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 David A. Oblon Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. Judge John A. Gibney Jr. Judge Norman K. Moon Judge Robert E. Payne Judge Roger L. Gregory Judge William G. Petty

In arranging a site visit from a competitor, a cooking-oil refinery’s attempt to safeguard its technology via prior agreement was only partially successful. Though largely unenforceable, the agreement demonstrated the plaintiff’s desire and reasonable efforts to maintain its technology as ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Tipped employees at Macado’s stated a claim for unpaid wages related to untipped “side work” they were required to do. Rather than alleging a specific amount of time they spent on side tasks, it was sufficient to allege they spent ...

Tagged with: Administrative Employment Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District Wage & Hour

In trade-secret litigation concerning a disputed international patent for a sugar substitute, a defendant’s attempt to “join” related counter-defendants was procedurally improper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(h). Background Sugar tastes good. But it’s unhealthy. So companies and scientists ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Business Law Civil Procedure Contract Judge Norman K. Moon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

A former federal prosecutor is named along with a deputy sheriff in a $10.5 million civil rights lawsuit filed by a one-time drug defendant who claims he lost nearly three and a half years serving time on a trumped-up conspiracy ...

Tagged with: Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

In 1871, Congress passed a law “directed at the organized terrorism in the Reconstruction South,” now codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1985. Over 140 years later, the Ku Klux Klan, various neo-Nazi organizations, and associated white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville. ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Federal Jurisdiction First Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon Second Amendment Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

Genuine factual disputes remained as to whether a former university contract employee suffered pay discrimination. A male comparator with essentially equal duties received a significantly greater starting salary. Background In the fall of 2012, University of Virginia President Sullivan developed ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A county’s former Director of Tourism presented genuine factual disputes as to whether he was fired in retaliation for his past vote to censure members of the county board of supervisors who voted to raise taxes. Background At a Bedford ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Due Process Employment Employment Discrimination First Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon Municipal U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville counter-protester who claimed law enforcement stood by and watched white nationalist protesters assault him and others had no constitutional right to have officers intervene in the third-party misconduct. Background In response to Charlottesville’s renaming of Lee Park, Jason ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Equal Protection Fourteenth Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A pipeline construction company had no legal right to use an access road on the defendants’ property, and therefore the company did not “possess” the land so as to require just compensation to the owner. Background This matter is before ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Judge Norman K. Moon Real Property U.S. District Court - Western District