In the corporate world, “pierce” and “veil” are words you don’t want to hear. The whole point of forming a corporation is to avoid individual liability. And so having a judge lift a corporation’s veil of protections to hold the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Although the defendant advised a federal witness to just “tell the truth,” a jury reasonably found that her motives were criminal when she met the witness at the request of their mutual friend who was facing trial. Background In 2014, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Dennis W. Shedd

The district court did not err in holding a childcare center in contempt for violating the terms of an injunction related to use of the word “rainbow.” The center was liable for liquidated damages and attorneys’ fees, plus the cost ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Attorneys Attorneys Fees Civil Practice Civil Procedure Contract Corporate Intellectual Property Judge G. Steven Agee

The district court did not err in finding that a developmentally disabled individual, civilly committed as a sexually violent predator, no longer met the criteria for continued commitment and must be released. Background Appellant Walter Wooden was born in 1956 ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

In civil deportation proceedings, the exclusionary rule’s predicate of “egregious” – not merely unreasonable – Fourth Amendment violations by federal officers also applies to conduct by state and local officers. Background In 2009, Maryland Transportation Authority Police Officer Acker stopped ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Constitutional Immigration Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Search & Seizure

The court lacked authority to review, on the plaintiff’s appeal, a dismissal order that simply granted a putative class-action plaintiff’s request for voluntary dismissal. Background Appellant Erin Keena purchased a voucher from Appellee Groupon Inc. In the course of the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Arbitration Business Law Civil Procedure Class Action Contract Judge Robert B. King

General-liability insurers could enforce their policy limits as to completed-operations and products hazard claims against the insured, stemming from decades-old asbestos exposure. Background This insurance-coverage dispute involves the applicability of two insurers’ policies to past, pending, and future asbestos-related bodily ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Corporate Evidence Insurance Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Personal Injury Regulated Industries

A Board of Immigration Appeals decision effectively adopting a new standard for “crimes involving moral turpitude” could not rely on the new standard without offering good reasons for the change and addressing its retroactive effect. Background Petitioner Pedro Josue Jimenez-Cedillo, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Criminal Immigration Judge Pamela A. Harris

A defendant’s prior conviction for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering did not necessarily establish that he’d committed a “crime of violence” for purposes of federal sentence enhancement. Because conspiracy in the racketeering context does not require an ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge Allyson K. Duncan Sentencing

Students’ fear of future arrest for violating vague school-conduct statutes was sufficiently well-founded to constitute an injury-in-fact and support their standing to challenge the laws’ constitutionality. Background In this case, a group of former and current South Carolina students has ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Judge Albert Diaz