Insights & News

Many employment contracts contain restrictive covenants designed to govern what a person may – or, most often, may not – do after they leave a company. Traditionally these non-compete restrictions were used mostly with senior executives, sales people who possessed account lists, and key individuals with access to confidential trade secrets and proprietary designs or processes. But as companies widen the use of these restriction-laden employment agreements to include middle managers and even office or manufacturing staff who possess no truly confidential information, courts in various jurisdictions have wither modified such clauses or thrown them out entirely. In some states […]

There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to hire an expert witness for your case. Before deciding whether you should hire an expert, you first must determine if you can hire one. Virginia case law limits the type of expert testimony that can be used as evidence at trial. You should consult an attorney for advice that is specific to your particular case, but here are five things that are important to know before hiring an expert witness: The subject matter to which an expert can testify is limited. Experts may only testify to information about which “a […]

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is able to keep cases moving quickly enough that it is known as the Rocket Docket and has the fastest average filing to trial time of all federal courts in the nation partly because of its motions practice guidelines. The rules for motions differs between the various divisions, but they all generally allow for motions to be heard and decided quickly. This is especially true in the Alexandria Division, which operates on a motions day system, and allows the parties to immediately know when their motions will be heard. The […]