Overruling general objections and citing a defendant’s ‘strained and untenable’ view of a jurisdiction issue, a federal judge ordered expansive discovery for a pair of would-be class action plaintiffs seeking penalties for alleged background check violations. The judge’s opinion will ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a jury previously found a window and door manufacturer was required to adjust prices downward when its costs decreased, but it continued charging the same prices after the jury’s verdict, the plaintiff was awarded $7,083,013 in damages for the ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a chapter of the NAACP sued Hanover County and its School Board claiming the alleged veneration of the Confederacy in schools deprives African American students of an equal opportunity to an education, Hanover County was dismissed as a defendant ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where buyers agreed to an Indiana forum-selection clause when they purchased a new recreational vehicle, and the manufacturer was unable to repair several defects, they were granted a hearing to demonstrate that the clause should not be enforced because it ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the plaintiff was arrested after a confrontation in a Longwood University dormitory as a result of an allegedly misleading affidavit submitted by a university police officer, a jury will decide if the officer made material misrepresentations or omissions in ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the record showed a non-lawyer advocate made several false statements while assisting parents who claimed a school board did not provide services for their autistic son, the advocate was fined and prohibited from participating in federal cases involving similar ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Sanctions U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond federal judge has lamented a “cottage industry” of unregulated and unlicensed advocates allowed to represent parents in legal battles with school systems over special education services. Sanctioning a Richmond advocate for false statements in court, U.S. District Judge ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Lay Advocates

Where policyholders alleged their life insurer provided only “half-truths” in order to persuade the plaintiffs to keep their policies, when they would not have done so otherwise, the court denied the insurer’s motion to dismiss the fraud and unfair trade ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the police did not impermissibly extend their interaction with the defendant who consented to the search of his vehicle, and the evidence of a firearm and drugs would inevitably have been discovered by police, the defendant’s motion to suppress ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The court explained that the disbarred attorney’s use of the term “JD,” and the related reference to “SLC Associates” as a firm, could be construed as practicing law without a license. Background This case is an appeal of a due ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Sanctions U.S. District Court - Eastern District