Where the judge’s comments about the defendant were in direct response to the defendant’s conduct, they did not reflect a wrongful or inappropriate prejudice. Background Walter Graves is charged in a one-count indictment with a bank robbery that occurred on ...

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

Defendants sued by Dinwiddie County for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic will have to litigate in the Circuit Court of Dinwiddie County after the federal court held it lacked jurisdiction over the removed case. Background Dinwiddie County filed ...

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

A modest recovery in a wide-ranging gender discrimination suit against the Richmond-based law firm of LeClairRyan became even more modest last month when a federal judge nixed a $135,630.30 fee enhancement for the plaintiff’s lawyers. U.S. District Judge Robert E. ...

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

An arbitration panel’s enhancement of an attorneys’ fees award above the amount calculated by multiplying the reasonable number of hours expended on the case by a reasonably hourly rate was vacated because the panel failed to explain why the base ...

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

Where a mortgagee had an undisputed outstanding principal balance of $60,000, his tender of a $890 money order with the words “tendered as full satisfaction of the claim” inscribed in tiny, nearly indecipherable handwriting at the bottom and the mortgage ...

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

A defendant lost his motion to dismiss an illegal re-entry indictment claiming that a prior notice to appear was deficient. The ruling is in accord with numerous district court decisions holding that compliance with immigration regulations is sufficient under the ...

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

Where a party’s motion for sanctions against a non-party was denied, the non-party was not entitled to sanctions against the moving party because the original sanctions motion was not filed in bad faith or intended to multiply the proceedings in ...

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

A stepson claiming his stepmother tortiously interfered with contracts between him and his father can proceed with his suit in Virginia. Though the stepson failed to establish that his stepmother, who lives in Florida, is essentially at home in Virginia, ...

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

A suit alleging an online publication defamed the plaintiff is headed to New York federal court because the defendants and the relevant witnesses reside there and the plaintiff is not located in Virginia. Background David Seaman filed this action against ...

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

A former physician’s claims against various state officials, alleging various procedural and legal flaws in the suspension of his medical license, were dismissed by a court because the claims were either filed too late or barred by immunity. Background In ...

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