USCA4 Appeal: 25-1934 Doc: 8 Filed: 11/24/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 25-1934

BRANDI EDWARDS, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS, LLC, Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Newport News. Raymond A. Jackson, Senior District Judge. (2:24-cv-00582-RAJ-DEM)

Submitted: November 20, 2025 Decided: November 24, 2025

Before THACKER, HARRIS, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Brandi Edwards, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM: Brandi Edwards seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing her complaint after Edwards failed to correct jurisdictional defects the court identified in a prior order to show cause. In civil cases, parties have 30 days after the entry of the district court’s final judgment or order to note an appeal, Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), unless the district court extends the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). “[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional requirement.” Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007).

The district court entered its order on May 27, 2025, and the appeal period expired on June 26, 2025. Edwards filed the notice of appeal on August 12, 2025. However, in the notice of appeal, Edwards explained that she did not timely receive the court’s order to show cause because of an issue with her mail delivery. Edwards also more generally asserts in her informal brief filed in this court that she failed to timely receive documentation related to her case because of a situation with her mail delivery.

Edwards’ notice of appeal is clearly untimely and she is ineligible for an extension of the appeal period. However, Edwards appears to have prepared her notice of appeal more than 21 days, but less than 180 days, after the district court entered final judgment, and her filings in the district court and in this court suggest that she may not have timely received notice of the district court’s final order. We therefore construe her informal brief as a motion to reopen the appeal period under Rule 4(a)(6), and remand to the district court for the limited purpose of determining whether Edwards is entitled to a reopening of the

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appeal period. * The record, as supplemented, will then be returned to this court for further consideration.

REMANDED

* By this disposition, we express no opinion as to whether the appeal period should be reopened.