Attorney Vincent C Uchendu's Legal Cases

Lawsuits and disputes

Ronald Williams, Jr. v. Gail Harris Case Number 2014 CA 006213 R(RP)

Dec 11, 2014

OUTCOME: My client is owner of house

After winning a house for my client in a seriously contested probate case that took over two years, I filed a new case to evict the occupant of the house so my client may take possession of it. The occ ... upant and his lawyer filed a new case against my client claiming that the house was his deceased mother’s house and that she had executed a “Trust Agreement” in which she gave him a life estate in the house. His claim is known as a plea of title. Essentially, he was claiming that he had a right to live at the property for the rest of his life. He attached the Trust Agreement. I filed a motion to dismiss his case on several grounds. The judge agreed that even if all his allegations were true, they did not amount to a legal claim upon which relief may be granted. District of Columbia law allows life estates to be created only by deed or in a will and not by Trust Agreement. His case was dismissed which put him on track for eviction.

Probate

Grooms v. Curtis Case Number 2014 CA 3663R (RP)

Jul 22, 2014

OUTCOME: A house worth over $400,000.00

This case is at the top of the many cases that brought warmth to my heart because my client was a 92-year-old lady who reminded me of my grandmother. She was, in spite of her age, very strong on her fe ... et and very lucid and sharp cognitively. One of her sons died fifteen years earlier. He owned a house at the time he died. His house was occupied by his female friend for those fifteen years following his death. That female friend continued to pay the mortgage on the house for those fifteen years, apparently without informing the mortgage company that the owner was dead. That female friend then died in 2013 but the female friend’s son continued to occupy the house. I was able to persuade my old lady client that the house belonged to her as sole heir. I petitioned the court to appoint her personal representative of her deceased son’s estate; I transferred title to the house in her name and recorded the deed; then I filed a complaint to evict the man in the house. He filed a countersuit against my client, claiming that he owned the house through adverse possession. Eventually I filed successfully a motion to dismiss the countersuit for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. After many months of court proccedings in three different branches of the court, the joy on my client's face was priceless.

Probate

In re Ellen Fish 2012 ADM 000962

Feb 10, 2014

OUTCOME: After a trial lasting several days, I won the case and the judge voided the will.

I was retained to challenge a Last Will and Testament on grounds that the the deceased old lady was not of sound mind, was under undue influence, and could not have understood what her daughter present ... ed to her to sign as her will. Children of her other daughter were my clients.

Medical malpractice

Denise Beasley-Hooks v. District of Columbia, et. al. Case Number 2001 CA 002771 B

N/A

OUTCOME: Jury verdict for my client for $173,641.23.

A jury trial on a medical negligence case. My client was a severely disturbed patient with a twenty-year history of psychiatric illnesses and numerous attempts of suicide. She was placed under the serv ... ices of the primary defendant, a psychiatric/psychological outreach services facility. She was mismanaged, not given her scheduled medicine and routine exams, left to the care of a rookie nurse and, at one occasion, taken to a homeless shelter and dropped off by the nurse. She walked from the shelter to a nearby highway overhead bridge and jumped out of frustration and in an attempt to commit suicide. When plaintiff jumped from the bridge, she fell 20 feet to the concrete below and sustained permanent injuries including a broken hip, broken pelvis, broken tail bone, broken back and foot.

Probate

Garrett, et.al. vs. Freeland Case Number 2009 LIT 000015

N/A

OUTCOME: Judgment for $138,248.68

This was a bench trial to establish fraud and breach of fiduciary duties. An elderly and sick man gave power of attorney to his sister. She used the power of attorney to add her name to his bank accoun ... ts. Then, over a long period, while the man was sick and in the hospital, she made numerous large cash withdrawals. He died and she claimed that he authorized her to make the withdrawals. She claimed variously that the funds were gifts to her and/or that she used them to pay his bills. I established that her actions amounted to a breach of fiduciary duties. The judge awarded my client (the man’s wife) One Hundred Thirty Eight Thousand Two Hundred Forty Eight Dollars Sixty Eight Cents ($138,248.68).

Probate

In RE: Estate of Catrina Edwards Case Number 2000 ADM 002052

N/A

OUTCOME: Judgment declaring will invalid

This case was a will contest bench trial. My client was appointed personal representative of her deceased grandmother’s estate. She was then faced with the possibility of losing the estate real propert ... y to a relative who filed a will with the court. The relative alleged that the deceased woman executed the will giving her the house. I successfully contested the validity of the will so that the trial judge declared the will invalid saving the house which is presently valued at over Four Hundred Thousand Dollars.

Lawsuits and disputes

Akhigbe v. Chadwick, et.al. Case Number 2003 CA 008680 B

N/A

OUTCOME: jury verdict for my client for house and funds

I represented plaintiff in a lawsuit against a tenant and the mortgage company, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. The suit was to establish ownership and right to possession of a valuable house in the Distric ... t of Columbia. After a two-day trial, the jury returned a verdict for my client and judgment was entered by the judge accordingly; funds deposited in the court registry by the tenant in the months that the litigation was proceeding were also ordered to be released to my client.

Personal injury

Leonard v. District of Columbia, et.al. Case Number 1997 CA 007322

N/A

OUTCOME: $80,000.00 jury award

This was an assault and false arrest case against a special police officer and his principal. At a convention in Washington, the officer pushed and then restrained my client and then claimed that my cl ... ient pushed him first. We proved, through witnesses and documents, at a jury trial, that the officer’s version was not true. We showed that my client suffered minor bruises on his leg and hand and emotional distress. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff and awarded him Eighty Thousand Dollars ($80,000.00).

Vincent C Uchendu's Legal Cases (8)

Ronald Williams, Jr. v. Gail Harris Case Number 2014 CA 006213 R(RP)

Grooms v. Curtis Case Number 2014 CA 3663R (RP)

In re Ellen Fish 2012 ADM 000962

Denise Beasley-Hooks v. District of Columbia, et. al. Case Number 2001 CA 002771 B

Garrett, et.al. vs. Freeland Case Number 2009 LIT 000015

In RE: Estate of Catrina Edwards Case Number 2000 ADM 002052

Akhigbe v. Chadwick, et.al. Case Number 2003 CA 008680 B

Leonard v. District of Columbia, et.al. Case Number 1997 CA 007322