South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from April 2007

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from April 2007

S.C. Court of Appeals upholds benefits for trash collector's repetitive-trauma injury.(South Carolina)(Corbin v. City of Columbia )
April 2, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A Columbia garbage man could recover workers' comp benefits for his bad back -- even though he filed his claim more than two years after his first diagnosis, the Court of Appeals has ruled in an unpublished decision....

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 2, 2007.(South Carolina)(Gissel v. Hart)(Patricia Grand Hotel, LLC v. MacGuire Enterprises, Inc.)
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Awards - Individual Liability Where mobile home purchasers sued the appellants, alleging their mobile homes were improperly installed and contained a number of defects, we:...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 2, 2007.(South Carolina)(Corbin v. City of Columbia )
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Back Injury - Repetitive Trauma - Notice Where the claimant sought benefits for a work-related, repetitive-trauma injury to his back, the Circuit Court properly...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 2, 2007.(South Carolina)(Simpson v. MSA of Myrtle Beach, Inc.)
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Automobile Trade- In Contract - Validity Where the respondent purchaser, who entered into an automobile trade-in contract that contained an arbitration provision, sued the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 2, 2007.(Mbea v. Gonzales)(Mironescu v. Costner)
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Immigration Extradition - Jurisdiction - Torture Prohibition A federal District Court has no jurisdiction to consider a Romanian national's habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. Sect....

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: April 2, 2007.(Kandrac v. Charleston County School District )
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Discrimination - Hostile Work Environment Where the plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination against the school district, alleging a middle school principle condoned and...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: April 2, 2007.
April 2, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Two Attorneys Become Shareholders At Leatherwood Walker Todd & Mann, P.C. Attorneys Paul Hammack and Peter Rutledge have become shareholders with the law firm of Leatherwood Walker Todd &...

S.C. Supreme Court strikes down auto dealer's arbitration clause.(South Carolina)(Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers Act)(Rhodes v. Benson Chrysler)
April 2, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A Grand Strand woman won't have to arbitrate her claims that a dealership gave her a raw deal on a new minivan, the Supreme Court ruled March 26. The court said the plaintiff could air her allegations in court...

U.S. District Court upholds racial hostility verdict against school, damages tossed.(Kandrac v. Charleston County School Dist. et al.)
April 2, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom The U.S. District Court has upheld a jury's finding that a North Charleston teacher was subjected to a racially hostile workplace, but the judge has struck the $307,500 award. The plaintiff, a former Brentwood...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: April 9, 2007.
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Patrick Receives Gold Compleat Lawyer Award Charleston Attorney Charles W. Patrick Jr. has been selected to receive the Gold Compleat Lawyer Award from the University of South Carolina School...

Valuation of husband's business rejected in equitable distribution case.(Blanton v. Blanton )
April 9, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A Gaffney construction company was improperly valued by the Family Court during an equitable distribution proceeding, according to an unpublished Appeals Court decision. The March 23 case reveals some lack of...

Ellis Lawhorne, Vernon Glenn selected as best overall in Web site contest in S.C.(Ellis, Lawhorne and Sims)(E. Vernon F. Glenn )
April 9, 2007... Byline: Michael Dayton The Columbia firm of Ellis, Lawhorne & Sims and Mount Pleasant solo practitioner E. Vernon F. Glenn have grabbed top honors in Lawyers Weekly's second "Best Law Firm Web Site" competition. One judge praised Ellis...

Patient who contracted e. coli wins suit against Richland County Hospital.(Hadjucsek v. Palmetto Health Alliance and Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital)
April 9, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A Richland County man who nearly died of an e. coli infection at a Columbia hospital has won a $1 million verdict on his claim that nurses allowed his surgical dressings to become saturated with diarrhea. The...

S.C. COA rules 'unconventional' worker may include off-season job when calculating comp benefit rate.(South Carolina Court of Appeals)
April 9, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Exceptional circumstances entitled a Midlands man to workers' comp benefits that took into account wages from a construction job that he left to perform seasonal work at a fruit company, the Appeals Court has ruled....

Judging the Best Law Firm Web Sites.
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Meet the Judge Scott Reston is a Web developer in Raleigh, N.C., who has done sites for WRAL-TV, recording artists Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and the North Carolina State...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 9, 2007.(South Carolina)(State v. Jamison )
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Drug Trafficking - Expert Testimony Where the appellant argues the trial court abused its discretion by allowing the state to present expert testimony about the dollar value of...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: April 9, 2007.(South Carolina)(Blanton v. Blanton )
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Domestic Relations Business Valuation - Evidentiary Support Where the appellant husband appeals the Family Court's valuation of his business, contending the Family Court erred in valuing...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 9, 2007.(South Carolina)(Staggs v. State)(City of Camden v. Fairfield Electric Cooperative, Inc.)
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Conflict Of Interest - Accessory After the Fact Where the appellant filed for PCR, contending counsel had a conflict of interest in representing him together with his...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 9, 2007.(U.S. v. Cooper)(CSX Transportation Inc. v. Transportation Communications Int'l Union)
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Environmental Clean Water Act - Virginia Creek - Sewage Discharge The operator of a Bedford County, Va. trailer park violated the Clean Water Act by continuously discharging inadequately...

