cart, and her “feet went out from under” her and she slipped ...

Tagged with: Judge Jackson L. Kiser Negligence U.S. District Court - Western District