After apparently consenting to adoption by an employee of the delivering hospital, a mother could not prevail on claims that the hospital, its doctors, and the employee’s attorney had tortiously interfered with her parental rights. She never alleged that these ...

Tagged with: Family Law Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Parental Rights Supreme Court of Virginia Tort

A defendant on the hook for almost $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages for conversion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, since the plaintiffs’ conversion claim was based entirely on losses covered by the parties’ contract. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Evidence Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Tort

The estate of a nursing-home patient who fell and broke her hip, allegedly due to inadequate care, was entitled to broad discovery of the facility’s patient care records, personnel files, and financial information. Background This is a negligence case brought ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Evidence Judge Douglas L. Fleming Jr. Loudoun County Circuit Court Negligence Personal Injury Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

An employer’s collective bargaining impasse rights did not override its ERISA obligations to employees hired post-impasse. The employer also didn’t plead its fraud-dependent affirmative defenses with sufficient particularity. Background Appellant Just Born II Inc. and the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Contract Judge G. Steven Agee Labor Tort

Tenants alleging black mold in their walls and mushrooms growing in their carpet weren’t confined to the rights in Code § 8.01-226.12 Background Tenants sued their landlord and a real estate management company, alleging that the apartment they rented exposed them ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Landlord/Tenant Negligence Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia Tort

A Yelp reviewer who successfully defended against defamation claims couldn’t claim attorneys’ fees under Va. Code § 8.01-223.2 because 2017 amendments weren’t retroactive, a Virginia circuit court held. Background Defendant Jeremiah Jones retained Plaintiff Will Nesbitt Realty LLC to assist him in renting a ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Business Law Civil Practice Contract Defamation Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

A defendant driver said in his deposition that he couldn’t remember key details of a car crash, but his pre-suit description of the crash to his insurance company was not entitled to work-product privilege. Background Plaintiff Angel Monterrozo was injured ...

Tagged with: Evidence Insurance Judge Joseph J. Ellis Personal Injury Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiffs seeking to have their insurance company defend and indemnify them in underlying defamation actions in Virginia state court didn’t present any “good reason” for the federal court not to exercise diversity jurisdiction to interpret their policy coverage. Background Rickey ...

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

In a negligence action following the plaintiff’s collision with an ambulance, the volunteer driver’s company was an instrumentality of the state and, thus, exempt from liability arising from its contract with Frederick County. Background Defendant Gore Volunteer Fire Company provides ...

Tagged with: Judge Michael F. Urbanski Negligence Personal Injury Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

After reports of sexual misconduct appeared in the Washington Post, a private school sued its former executive director for allegedly sharing sensitive documents with the paper, and she counterclaimed based on the circumstances of her resignation. No reasonable jury could ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Corporate Education Judge Claude M. Hilton Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District