In March, the concept of nominal damages (often just a single dollar awarded to a plaintiff to represent a defendant’s liability in the absence of actual damages) took center stage
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rules that Nominal Damages Can Be Quite Valuable…Maybe?
Another week, another published ruling on an en banc rehearing petition from the Fourth Circuit. Last week we saw Judge Niemeyer arguing in a published concurring opinion that en banc
Continue Reading The Fourth Circuit’s New Normal?
A few years ago I wrote about The Curious Cases(s) of the Published Denial of Rehearing. In that post, which focused on two published denials of rehearing from the
Continue Reading The Not So Curious Case of the Published Denial of Rehearing
Last Friday, Chief Justice Beasley of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, held a press conference on the State judiciary’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the announcements during
Continue Reading North Carolina’s Appellate Courts Proceed During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Almost two years ago, 
I blogged about a relatively rare phenomenon: a published denial of a petition for rehearing. Back then, two recent Fourth Circuit cases had produced petitions for
Continue Reading Another Published Denial of Rehearing, Another 4th Circuit Case to the Supreme Court?
For the past 25 years, an oral argument before the United States Supreme Court was considered an oddity when an advocate managed to squeeze two or three sentences in before
Continue Reading T-Minus Two Minutes and Counting: Uninterrupted Oral Argument at SCOTUS
I. You Can’t Have One Without the Other: Notice of Appeal Must Designate Both Final Judgment and Intermediate Order
Approximately three years ago, I blogged on Majerske v. Majerske,
Continue Reading Notices of Appeal: Wouldn’t It Be Nice?
Is there institutional disharmony in the Fourth Circuit? That’s the question that one judge suggested, in a concurring opinion, that lawyers and judges might be asking after an en banc
Continue Reading Institutional Disharmony in the Fourth Circuit? Or Merely Patriotic Dissent?
Suppose an appellate judge casts the deciding vote in a case, creating a majority in support of the lead opinion. Before the opinion is released, however, the judge retires or
Continue Reading Can an Appellate Judge’s Vote Count After Death or Retirement?
Note: much of the information below comes from The American Lawyer’s October 23 “Daily Dicta,” by Jenna Greene.
He started as a pro se plaintiff alleging First Amendment (and other)
Continue Reading Unpublished Fourth Circuit Per Curiam Opinion Involving Pro Se Litigant Rights Moving Towards the Supreme Court on the Backs of Legal Giants