State court class actions on behalf of owners of stock in an electric and gas utility, which alleged that the company’s CEO and board members breached their fiduciary duties by agreeing to a merger with an energy-based utility company and ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Practice Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Although defendants are not categorically barred from obtaining resentencing pursuant to Rule 36 over a clerical error, the defendant was not entitled to this relief because the clerical error in his pre-sentence report only affected one of his prior convictions ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

The court remanded the case for further proceedings on the Fifth Amendment equal protection claim and the 42 U.S.C. § 1985 claims asserted by the plaintiffs. Background Upon consideration of submissions relative to the plaintiffs’ motion for remand, this court ...

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

In a case of first impression in any circuit, a majority of the court held the federal Hate Crimes Act may be constitutionally applied to an assault of a victim engaged in interstate commercial activity at his place of work. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A majority of the en banc court held a Chapter 13 plan may bifurcate a claim based on an undersecured homestead mortgage into secured and unsecured components and cram down the unsecured component, overruling a 1997 decision that had been ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Where Virginia’s death row inmates were subject to confinement conditions that posed a substantial risk of serious psychological and emotional harm when they first filed their lawsuit, but changes made while the lawsuit was pending ended any Eighth Amendment violation, ...

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

Years after the expiration of the statute of limitations, homeowners can still sue lenders for allegedly violating an anti-kickback law because they plausibly alleged the lenders concealed their conduct sufficient to toll the statute of limitations. Background Each of the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

A jury will decide if a financial advisor was negligent in advising certain clients about inherited annuities, or if the clients were themselves negligent, which would bar recovery. The district court had concluded the clients were negligent as a matter ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Negligence

A 30-day sentence imposed after a defendant validly waived his right to counsel on a misdemeanor charge was properly included in the calculation of defendant’s criminal history score under the Sentencing Guidelines. Background On Aug. 8, 2017, a federal grand ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

In reversing dismissal of a plaintiff’s claim that defendant unlawfully accessed emails in his web-based email account, the court held, in an issue of first impression, that previously opened and delivered emails stored in a web-based email client are within ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge James A. Wynn Jr.