Local Rule 36: Entry of Judgment; Notice
Local Rules and Internal Operating Procedures of the Fourth Circuit — Title VII. General Provisions
(a) Publication of Decisions.
Opinions delivered by the Court will be published only if the opinion satisfies one or more of the standards for publication: i. It establishes, alters, modifies, clarifies, or explains a rule of law within this Circuit; or ii. It involves a legal issue of continuing public interest; or iii. It criticizes existing law; or iv. It contains a historical review of a legal rule that is not duplicative; or v. It resolves a conflict between panels of this Court, or creates a conflict with a decision in another circuit.
The Court will publish opinions only in cases that have been fully briefed and presented at oral argument. Opinions in such cases will be published if the author or a majority of the joining judges believes the opinion satisfies one or more of the standards for publication, and all members of the Court have acknowledged in writing their receipt of the proposed opinion. A judge may file a published opinion without obtaining all acknowledgments only if the opinion has been in circulation for ten days and an inquiry to the non-acknowledging judge's chambers has confirmed that the opinion was received.
(b) Unpublished Dispositions; Opinion Distribution.
Unpublished opinions give counsel, the parties, and the lower court or agency a statement of the reasons for the decision. They may not recite all of the facts or background of the case and may simply adopt the reasoning of the lower court. Published and unpublished opinions are sent to the trial court or agency in which the case originated, to counsel for all parties in the case, and to litigants in the case not represented by counsel. Published and unpublished opinions are also posted on the Court's Web site each day and distributed in electronic form to subscribers to the Court's daily opinion lists. Published and unpublished opinions issued since January 1, 1996 are available free of charge at www.ca4.uscourts.gov.
Counsel may move for publication of an unpublished opinion, citing reasons. If such motion is granted, the unpublished opinion will be published without change in result.