Where a company that sells bulk food products alleged a competitor deliberately copied its product categorization system and descriptions from its website, but the defendant lacked any meaningful contacts with Virginia, the copyright infringement suit was dismissed for lack of ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a franchisor moved to dismiss a claim alleging it failed to pay royalties to its former consultant, its motion was denied because “royalties” could plausibly be ambiguous and construed against the franchisor. Background Plaintiffs sued JTH Tax LLC d/b/a ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a school principal and the school district’s HR director allegedly accused the plaintiff of embezzlement, her defamation per se claim survived the motion to dismiss. Background Pamela Smith is a former employee of Norfolk Public Schools, or NPS. Plaintiff ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a patent dispute lacked any significant connection to Virginia, and a lawsuit between the same parties over the same patents was already pending in Illinois, the suit is transferred to the Northern District of Illinois. Background On April 27, ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although a Norfolk fire captain previously, but unsuccessfully, sued the City of Norfolk for impeding his ability to apply for a battalion chief position, because that prior suit did not name the fire chief in his individual capacity, and because ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the father of a man who died in the Portsmouth city jail failed to plead facts showing that his son suffered from a “sufficiently serious” medical condition, in this case suicide ideation or self-harm, or that prison officials were ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the defendant was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, which inherently includes that he intended to commit the assault with violent force, his predicate conviction qualified as a crime of violence. Background On April 8, 2011, Dearnta Lavon ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a class of Virginia policyholders who were denied coverage for losses from businesses closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic had common and typical issues, were sufficiently numerous, and there was no conflict with the named plaintiff, a class was ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the court might have ruled differently on the parties’ dispute, the arbitrator acknowledged the applicable legal principles and applied at least some of the facts to those principles, therefore the manifest injustice standard was satisfied and the award was ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a $45 million settlement between runner peanut farmers and one sheller satisfied the requirements of Rule 23, it was approved. Background Plaintiffs are a group of peanut farmers who sell raw, harvested runner peanuts to the defendants (also known ...

Tagged with: Commercial Judge Raymond A. Jackson U.S. District Court - Eastern District