UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-1703

TIFFANY RICKS, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. DR. MICHAEL Q. HUYNH, Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Robert G. Doumar, Senior District Judge. (2:20-cv-00292-RGD-DEM)

Submitted: January 20, 2022 Decided: January 24, 2022

Before WILKINSON, DIAZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

William G. Shields, SHIELDS LAW FIRM PLLC, North Chesterfield, Virginia, for Appellant. Sandra M. Douglas, HANCOCK, DANIEL & JOHNSON, P.C., Glen Allen, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM: Tiffany Ricks appeals the district court’s entry of judgment in Defendant’s favor after the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny Rick’s motion to permit a late expert witness identification and then granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on Ricks’ malpractice claim. We have reviewed the record and find no reversible error. We therefore defer to the district court’s “broad discretion in determining whether [Ricks’] . . . untimely disclosure of evidence [wa]s substantially justified or harmless,” Hill v. Coggins, 867 F.3d 499, 507 (4th Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks omitted), and affirm the district court’s judgment, see Ricks v. Huynh, No. 2:20-cv-00292-RGD-DEM (E.D. Va. May 20, 2021). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED