Each month, Nexsen Pruet attorney Marc Manos, a member of the SC Bar Torts and Insurance Practice Section Council, sheds light on a few recent cases from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, focused in the area of Torts & Insurance.

Below are noted cases from April 2017

Wall & Associates, Inc. v. Better Business Bureau of Central Virginia

Case No. 16-1819 (4th Cir. April, 24, 2017) (Unpublished) The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of unfair advertising claims as the complaint failed to allege any specific business loss as a result of the plaintiff’s letter rating being based on subjective and unfair factors rather than the objective and fair factors advertised.  The court held proximate cause to be a necessary element of a Lanham Act unfair advertising claim.

View case here. 

Springs v. Ally Financial, Inc.

No. 16-2146 (4th Cir. April 10, 2017) (Unpublished) The court affirmed the district court entering a post-mandate protective order preventing dissemination of a video tape deposition and sealing the copy filed in support of a summary judgment motion.  The court found that preventing the plaintiff from using segments of the video to mock and harass the deponent on the internet met narrow and allowable grounds under the First Amendment.

View case here.