Category Archives: Court Case
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Court Strikes Down Federal Law Banning Sports Betting
In a 7-2 opinion by Justice Alito, the Court reversed the Third Circuit and held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was unconstitutional for violating the “anticommandeering rule” inherent in the Tenth Amendment, as it impermissibly sought to regulate state regulation of sports betting. The Act in question forbid states from authorizing betting schemes based on competitive sporting ... Read More
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Sixth Amendment Permits Defendant To Insist On Not Conceding Guilt For First-Degree Murder
Robert McCoy was charged with first-degree murder for killing his estranged wife’s mother, stepfather, and son. The evidence was damning, but McCoy insisted that he was innocent. His attorney at trial, Larry English, decided that the best strategy in the face of the evidence was to admit to the jury that McCoy committed the murders, but argue that his mental ... Read More
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Court Strikes Portion Of Immigration and Naturalization Act as Void for Vagueness
In one of Justice Scalia’s last majority opinions before his death, the Court held that part of a federal law defining “violent crime” was unconstitutionally void for vagueness in Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. --- (2015). The Immigration and Nationality Act similarly provided that a person could be deported for committing an “aggravated felony,” which included a “crime of ... Read More
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Court Awards Qualified Immunity To Officer Who Shot Woman Claiming Excessive Force
In Kisela v. Hughes, officers reporting to a call of a woman acting erratically with a large knife discovered Ms. Hughes emerging from her house with a knife in her hand, heading toward another woman, Ms. Chadwick, who it turned out was Hughes’ roommate. Hughes stopped six feet from Chadwick, and the officers drew their firearms and told Hughes ... Read More
TAGGED: scotus, qualified immunity, Excessive Force, Kisela v. Hughes
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Service Advisors Are Exempt From Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime-Pay Requirement
The Fair Labor Standards Act exempted “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles” from overtime-pay requirements under the Act. In Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, a group of service advisors sued for overtime pay under the Act when the Department of Labor decided in 2011 that they were excluded from the exemption. The Court ... Read More
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Under TOPA, a Bona Fide Offer Cannot Be Based on Future Market Value
On September 22, 2016, in Parcel One Phase One Assoc.., LLP v. Museum Square Tenants Ass’n., Inc., No. 15-CV-609, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the tenants’ association that Parcel One’s offer of sale was not a ... Read More
D.C. Court of Appeals: TOPA Extensions Must Be Defined To Preserve Tenant Rights
In an important new ruling construing the Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act (“TOPA”), the D.C. Court of Appeals held on September 23, 2015, that extensions of the deadlines for a seller and a tenant association to negotiate a sales contract must be express and contain a definite end-date to ... Read More
Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Role of Juries in Title Insurance Bad Faith Claims
In a new opinion that merits review by anyone who underwrites title or defends title insurers in Virginia, a 6-1 majority of the Virginia Supreme Court held that Virginia Code sec. 38.2-209 requires that judges, not juries, make the determination of whether an insurer has acted in bad faith under ... Read More
Conservation Lawsuit Revived—Whether Act Is Inconsistent With Another Law Does Not Deprive Court Of Jurisdiction
The Fourth Circuit again reversed dismissals under Rule 12(b) in Goldfarb v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, in a case regarding contamination claims brought under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 USC sec. 6901, et seq. The City of Baltimore gave a parcel of land near the Patapsco River, formerly used for ... Read More
U.S. Supreme Court: Same-Sex Marriage Is a Right
[caption id="attachment_315" align="alignright" width="150"] Photo Credit: US Rep. Mark Pocan Twitter[/caption] Coincidentally timed on the anniversary of the decisions in Lawrence v. Texas and U.S. v. Windsor, two prior gay-rights cases, Justice Kennedy announced the majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the five-person majority held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all ... Read More
TAGGED: Supreme Court, gay marriage, marriage equality
Maryland Court of Appeals: Breeding v. Koste
The Maryland Court of Appeals held in Breeding v. Koste that the “woodlands exception” applied in cases involving prescriptive easements also applies to adverse possession where the land at issue is unimproved or otherwise in a general state of nature. The exception holds that in such circumstances, there is a legal presumption that the claimant’s use is by ... Read More
MD Court of Special Appeals: Greentree Series V, Inc. v. Hofmeister
In a matter of first impression, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals held in Greentree Series V, Inc. v. Hofmeister that the word “or” in Md. Rule 14-305(g) was to be read literally to give a trial court an either/or option, thus precluding the trial court from granting both options in relief. The Rule in question states that when a ... Read More
MD Court of Special Appeals Holds that Actions Filed During Bankruptcy Stay are Void
Case Kochhar v. Bansal, ____A.3d ______; 2015 WL 848166 (Md. Spec. App. February 27, 2015) --In a case of first impression in Maryland, the Court of Special Appeals recently held that an action filed during a bankruptcy stay is void ab initio, not voidable. During ... Read More
DC: Defect in notice of foreclosure did not create substantial risk of misleading record owner
In Dennis T. Comer v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, No. 13-CV-1025 (D.C. Jan. 29, 2015), the D.C. Court of Appeals was called upon to review whether the trial court had properly dismissed counts of an amended complaint in connection with a wrongful disclosure In 2008, Mr. Comer was approved for ... Read More
DC: Filing a lis pendens may expose filer to claim if the underlying lawsuit was filed in bad faith
In Havilah Real Property Services, LLC v. VLK, LLC, et al., the D.C Court of Appeals recently addressed the merits of litigation and the privilege associated with the recordation of lis pendens in a lengthy dispute between Havilah and VLK that was directly related to a personal dispute between ... Read More
MD: Fed Tax Lien subordinate to Mortgage Filed Thereafter
A debtor owed federal taxes and the IRS issued a notice and demand for payment in December, 2004. Even though IRS had not yet recorded its tax lien, the effect of the notice was to give IRS a super-priority lien on all the debtor's property upon issuance of the notice and ... Read More
VA Supreme Court Opinion: DRHI, Inc. v. Hanback
In DRHI, Inc. v. Hanback, The Virginia Supreme Court considered appeals in a property development dispute. The Court heard this case because it was not immediately apparent from the petitions for appeal whether this case involved a monetary judgment, a civil contempt fine, or both, in the interests of ... Read More
VA: General Contractor Necessary Party for Mechanic’s Lien
In an action to enforce a mechanic's lien filed by a subcontractor, the circuit court erred in concluding that a general contractor, which served as construction manager for the project but had no pecuniary interest in the bond posted to release the real estate subject to a subcontractor's ... Read More
TAGGED: mechanic's lien
DC: L&T Insufficiency of Service of Process and Insufficient Intent to Occupy to Terminate Leasehold
Landlord’s claim to occupy premises for “immediate” use fails because the intent to occupy is in the future and claim of “occupancy” also fails because Landlord only intends to occupy the property sporadically, which falls short of constituting “occupancy”. Service upon a spouse in a residence without further inquiry by process server does not constitute service upon the defendant ... Read More
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