By Steve Klepper (Twitter: @MDAppeal)

Supreme Court sketch artist Art Lien recently posted some amazing sketches from the October 30, 2013 Fourth Circuit argument in United States v. Dehlinger, No. 12-7121.  As luck would have it, two of the panelists (Judges Diana Motz in the center and Andre Davis on the right) are Maryland-based.  The third is Judge Roger Gregory of Virginia.  With Mr. Lien’s permission, I’ve re-posted two of the sketches below. The first provides a wonderfully detailed view of the Fourth Circuit’s Red Courtroom (Room 412).  The second depicts the grand tradition of the Fourth Circuit shaking hands with counsel after each argument.

I’m particularly fond of the handshake tradition.  In an appeal that I took over in 2010 as a result of the illness and untimely death of one of my firm’s partners, the dearly missed Max Lauten, Judge Davis, who sat on the panel, made a special point of conveying his condolences.  Judge Davis did write the opinion against my client, but I do genuinely appreciate the thoughtfulness of his published opinion.

According to the Fourth Circuit’s argument calendar, the issue in Dehlinger was whether the “district court correctly denied relief on ineffective assistance of counsel claim that alleged counsel’s representation was tainted by conflict of interest.” Briefs are available here. Audio of the argument is available here.

By Steve Klepper

Welcome to the Maryland Appellate Blog, sponsored by the MSBA Litigation Section. The blog fills a gap in Maryland legal commentary. In most states of equal or larger population, there are one or more blogs dedicated to appellate matters in the state. Typically, solo practitioners or small firms maintain those sites. The result can be that those blogs temporarily or permanently cease operation when the author hits a busy patch in his or her work. Such single-author blogs also can suffer from too narrow a focus or viewpoint.

The Maryland Appellate Blog seeks to improve on the state appellate blog model by featuring original content from a roster of contributors, plus guest authors. It is inspired by—but far less ambitious than—SCOTUSblog and The Volokh Conspiracy. The blog primarily covers the Court of Appeals, with ancillary coverage of the Court of Special Appeals, the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court.

Posts ordinarily will not consist of detailed case summaries, which are already available in other publications. Rather, blog content includes:

• certiorari petitions before the Court of Appeals;
• coverage of notable arguments;
• practice tips;
• commentary on the implications of specific rulings or general trends;
• interviews with appellate judges; and
• news, including committee programs.

The blog’s opening-day editorial roster consists of seven appellate practitioners. Read More…