Tom Perez is not eligible to run for attorney general because he has not practiced law in Maryland for the required 10 years, the Court of Appeals ruled late Friday.

The news, issued on the same day that the court heard arguments in the case, could be a fatal blow for Perez’s campaign, with less than three weeks to go before he was set to face off with Democratic challengers Stuart Simms and Douglas Gansler in the Sept. 12 primary.