4th Circuit Issues Two Standing Opinions On the Same Day
Introduction Attorneys and judges burn a great deal of time and energy debating and determining the issue of "standing": broad brush whether there is a "case or controversy" sufficient to invoke the power of a court to hear it. The wildly different factual scenarios in those cases applying standing requirements (compare Sea Pines v. SCDNR with Smiley v. SCDHEC ) sometimes make it difficult to square how and why standing exists in one case, but not in another. On April 5th, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a pair of opinions, Lansdowne on the Potomac Homeowners Association, Inc. v. OpenBand at Lansdowne, LLC and Southern Walk at Broadlands Homeowner's Association, Inc. v. OpenBand at Broadlands, LLC , applying the constitutional standing test to two very similar fact patterns and reaching different conclusions. Comparing the analyses in the two cases may be helpful to practitioners. It is absolutely untrue that I decided to blog on this topic bec...