South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from April 2006

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from April 2006

S.C. Lawyers in the News: April 3, 2006.(Richard L. Pearce joins Municipal Attorneys Association)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Charleston lawyer Morgan S. Templeton has joined the International Association of Defense Counsel. Templeton is a partner with the firm of Elmore & Wall, P.A. He and the firm defend matters for...

Upstate legal professionals group names new officers.(Legal Staff Professionals appoints Lois Belle, Camilla Pittman, Myra Culbertson)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Legal Staff Professionals of Greenville elected new officers during its March 15 meeting. The officers will serve for the 2006-2007 term. The newly elected officers include: *...

Charleston attorney teaches ethics lass to Charleston School of Law students.(Timothy Bouch)(Brief article)(Biography)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Charleston attorney Timothy Bouch has been selected by the Charleston School of Law to serve as an adjunct professor to teach a three-credit course on ethics and professional responsibility. ...

New hire adds business experience to Nexsen Pruet's Charleston office.(Dwayne A. Watts)(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Dwayne A. Watts, whose career includes diverse experience in both law and business, has joined Nexsen Pruet's Charleston office as special counsel. He will work in the firm's corporate...

S.C. Court of Appeals upholds couple's common-law marriage.(South Carolina)(Haskins v. Tidwell )(Case overview)
April 3, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom A Clarendon County couple who lived together for nearly 16 years were married at common law even though the woman was still legally wed to another man for the first seven years of the relationship, the Appeals Court...

Chemical spill leads to $21M verdict for Lexington County.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom The Lexington County water and sewer commission has won a $21 million verdict in a dispute over industrial pollution that tainted the waterworks and shut down a waste treatment plant. The county's Two Notch Road...

S.C. Court of Appeals tosses legal malpractice claim due to time bar.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom A Columbia man who admitted in an affidavit that the clock on his legal malpractice claim began running in January 1997 was time-barred from filing a complaint in 2001, the Appeals Court has ruled in an unpublished...

S.C. Supreme Court suspends attorney for accessing co-workers' e-mails.
April 3, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton A former Legal Services attorney has received a two-year definite suspension for looking through the e-mails of her co-workers. Julia Ellis Brown, who once worked at the South Carolina Centers for Equal Justice,...

S.C. Lawyers Weekly poll shows support for online disciplinary records.(Brief article)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A recent Lawyers Weekly online poll indicates support for the Bar's decision to post attorneys' disciplinary records on the Internet. The State Bar's House of Delegates recently adopted a...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 3, 2006.
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal PCR - Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel Where the petitioner contends his counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the state's failure to provide written notice to him of...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 3, 2006.(South Carolina)(Haskins v. Tidwell)(divorce case)(Sweeney v. Sweeney)(alimony termination case)(State v. Williams )(criminal sexual conduct )
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Legal Malpractice - Statute Of Limitations Where the appellant sued the respondent attorney for legal malpractice, the Circuit Court properly granted the attorney's motion for...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 3, 2006.
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Unauthorized E- Mail Access - Admitted Misconduct Where the respondent admitted misconduct for using her home and office computers to access or attempt to...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 3, 2006.
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Sentencing - Drug Quantity Three defendants have their drug conspiracy convictions affirmed, despite their claims of numerous errors by the trial judge in handling witnesses,...

Verdicts & Settlements April 3, 2006: Win against company whose pollution damaged waste plant.(Lexington County Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission v. Tin Products, Inc)(Case overview)
April 3, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff $21,754,304 Verdict Lexington County Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission, whose wastewater treatment plan was ruined by the illegal dumping of tetraoctyltin, and tetrabutyltin and...

McNair Law Firm, P.A. announces new shareholders in South Carolina offices.(new appointments)
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff McNair Law Firm, P.A. has announced the addition of five new shareholders in the firm's South Carolina offices. The new shareholders are: * W. Marshall Taylor Jr., who practices in the...

