A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that attorney and real estate investor, David S. Band, will stand trial a second time to decide if damages are owed to a fellow investor in the St. John Grande Bay condominium complex. Judge Charles E. Roberts’ order means that Band — who was exonerated in early May of defrauding investors in the soured Grande Bay deal — will face another jury as early as the end of the year. If that jury decides that Band does owe investor Harold Libby money, the award could top $1 million.Continue Reading St. John Grand Bay Investor Seeks Damages in Florida Court

It appears that Google is bringing its fearsome powers of information organization to the legal world:

Traditional lawyers may not like it, but venture capitalists are pouring money into one of the last industries to resist commoditization on the Web. Google Ventures today announced it is part of a group that infused $18.5 million into Rocket Lawyer, which bills itself as the “fastest growing online legal service.”

. . . . Rocket Lawyer provides online legal forms, from wills to Delaware certificates of incorporation, that non-lawyers can fill out and store and share on the Web. For $19.95 a month, consumers can also have their documents reviewed by a real lawyer and even get legal advice at no additional cost.
 Continue Reading I, For One, Welcome Our New Google Overlords.

The St. Croix Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands recently clarified whether a foreclosed property’s fair market value (as opposed to the price that is brings at a foreclosure sale) can serve as the basis from which a deficiency judgment is calculated. This is an important question, as it addresses an apparent conflict between the local judgment statutes and the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of Property on Mortgages, which has the force of law in the Virgin Islands. Most important, it emphasizes that, under current law, foreclosed defendants cannot invoke the fair market value of their property to avoid or lessen their post-judgment obligations.Continue Reading “‘Fair Market Value’ of No Value When It Comes To Foreclosure Deficiency Judgments”

A recent opinion by the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands addresses the constitutionality of the Virgin Islands aggravated assault statute. But far from wading into a scrum of technical constitutional analysis, the Appellate Court takes the Virgin Islands government to task for failing to muster any evidence on the statute’s behalf.Continue Reading Virgin Islands Aggravated Assault Statute Unconstitutional? Or Just Inadequately Defended

In the life of every litigator, there are days where your pleadings go unchallenged, your motions are granted with the compliments of the court on your fiercely cogent reasoning, and opposing counsel meekly avert their eyes when you enter the room.Continue Reading Don’t Mess With Texas (Judges)

Recent news out of New Jersey announces that the state’s appellate court overturned a lower court’s entry of a foreclosure judgment in favor of Deutsche Bank. Apparently, Deustche Bank attempted to foreclose on a borrower without being able to prove that it had possession of the original promissory note at the time that it brought its foreclosure action. As a result of the bank’s oversight, the appellate court ruled that the bank will have to restart the entire foreclosure process from scratch:Continue Reading Borrower Wins Skirmish, But May Lose the Foreclosure War

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals this past week became the highest court in the nation to draw a clear line establishing what school districts are legally permitted to do to control student expression on the Internet.  The Court with jurisdiction over the U.S. Virgin Islands sided with public school students stating that they cannot be punished for off-campus speech that fails to cause a substantial disruption to in-school activities,.

In the majority opinions for Layshcock v. Hermitage School District and J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District — two simultaneous opinions filed by the entire Third Circuit in Pennsylvania — the judges held that administrators are limited in their ability to restrict student speech that occurs outside of school.Continue Reading Third Circuit Sides with Students Right to Online Speech

Many tourists and local Virgin Islanders have enjoyed a Painkiller cocktail over the years, particulary visitors to the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, where the tropical concoction is made with the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Cruzan Rum.   

A New York Bar known as the Painkiller, thought to capitalize on the popularity of the drink when it opened on the Lower East Side of Manhattan over a year ago. But the bar’s legal reign as Painkiller has come to a painful end. Due to a federal law suit brought by Pusser’s Rum Ltd., the bar will now have to go under the moniker PKNY.

Pusser’s has also demanded that Painkiller turn over its website address and stop selling the rum cocktail know as Painkiller (which, according to Pusser’s, has to be made with their rum).
 Continue Reading Pusser’s VI Rum Wins Trademark Battle on “Painkiller”