Friendly Fire: A Jurisdictional and Ethical Look at the D.C. Circuit’s Surprising Order that a Trial Judge Respond to a Legal Challenge to His Ruling
By John Grimm and Amy Richardson
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan made headlines when he appointed a retired federal judge to oppose the Government’s motion to dismiss its criminal case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and to make a recommendation as to whether to hold Flynn in criminal contempt for perjury.[1] The move was universally regarded as highly unusual. But, while prosecutors’ motions to dismiss charges are generally granted without much fanfare, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure do require leave of court,[2] so Judge Sullivan must approve the withdrawal. Read More…
What it’s Like to Argue an Appeal from Home
By John Grimm
Practicing law these days reminds me of the apocryphal ancient curse, “may you live in interesting times.” The times are definitely interesting, and one interesting thing I did earlier this month is argue an appeal from my living room.[1] For the foreseeable future, it seems that the Maryland appellate courts will be operating remotely with oral arguments being handled by video conference, so I wanted to share my thoughts on the experience. Read More…
Maryland Judiciary Case Search now includes appellate dockets
As of today, the public can search Maryland appellate dockets through Maryland Judiciary Case Search, the site long used for searching trial court filings. Hopefully, this development will lead to Maryland appellate dockets being searchable in Westlaw. Read More…
May 2020 Maryland Certiorari Grants
The Maryland Court of Appeals has posted three new certiorari grants. It also recently accepted a certified question from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The four cases, with questions presented, are listed below.
What Kim Kardashian and Prince William Can Teach Us About Remote Oral Arguments
The COVID-19 pandemic has given us all innumerable “new normals.” Even appellate practitioners, whom the Daily Record recently described as “relatively unscathed” by the pandemic, have had to change how they conduct business. This is especially so when it comes time to present oral arguments. Read More…
COVID-19 pandemic presents issues of contract interpretation—how have Maryland appellate courts recently handled those issues?
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our lives and has raised many legal issues. Every day, lawyers’ e-mail inboxes are bombarded with messages touting webinars and publications addressing those issues. Does your insurance policy cover business disruption caused by the pandemic? Does the pandemic implicate the force majeure provision in a contract? Is a party’s performance of a contract excused by principles of impossibility, impracticability, or frustration of purpose? Those are hot legal issues at the moment, but ultimately those issues will be resolved by application of fundamental legal principles. Foremost among those principles are rules of contract interpretation. Whether a particular force majeure provision in a contract covers pandemics, or whether a specific insurance policy covers losses arising from a disruption of business caused by the pandemic, are questions that will be answered by interpreting the specific contractual provisions in play. Similarly, whether the purpose of a contract has been frustrated, or its performance made impossible, will hinge on the intent and expectations of the parties, as reflected by the terms of their contract. How do Maryland’s appellate courts address those issues? Two recent decisions, one by the Court of Appeals and another by the Court of Special appeals, provide some insight. Read More…
Maryland Appellate Blog 