Virginia

George Mason, Law Dean Win Bench Dismissal of Rotunda Sex-Harass Suit

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge in Virginia has dismissed all claims against George Mason University and its law school dean in a high-profile sexual harassment suit. Brought by Kyndra Rotunda, who is a former director of a law school legal clinic for members of the military and the…

May 24, 2010 6:39 PM CDT

2 Weeks from JD, Law Student Notches 4th Circuit Appellate Win

Dean Razavi hasn’t yet received his juris doctor degree, let alone started practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman. But the soon-to-be graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law has already scored his first major litigation victory, winning an ineffective assistance of counsel case in which he made the oral…

May 5, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

Class Action Suits Are Filed Over Gulf Oil Spill; Leak Could Be Gushing 25K Barrels Daily

Updated: Two commercial shrimpers have filed a federal lawsuit in Louisiana against the owner and operator of a oil rig that exploded and sank last week in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a massive oil leak, and similar actions are being filed in federal court in other states, too.…

Apr 30, 2010 5:33 PM CDT

After ‘Affront to Justice’ Testimony, Ex-SEC Lawyer Gets 8 Years in ‘Pump & Dump’

Calling a former Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney’s testimony an “affront to justice” and “one of the biggest pack of lies I’ve ever heard,” a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., today sentenced Phillip Offill Jr. to eight years in prison. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady said he would have…

Apr 23, 2010 11:58 PM CDT

Default Judgments Can Allow Creditors to Collect Debt That Was Never Owed

When a deluge of phone calls and letters began insisting that Nancy Taylor owed nearly $2,000 on a Sears account, the San Jose, Calif., resident fought to protect her excellent credit rating, responding to each letter explaining that she had had no such account. But even though Sears confirmed that…

Apr 23, 2010 5:53 PM CDT

Suit Against Williams Mullen Is Resolved; Case Manager Had Alleged Cucumber Prank

A bias lawsuit filed by a former case manager against the Richmond, Va.-based Williams Mullen law firm has been dismissed. A lawyer who represented Williams Mullen, Hunter Sims Jr., told Above the Law that “the matter was resolved by mutual agreement of the parties.” The sexual harassment and discrimination suit…

Apr 20, 2010 12:49 PM CDT

Man Convicted of Being Naked at Home Wins Appeal of Indecent Exposure Case

Late last year, a judge convicted Erick Williamson of misdemeanor indecent exposure after two women complained that they had seen him standing naked in a window or doorway of his Virginia home. But, arguing that he had a right to walk around in the buff in his own home, the…

Apr 7, 2010 10:53 PM CDT

Just Say Om

Yoga instructors are more likely to conjure up the image of a free spirit than that of a bureaucrat. But as the ancient Indian discipline continues to grow in popularity, many states are cracking down on yoga instructors.

Apr 1, 2010 8:50 AM CDT

Wielding Sealed TRO, Microsoft Shuts Down 270+ Web Addresses in Ex Parte Botnet Battle

In a litigation tactic that reportedly has never been tried before to combat a global malicious software attack, Microsoft Corp. won a sealed temporary restraining order in an ex parte “John Doe” federal court action in Virginia this week. It allowed the company to shut down, without prior notice to…

Feb 25, 2010 9:47 PM CST

Attorney in Federal Wire Fraud Case Allegedly Didn’t ID Buyers at Closings

A Virginia attorney has been federally charged with wire fraud after allegedly failing to disclose to lenders at real estate closings that third parties were involved in four home sales in 2006. Court papers made public today in U.S. District Court in Norfolk contend that mortgage lenders lost over $200,000…

Feb 24, 2010 9:37 PM CST

Ex-SEC Lawyer Convicted in ‘Pump and Dump’ Scheme

A former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer was taken into custody after a Virginia jury convicted him Thursday in a “pump and dump” stock scheme. Prosecutors had claimed the lawyer, Phillip Offill Jr., conspired with 10 other men to tout the stocks of small companies and then sell them for…

Jan 29, 2010 1:43 PM CST

Salahis Face So Many Suits that Court Clerks Recognized their Name

Before Tareq and Michaele Salahi gained fame for making their way into a White House party, they were well known in courthouses in Virginia and Maryland. In those states, more than 30 suits have been filed since 2004 against the couple or a company they ran, the Washington Post reports.…

Dec 23, 2009 1:38 PM CST

Convicted for Being Naked in Own Home, Man Complains of ‘Living in a Fishbowl’

Convicted today by a Virginia judge of indecent exposure for walking around naked in his own home without drawing the blinds, Erick Williamson didn’t get any jail time. But the 29-year-old commercial diver still plans to appeal, even though his sentence included no jail time and no fine. It is…

Dec 19, 2009 1:21 AM CST

Bias Complaint Against Williams Mullen Alleges Cucumber Prank

A former case manager for the Richmond, Va.-based Williams Mullen law firm has filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint that claims she was subjected to derogatory remarks and a prank involving a cucumber. The 18-year employee, Hanh Nguyen Allgood, seeks $950,000 in the federal suit filed in Norfolk, Va.,…

Nov 12, 2009 3:30 PM CST

Home Alone, Naked Man Didn’t Draw Blinds, Faces Indecent Exposure Rap

Corrected: Accounts differ of exactly what happened that led to the arrest of a 29-year-old Virginia man for indecent exposure while he was alone in his own home. But whether Eric Williamson never knew he’d been seen naked, as he claims, or, as a 45-year-old woman passing by says, was…

Oct 26, 2009 9:45 PM CDT