So, you want to argue your case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The opportunity to present oral arguments isn’t granted liberally. Here’s what you need to know about presenting oral arguments before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On January 4, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a Notice of Special Procedures for Reviewing Attorney Compensation Requests in Death Penalty Cases.
The Judicial Council of the Fourth Circuit adopted certain amendments to the existing procedures for reviewing attorney compensation requests in federal capital prosecutions. Specifically, they added that requests for compensation in amounts over $100,000 per attorney would be presumed excessive at the district court level, if made in connection with a federal capital prosecution. Similarly, amounts in excess of $50,000 at the appellate level are presumed excessive.
Before you appeal a 12(b)(1) dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, ask yourself: Am I really sure this is a jurisdiction issue? Should we be debating a 12(b)(6) motion instead?
That moment of reflection could save you the embarrassment of an appellate court's admonishment that you don't know the "fundamental difference" between 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) motions.
The attorneys in a recent Jones Act appeal, no doubt, wish they had paused to consider that issue after the Fourth Circuit criticized both the parties in this appeal and the district court for misunderstanding the basics of subject matter jurisdiction.
While the case of Bosley v. Mineral County Commission presents a series of unfortunate events, the actual case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is not nearly as dramatic.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that the settlement offer in a case involving several state law and federal constitution claims did not include the attorneys fees and costs.
