Happy Thanksgiving! In no particular order, here are a few things I’ve been enjoying:
- Hyemin Han’s play-by-play of the D.C. Circuit argument in the Trump gag order case. Credit to longtime De Novo favorite Judge Millett for this hypo: ““Okay.
Latest from De Novo - Page 4
Implications of Holding Conferences After Oral Argument
A friend recently pointed out something that should have been obvious, but wasn’t. Like many other appellate courts, the Court of Appeals of Virginia holds its decision conference immediately after oral argument.
I knew this, but I don’t think I
Unpublished Orders from the CAV
Over the last two months, the Court of Appeals has issued almost 160 opinions. The vast majority of those opinions are unpublished; the court is issuing about 7 unpublished opinions for every published opinion. So the default rule seems to
The Rule 5A:8(b)(4)(ii) Deathtrap
Every Tuesday, the Court of Appeals hands down its published and unpublished opinions. And every Tuesday, those unpublished opinions seem to include a least a case or two where the court summarily affirms because the appellant has failed to ensure
Checking in with the CAV
At the VBA’s summer meeting last month, Judges Ortiz and Martin presented their annual review of civil decisions from the Supreme Court of Virginia. Judge Ortiz shared a few eye-opening statistics:
- In 2022, the CAV heard 553 civil appeals
- Through
Good Ideas That I Stole From Smart People: Law and the Moral Worth of a Society
Here’s the last paragraph from Grant Gilmore’s The Ages of American Law:
Law reflects but in no sense determines the moral worth of a society. The values of a reasonably just society will reflect themselves in a reasonably just law.
Ross Guberman and Robert Scavone on How Lawyers Can Use ChatGPT
Here’s 33 minutes of video of Ross Guberman and Robert Scavone playing around with ChatGPT in a lawyerly way. This will give you a good sense of where the software stands as a legal-writing tool at the moment–which is not
CA3 Forcibly Improves Lawyer Work-Life Balance Over Lawyer Protests
Reuters reports that the Third Circuit changed its local rules to require most briefs and court documents to be filed by 5:00 pm on the day they are due. The story explains that the proposal “comes after the court’s chief
CA4: ADA “Tester” Has Standing
Today’s Fourth Circuit opinion in Laufer v. Naranda Hotels, LLC, is worth a look. The Court held the plaintiff’s allegation of an informational injury was enough to confer Article III standing. Here is the intro:
Deborah Laufer, the plaintiff
Theologis v. Weiler–CAV on Defamation and Business Conspiracy
The Court of Appeals handed down Theologis v. Weiler today, a fun opinion in a defamation and business-conspiracy case. The whole opinion is highly recommended. Summary below, but here are the points of greatest interest to appellate practitioners:
- Right Result/Different