Fourth Circuit Arguments in Appeals from the District of Maryland, September 2025

As the blog turns twelve years old, we’re trying a new feature to expand coverage of federal appeals. The Fourth Circuit holds six weeklong argument sessions in Richmond each term. Below is a list of appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland being heard during the Court’s sitting that begins September 9, 2025. Where available, we include the Clerk’s synopsis of the issues.

You can visit the Court’s argument calendar for more information on the appeals, including dates for each argument, PACER links to the briefs, and links for audio livestreams. On the morning of each argument day, the Clerk will update the argument calendar to disclose the composition of the three-judge panels.  

Please note that, to compile this list, we’re going only by the district judge’s name, which can be overinclusive (if a Maryland-based judge was sitting by designation elsewhere within the Circuit) or underinclusive (if an outside judge was sitting by designation in the District of Maryland). Feel free to leave a comment if we’ve missed anything.

24-1416 Jennifer Finn v. Humane Society of the United States (Russell)
EMPLOYMENT: Whether district court correctly found that employer’s inquiry into employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status is not an unlawful medical inquiry under the ADA; other issues.

24-2048 Carolyn Hall v. Sheppard Pratt Health System (Abelson)
CIVIL: Whether district court erred granting summary judgment in favor of defendant employer on failure to accommodate claims related to COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

23-7116 William White v. Warden of Fed (Chasanow)
POSTCONVICTION: Whether federal inmates have a protected liberty interest in earning time credits under 18 U.S.C. section 3632(d)(4)(A); other issues.

24-1928 Marilyn Hernandez v. Bloomingdales, LLC (Griggsby)
JURISDICTION: Whether district court erred in concluding that Bloomingdales is not subject to specific personal jurisdiction in Maryland.

24-1939 AbbVie, Inc. v. Anthony Brown (Maddox)
CIVIL: Whether district court erred in declining to preliminarily enjoin Maryland H.B. 1056.

24-1793 United States ex rel. Deborah Sheldon v. Allergan Sales, LLC (Hollander)
CIVIL: Whether district court erred granting motion to dismiss in case alleging fraud under the False Claims Act.

23-2259 Crystal Hultz v. Frank Bisignano (Hurson)
SOCIAL SECURITY: Whether the ALJ’s residual functional capacity assessment is supported by substantial evidence; whether the ALJ properly applied the treating physician rule.

24-1789 Jawone Nicholson v. Damond Durant (Chasanow)
CIVIL RIGHTS: Whether the district court erred in exercising supplemental jurisdiction over a state law claim for gross negligence by a private person; other issues.

25-1411 American Federation of State, County and Municipal v. Social Security Administration (Hollander)
INITIAL HEARING EN BANC (no synopsis provided)

25-1189 Natl. Assoc. of Diversity Officers in Higher Edu. v. Donald Trump (Abelson)
CIVIL: Whether district court erred in preliminarily enjoining certain provisions of Executive Order 14151 and Executive Order 14173.

24-4466 US v. Oluwatoyin Aborisade (Rubin)
CRIMINAL: Multi-issue challenge to visa fraud and identity theft convictions and sentence.

24-1926 DiStefano, Incorporated v. Tasty Baking Company (Gallagher)
CONTRACT: Multi-issue appeal from district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant on claims arising out of termination of distributor agreement.

23-4236 US v. Eric Nji (Bennett)
CRIMINAL: Whether district court erred in excluding proffered expert testimony; propriety of jury instructions; procedural reasonableness of sentence; sufficiency of evidence; other issues.

24-4376 US v. Jacky McComber (Hollander)
CRIMINAL: Challenges to admission of summary spreadsheet, sufficiency of evidence, and loss amount in prosecution for submitting false claims in government contract.