Debtors who moved from Louisiana to West Virginia could apply Louisiana bankruptcy exemptions to property located in West Virginia, because federal law allowed the debtors to choose a state exemption scheme, and Louisiana law is not limited to in-state property. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Judge Robert B. King

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is absolutely immune from suit for her statements and prosecution of police officers involved with citizen Freddie Gray on the day he sustained fatal injuries in a police van, and the officers’ claims arising from ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge Roger L. Gregory

Two Greek entities were vicariously liable for violations of international maritime-pollution laws by their cargo vessel’s crewmembers, as well as for the crewmembers attempts to conceal those violations. Background In 2015, the cargo vessel Ocean Hope – owned and operated ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Employment Judge Robert B. King Sentencing

A federal appeals decision denying underinsured motorist coverage for a fatal truck accident has generated “alarm and concern” about the interpretation of millions of Virginia auto insurance policies, according to lawyers for the claimants. A divided panel of the 4th ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge G. Steven Agee Judge Gerald Bruce Lee Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A defendant who perpetrated a complicated insurance fraud scheme resulting in more than $100 million in losses was not denied his right to counsel after he repeatedly insisted on proceeding pro se but then requested counsel for his final sentencing ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Criminal Insurance Judge Robert B. King Sentencing

An employer’s collective bargaining impasse rights did not override its ERISA obligations to employees hired post-impasse. The employer also didn’t plead its fraud-dependent affirmative defenses with sufficient particularity. Background Appellant Just Born II Inc. and the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Contract Judge G. Steven Agee Labor Tort

An administrative law judge erred in according little weight to a North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services determination that the Social Security claimant qualified as disabled. The ALJ also didn’t consider the limited extent to which the claimant ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Disability Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Social Security

A city ordinance empowering the police chief to deny a “sexually oriented business” license application if he determined that the business “would not comply with all applicable laws” was an overbroad prior restraint. Background The City of Rocky Mount, North ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional First Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Municipal

President Trump tapped two men to fill vacancies on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 26. Trump named a judge recently picked for the U.S. District Court in South Carolina and a federal prosecutor who tried white ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. Julius Jay Richardson

The government didn’t violate due process by showing a kidnapping victim a photo array with the defendant’s image cropped from his music group’s promotional poster, which the victim had seen before. Background In the summer of 2012, two U.S. citizens ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Criminal Evidence Judge Albert Diaz Sixth Amendment