Uhlig LLC v. Shirley The misappropriated trade secrets at issue are customer preferences and pricing that plaintiff acquired when it bought defendant Shirley’s former employer four years ago. Where a jury awarded plaintiff damages for defendants’ misappropriation of those trade secrets, plaintiff is not entitled to a permanent injunction which would bar defendants from soliciting or providing services to the customers on the list.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Damages Intellectual Property

Keeter v. Alpine Towers Even though plaintiff alleged that defendant committed several torts, plaintiff only sought one remedy: damages resulting from his broken back. The trial court should not have required plaintiff to make an election among the jury’s verdicts.

Tagged with: Damages Tort/Negligence

Solley v. Navy Federal Credit Union, Inc. Where the defendant-bank’s slander of plaintiff’s title - recording a mortgage based on a loan made solely to plaintiff’s ex-boyfriend - compelled plaintiff to hire a lawyer and litigate the matter, then plaintiff’s damages include her attorney’s fees. We affirm the special referee’s decision in part, but we reverse his exclusion of plaintiff’s attorney’s fees from the calculation of her damages. Since we remand for a recalculation of actual damages, we also remand for a recalculation of punitive damages.

Tagged with: Attorney’s Fees Damages Punitive Damages Real Property Tort/Negligence

Babaee v. Moisture Warranty Corp. Defendant’s brochure said, “We know what steps to take to assure homeowners that their home is dry, and we guarantee their home will remain dry during the term of the warranty ... or we’ll pay to get it dry.” Defendant’s warranty defined “excessive moisture” as any moisture reading equal to or above 25 percent.

Tagged with: Contract Damages Real Property Unfair Trade Practices

Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. v. Bernstein According to the plaintiff-title insurer, the defendant-attorney negligently failed to have a prior $200,000 mortgage cancelled or released as part of a real estate closing; later, the bank foreclosed, and the title insurer had to pay $200,000 to satisfy the prior mortgage. Although the foreclosing bank still has the mortgaged properties and could sell them, the attorney has failed to show that the title insurer has not incurred enough damages to allow this court to exercise diversity jurisdiction.

Tagged with: Attorneys Civil Practice Damages Federal Jurisdiction Legal Malpractice Claim Real Property title insurance

F.C. Wheat Maritime Corp. v. U.S. When the captain of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel fell asleep at the wheel and struck plaintiff’s 70-foot yacht, the Marquessa, docked at the pier at Ocean Marine marina in Portsmouth, the yacht was a constructive total loss based on two of three opinions in this battle of the experts, and the 4th Circuit affirms a $440,000 damage award for the fair market value of the ship at the time of loss.

Tagged with: Admiralty Damages

RS Services of North America, LLC v. Boyles Moak Brickell Marchetti Insurance, Inc. While the plaintiff-customer did not take the defendant-insurance agency’s advice every time, the customer presented sufficient evidence of the parties’ course of dealing to prove the agency had a fiduciary duty to the customer. The parties’ post-trial motions are denied. Three questions are certified to the S.C. Supreme Court.

Tagged with: Breach of Fiduciary Duty Damages Tort/Negligence

Wilder v. Blue Ribbon Taxicab Corp. Where (1) more than a year elapsed between the time defendant was served with the summons and complaint and when it moved for relief from entry of default, (2) defendant acknowledged that it had no meritorious defense to liability, and (3) plaintiff showed she would be prejudiced if the matter were further delayed while defendant conducted discovery on issues not in dispute — like liability — then the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found that defendant did not show good cause sufficient to relieve it from entry of default.

Tagged with: auto accident Civil Practice Damages Default Judgment Tort/Negligence

Whitlock v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. In 2006, defendant insured the title of plaintiff’s Myrtle Beach property, and a title defect was discovered in January 2010, preventing plaintiff from building on property. The title insurance policy does not define “actual loss,” plaintiff asserts the proper valuation date is the date the policy was issued, and defendant asserts the proper valuation date is the date the title defect was discovered, by which time plaintiff’s property had depreciated.

Tagged with: Damages Insurance Real Property Title

Pope v. Heritage Communities, Inc. Where defense counsel admitted in his opening statement that the condominiums in question needed repairs and that the issue was the cost of the repairs, and where several defense witnesses admitted to construction defects, the trial court did not err in directing a verdict for plaintiffs on the issue of negligence. We affirm judgment for plaintiffs.

Tagged with: Damages Real Property Tort/Negligence