Where the Russian-based operator of two websites that provide “stream ripping” of commercial sound recordings had US -based lawyers, more than 1.5 million web visitors from Virginia, collected visitors’ personal information and Virginia had a strong interest in not becoming ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Claude M. Hilton U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the former city attorney failed to show that a news story about his termination by the city council and the restrictions it put on his entry to City Hall was published with actual malice, the television station prevailed on ...

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

Although a photographer argued he had standing to challenge the Virginia Values Act because he cannot publish his beliefs about same-sex unions on his website or in his editorial policy without risking a civil fine, this argument was rejected because ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Claude M. Hilton U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a lawyer settled unfair debt collection claims in 2010 and plaintiffs assert he has yet to pay the amount he was ordered to pay, his effort to vacate that settlement failed because his Rule 60(b)(1) motion was untimely, his ...

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

Where the competitor of a company that develops surgical implant devices agreed, in a prior licensing agreement, to not challenge the validity of certain of the implant maker’s patents, that promise extended to a subsidiary later acquired by the competitor. ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Mark S. Davis U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A law firm that sought attorneys’ fees before they came due under a homebuyer’s promissory note now faces discovery in an action under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The count against the firm is the only claim to ...

Tagged with: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where defendants who provided a loan for the purchase of real property allegedly demanded attorneys’ fees before they became due under the promissory note, the plaintiff alleged a plausible claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, or FDCPA. Background ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The employer was denied summary judgment on the ADA retaliation claim because the Fourth Circuit has not resolved whether placing an employee on a performance improvement plan, or PIP, after they engaged in protected conduct, could be an adverse employment ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the plaintiff moved to add Rehabilitation Act and Title VII claims to her second amended complaint through “joinder,” the motion was denied because a party cannot engraft claims on a complaint except through an amended pleading. Background Shawn Gonzalez ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge M. Hannah Lauck U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where Virginia does not extend comity to a foreign divorce if neither spouse was domiciled in the foreign country at the time of the divorce, a Ghanaian divorce was not recognized because neither party was in Ghana at the time. ...

Tagged with: Immigration Judge Liam O'Grady U.S. District Court - Eastern District