Sanctions: Court places recalcitrant party in receivership
Where three corporate defendants repeatedly failed to respond to post-judgment discovery regarding its financial operations, even after the appointment of a special master, they were placed in...
View ArticleSanctions: Sanctions levied for failing to abide by court order
Where defendants willfully violated a prior discovery, they must reimburse plaintiffs’ reasonable expenses. Although the record could support a finding of civil contempt, the magistrate judge did not...
View ArticleSanctions: Counsel must explain ‘purportedly false references’ in court filing
Where a party’s brief included multiple cases and quotations that the court could not find, and which may have been the result of “ChatGPT run amok,” its counsel must show […]
View ArticleSanctions: Employer responsible for attorneys’ fees following meritless argument
Where a company’s argument was barred by res judicata, the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney’s fees. And because the company’s appeal to this […]
View ArticleSanctions: Trial court judge improperly testified in contempt proceeding
Where a circuit court judge testified in during a contempt proceeding, but the Virginia Code states “[n]o judge shall be competent to testify in any criminal or civil proceeding as […]
View ArticleSanctions: Summary contempt conviction is vacated
Where a man’s conduct did not occur “in” or “so near” the trial court’s presence, it did not meet the statutory and constitutional requirements for summary contempt. As such, the […]
View ArticleSanctions: Contempt finding against couple is vacated
Where the trial court entered orders that permanently enjoined a couple “from making false and defamatory statements about [the plaintiff] and his business interests to third parties,” a subsequent...
View ArticleSanctions: Defendant sanctioned for violating protective order
Where one of the defendants knowingly violated the court’s protective order, he must pay the reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the plaintiffs in connection with their sanctions motion. Background...
View ArticleSanctions: Attorney suspended for ‘scurrilous statements’ about judge
Where an attorney made many scurrilous statements impugning the integrity of a judge, he was suspended from the practice of law for nine months. A lawyer is not privileged to […]
View ArticleSanctions: Court admonishes attorney for ‘dubious arguments’
Where an opening brief almost entirely failed to grapple with the grounds the district court relied on to dismiss the claims, and regurgitated an argument this court previously rejected in […]
View ArticleSanctions: Law firm sanctioned more than $1 million
Where a law firm engaged in bad faith misconduct, including repeated defiance of court orders, frivolous motions and last-minute document dumps, the trial court’s $1 million plus sanction was affirmed....
View ArticleSanctions: Company sanctioned for failing to preserve accident video
Where a grocery store failed to preserve video allegedly showing a store employee hitting a customer’s shopping cart with a pallet jack, and the customer was prejudiced by the destruction, […]
View ArticleSanctions: Man sanctioned for his perjury, lies and submission of fabricated...
Where the court previously sanctioned a man who committed perjury, lied to the court and submitted fabricated evidence, but the Virginia Corporate Crimes Act, or VCCA, subsection at issue does […]
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