A lawyer charged with helping his wife plunder money from the campaign chest of a Virginia state senator and two other organizations cannot shield his two homes from possible forfeiture, a federal appeals court ruled last month. The 4th U.S. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals News Judge Allyson K. Duncan Judge T.S. Ellis III

Direct evidence of government payment and receipt of fraudulent services must be alleged at the pleading stage for a qui tam action to survive a motion to dismiss, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Despite this, a ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals News Judge Allyson K. Duncan Judge Barbara Milano Keenan Whistleblower

Attorneys’ “egregious” conduct was designed to, and did, mislead the district court, the 4th Circuit affirmed. They challenged the authenticity of a loan agreement for two years before revealing that they possessed an identical copy, obtained from their client, before ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Attorneys Fees Banking Civil Practice Contract Judge Allyson K. Duncan Sanctions

The Eastern District of Virginia’s Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C), which allows for dismissal without hearing, conflicts with the requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 1307. Background In January 2017, the Eastern District’s bankruptcy trustee certified under Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C) that ...

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

The Eastern District’s Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C), which allows for dismissal without hearing, conflicts with the requirements of 11 U.S.C. § 1307. Background In January 2017, the bankruptcy trustee certified under Local Bankruptcy Rule 3070-1(C) that Debtor-Appellant Sarah No had ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Civil Procedure Due Process Judge Allyson K. Duncan

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

Even though discovery was still open at the trial level, class-action plaintiffs could not present evidence creating a triable dispute about whether security-system manufacturers were vicariously liable for retailers’ TCPA violations. Background Appellee UTC Fire & Security Americas Corp. sold ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Consumer Protection Contract Judge Allyson K. Duncan Telecommunications

Where an original defendant makes counterclaims naming additional parties as counter-defendants, those additional parties are not entitled to remove the claims against them to federal court even under the permissive standards of the Class Action Fairness Act. Original Plaintiff Citibank, ...

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

The court of appeals vacated a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals to deny Petitioner Felipe de Jesus Molina Mendoza’s request for asylum, finding that the tribunals below failed to show that they fairly considered all of the relevant ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Allyson K. Duncan Unpublished Opinion

Appellant William C. O’Hara, a federal contractor’s former employee, did not make protected disclosures of fraud to the contracting agency and, based on his work performance, would have been terminated from employment notwithstanding such disclosures. After winning a contract with ...

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