Columbia attorney to lead USLAW's transportation committee.(Mark S. Barrow)(US Labor Against War)(Brief article)
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Columbia lawyer Mark S. Barrow has been named chairman of the transportation committee of USLAW, a national organization comprised of 58 law firms who become part of the USLAW Networks by...

Appeals Court says covenant barred private dock on upstate lake.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom The owner of a waterfront lot on Lake Keowee could not build a private dock due to a restrictive covenant -- despite a spate of new boat slips recently constructed nearby, the Appeals Court ruled April 3. The...

Bidder's delayed compliance not grounds to upset sale, Court of Appeals rules.(Wells Fargo Home Mortgage v. Salas)(foreclosure case)(Case overview)
April 10, 2006... Byline: GREGORY FROOM The owner of a foreclosed Greenville County property could not upset a judicial sale -- even though the winning bidder failed to timely comply with the bid's terms, the Court of Appeals has ruled in an unpublished...

Lawyer suspended for losing premiums, improper paralegal supervision.(Dean D. Porter)
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Charleston lawyer has been suspended for 90 days for mishandling title insurance premiums collected while performing real estate closings -- and failing to properly supervise the paralegal who...

Weighing the 'family factor' in nursing home neglect cases.
April 10, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton Before heading to trial with a nursing home neglect action, Spartanburg attorney Gary W. Poliakoff offers this advice: think about the family. "The family factor is more unique to nursing homes than other kinds...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 10, 2006.
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Real Property Restrictive Covenant - Dock Construction - Change Of Conditions Where the appellant, who sought a determination regarding the validity of a restrictive covenant that...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 10, 2006.(Bass v. Bass)(domestic relations case)(Pasley v. Pasley)(marital property case)(Charleston County Department of Social Services v. Mother, Father and Child)(termination of parental rights case)
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Divorce - Private Investigator Fees Where the appellant wife argues the Family Court erred in not awarding her separate suit costs for the private investigator fees, we...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 10, 2006.
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Title Insurance - Unpaid Premiums - Definite Suspension Where the respondent admitted misconduct for mishandling insurance premiums, we accept the agreement...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 10, 2006.
April 10, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Jurisdiction - Stating Federal Claim A Presbyterian minister whose church sought to fund his retirement by engaging a trustee firm to set up a trust for the minister can...

Charleston School of Law launches partnership with rural public defenders.(Brief article)
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Charleston School of Law students will have an opportunity to partner with public defenders across the state with the signing of a new agreement between the school and the S.C. Commission on...

Charleston-based Buist Moore Smythe McGee P.A. announces new firm principal.(Sean Houseal )(Brief article)
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Charleston attorney Sean Houseal has become a principal of the firm of Buist Moore Smythe McGee P.A. A former criminal prosecutor specializing in environmental and white collar crime, Houseal...

S.C. Court of Appeals rules employer not obligated to check home health aide's background.(Kirk v. Mumford, Inc. Health Force)(breach of contract and theft case)
April 17, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom A Charleston home health care company that didn't run a background check when it hired an aide could not be held liable when the employee later stole items from a client's house, the Appeals Court has ruled in an...

Law librarian speaks in Raleigh of "Building a New 21st Century Law Library".(Gordon Russell )
April 17, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom The Charleston School of Law's emphasis on digital resources is a well-calculated gamble that could either make the school's library director a national guru -- or a pariah in the world of academic legal research. ...

S.C. Supreme Court rules guardian not held to public figure standard in defamation lawsuit.(South Carolina)(Erickson v. Jones Street Publishers, LLC)(Case overview)
April 17, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom A private guardian ad litem need not meet the public figure burden of proof in her libel lawsuit against a free Charleston weekly newspaper, the Supreme Court has ruled in an apparent first-impression decision. ...

