ERISA Claimant Wins Long-Term Disability Benefits

Appeals court hears Rosetta Stone trademark case against Google

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 22, 2011
Tags: Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, Judge Clyde H. Hamilton, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Language-learning company Rosetta Stone took on internet industry giant Google today, as a federal appeals court in Richmond heard argument in a case closely watched by online advertisers and the people who sell to them. Rosetta Stone says Google has violated federal trademark law by auctioning Rosetta Stone’s trademarked name to other advertisers through Google’s [...]

Debtor With No Exemption Still Can Avoid Lien

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 21, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Although debtor had not claimed an exemption under Virginia law in her Highland County real estate, she nevertheless could avoid a judicial lien held by appellant credit union on that property under the controlling bankruptcy statute, and the 4th Circuit upholds the district court decision that the Bankruptcy Code does not require a debtor to [...]

Evidence Errors ‘Harmless’ in Murder-for-Hire Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 12, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Even assuming the district court erred in allowing testimony about defendant’s alleged prior shooting of another man, or testimony from the later murder victim’s girlfriend, the 4th Circuit says any errors were harmless and did not unfairly affect the trial of two codefendants in this murder-for-hire case involving the fatal shooting of a witness to [...]

Hostile Environment Claim Remanded on Shift Supervisor Response

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Employment Discrimination, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

An employer survives summary judgment on most of the EEOC’s claims of a hostile work environment at a Maryland fiberglass tank plant, characterized by racial harassment of several African-American employees by multiple white employees over a two-year period, from racist slurs to a KKK threat and picture of a person hanging by a noose; but [...]

Home Program Upheld for Autistic Student

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A school district failed to provide an autistic student with a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, because it did not comply with his Individual Education Plan’s direction that he receive at least 15 hours per week of applied behavioral analysis therapy; the 4th Circuit upholds the decision in [...]

FCA Relator Can’t Enforce ‘Settlement,’ But Wins on Fees

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 20, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Contract, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A former employee of a government IT contractor loses his appeal claiming the district court should have enforced his $9 million settlement of his False Claims Act suit against the contractor and committed error during trial of the case that ended in the contractor’s favor, but the 4th Circuit reverses the district court order that [...]

Debtor Can’t Discharge Delayed State Tax Debt

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 16, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A district court did not err in reversing a bankruptcy order declaring appellant’s Maryland state income tax liability for the tax years 1992-1996, had been discharged in bankruptcy, the 4th Circuit holds. In 1996, appellant filed Maryland state income tax returns for the 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 tax years. She later filed for [...]

Warrant, Detention Upheld in Child Porn Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 16, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A defendant’s convictions and enhanced sentence for child pornography and supplying controlled substances to minors, involving the 14-year-old sister of his ex-girlfriend who was the mother of his child, is upheld by the 4th Circuit, despite defendant’s challenges to issuance of a warrant to search his home and his three-hour detention while awaiting the warrant. [...]

No Per Se Rule for Voir Dire

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 15, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A defendant who was part of a group that used forged documents to obtain contractor access to a U.S. bulk fuel depot near Baghdad, and then stole large quantities of fuel to sell on the Iraqi black market, has his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 641 for theft of the fuel, and 48-month sentence affirmed; [...]