Document examiner proves letter was fabricated legal malpractice; lawsuit is dismissed.(Brandt v. Gooding)(Case overview)
April 17, 2006... Byline: Michael Dayton Columbia attorney Joseph S. McCue thought there was something fishy about the letter when it first surfaced during an expert's deposition. On its face, the letter looked bad for his client, an Allendale lawyer...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 17, 2006.(South Carolina)(Simmons v. Simmons)(equal distribution of social security benefits case)(Queen's Grant II Horizontal Property Regime v. Greenwood Development Corp)(restrictive covenants case)
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Divorce - Equitable Division of Social Security Benefits Where the respondent wife files a petition for a rule to show cause after the appellant husband failed to remit...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 17, 2006.(Kirk v. Mumford, Inc)(negligent hiring case)(case against mental patient)
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Home Health Care Services - Negligent Hiring - Background Check Where the appellant, who hired the respondent agency to provide home health care services, sued the agency for...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 17, 2006.(South Carolina)(Brandt v. Gooding)(legal malpractice case)(Law v. South Carolina Department of Corrections)(Erickson v. Jones Street Publishers)(defamation case)
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Legal Malpractice - Fraudulent Document Where the appellant, who sued the respondent law firm for legal malpractice in connection with a land transaction, produced a document,...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 17, 2006.
April 17, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Creditor's Rights FDCPA - Foreclosure - Lawyer As Substitute Trustee A lawyer serving as a substitute trustee in attempting to foreclose on a woman's home was acting as a "debt collector"...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: April 24, 2006.(Brief article)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly . . . Greenville attorney Stephen Henry recently spoke to a Travelers Rest middle school English class about the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Henry's practice includes civil rights...

S.C. Bar named to 2006 Associations Advance America Honor Roll.(South Carolina Bar )(Brief article)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The South Carolina Bar has been named to the 2006 Associations Advance America Honor Roll, a national awards competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives in Washington....

Dorchester County attorney named to children's advocacy board.(Robert D. "Robby" Robbins joins Children In Crisis Inc)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Robert D. "Robby" Robbins of counsel at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, has been tapped to serve on the board of directors of Children In Crisis Inc., a nonprofit organization in...

Appeals Court tosses unauthorized practice of law case against lender.(Hambrick et al. v. GMAC Mortgage Corp)(unauthorized practice of law case)(Case overview)
April 24, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom An Aiken County couple who claimed a mortgage company engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when it closed their loan could not sue for damages, the Appeals Court ruled April 17. In dismissing the...

Family Court could decide marriage's existence despite pending probate matter.(Thomas v. McGriff)(common-law-marriage case)(Case overview)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Family Court could hear a Lancaster County man's claim that he had been in a common-law marriage -- even though the woman had since died and her estate was in probate, the Supreme Court has...

Largest South Carolina law offices post average growth of 9% in 2005.
April 24, 2006... Byline: Gregory Froom The largest law firms in the Palmetto State posted an average growth of 9 percent in 2005 -- up significantly from the previous year's figures, according to an annual survey by Lawyers Weekly. In comparison, the...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 24, 2006.(Hambrick v. GMAC Mortgage Corp)(unauthorized practice of law case)(Arthur v. Sexton Dental Clinic)(medical malpractice case)(Legette v. Piggly Wiggly, Inc)(slip and fall accdient case)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Default On Installment Land Contract - Eviction - Forfeiture Where the Master-in-Equity's held that the respondent purchaser was entitled to evict the appellant from its real...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 24, 2006.(Brief article)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Escape - Inappropriate Comments - Sentencing Where the appellant argues the trial judge erred by making highly inappropriate comments during sentencing, and as a result, his...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 24, 2006.
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Intimidation Of Court Official - Directed Verdict Where the appellant was found guilty of intimidating a court official, the trial court properly denied the appellant's motion...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 24, 2006.(Jennings v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)(sexual harassment case)(Lenz v. Washington)(habeas corpus case)(U.S. v. Williams)(forged securities case)
April 24, 2006... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Title IX - Female Soccer Player - Sexual Harassment A female soccer player at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill loses on summary judgment her Title IX and Sect....