Verdicts & Settlements April 9, 2007: Condo owners assn. prevails in dispute over construction.(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff $971,003 Verdict Negligence and quiet title. Principal injuries (in order of severity): Defective infrastructure. Special damages: n/a Tried or settled: Tried County where...

Verdicts & Settlements April 9, 2007: Patient who contracted e. coli wins suit against hospital.(Hadjucsek v. Palmetto Health Alliance and Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital)
April 9, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff $1 Million Verdict Medical/nursing malpractice. Principal injuries (in order of severity): E. coli septicemia, ICU, near death, second surgery, loss of spinal fusion and loss of...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: April 16, 2007.
April 16, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff MG&C Attorney Named South Carolina Young Lawyer of the Year Attorney Tina Herbert has been named South Carolina Young Lawyer of the Year by the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division. ...

4th Circuit COA rules second-hand knowledge of alleged slur didn't bar racial discrimination lawsuit.(Court of Appeals)(Eddy et al. v. Waffle House, Inc.)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Members of a family who stopped to eat at a Walterboro Waffle House could claim that they were denied service, even though they were out of earshot of a waitress' alleged racist remark, the Fourth Circuit Court of...

U.S. District Court rules employer could base firing in part on polygraph results.(Worden v. SunTrust Banks, Inc.)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom SunTrust Bank did not violate the Employee Polygraph Protection Act when it fired an assistant manager at its Anderson branch -- even though the decision was based partly on a lie detector test after an attempted...

S.C. Supreme Court rules cyclist couldn't tap UIM from policy on another owned auto.(underinsured motorist insurance)(Burgess v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co.)
April 16, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Insurance companies can stop insureds from recovering underinsured motorist benefits under policies on cars they own when they were injured in another of their vehicles without the coverage -- but not so with...

Client surveys slow to catch on as a legal marketing tool.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Dick Dahl Client surveys are slowly being recognized as a viable marketing tool by law firms, but the profession still lags far behind the rest of the business world. "Client feedback is a normal part of an intelligent...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 16, 2007.(Stearns Bank National Assoc. v. Glenwood Falls, LP)(State v. Rutledge)(State v. Ladson )
April 16, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Service Of Process - Voluntary Appearance Where the appellant limited partnership moved to set aside a default judgment arguing the judgment was void as a result of the...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 16, 2007.(South Carolina)
April 16, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Drug Possession - Client Communication - Definite Suspension Where the respondent admitted misconduct for drug possession relating to his cocaine dependency...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 16, 2007.(Eddy et al. v. Waffle House, Inc.)(U.S. v. Stephens )
April 16, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Restaurant Service - Racist Comment In this suit under 42 U.S.C. Sect. 1981, in which the plaintiffs, a group of African-American family and friends, stopped for lunch at a...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: April 16, 2007.(Mennen v. Easter Stores)(Worden v. SunTrust Banks, Inc.)
April 16, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Polygraph Examination - Wrongful Discharge Where the plaintiff sued his employer, alleging he was wrongfully discharged based on the results of polygraph examinations in...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: Aril 23, 2007.(McAngus Goudelock and Courie LLC appoints Richele Taylor)(Turner, Padget, Graham and Laney opens new facility and appoints Bernard S. Klosowski)
April 23, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Richele Taylor Hires On At McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC Attorney Richele Taylor has joined the McAngus Goudelock & Courie's Columbia office. Taylor's areas of practice are elder law,...

Sowell Gray lawyer co-chairs free prom dress program in Columbia.(Brief article)
April 23, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte lawyer Tina Cundari served as a co-chair of the Cinderella Project, an endeavor that collects gently worn formal dresses to give to high school girls who otherwise...

Big firms in S.C. swell on coast, in Upstate.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Vibrant legal markets on both edges of the state -- the coast and Upstate -- have motivated South Carolina's largest firms to take on more attorneys, according to an annual survey by Lawyers Weekly. The 25 largest...

Survey shows some Palmetto State law firms waving serious cash at recent grads.
April 23, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Salaries for new associates at South Carolina's largest law firms may still seem puny when compared to pay scales in more urban states -- but a recent Lawyers Weekly survey shows that some Palmetto State firms are...

Kershaw County woman burned by errant fireworks settles lawsuit.(Truesdale v. Fantasy Fireworks)
April 23, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A Kershaw County woman who was hit in the neck by errant fireworks on New Year's Day 2004 has received $550,000 in a mediated settlement with the store that sold the device and its importer, Lawyers Weekly has...

U.S. District Court lets age, ethnic discrimination suit proceed.(Bickford v. Denmark Technical)
April 23, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom The U.S. District Court has given the go-ahead to a 63-year-old Hispanic woman's claim that Denmark Technical College discriminated against her when she was abruptly transferred to a mouse-infested satellite campus....

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 23, 2007.(Collins Holding Corp. v. Defibaugh)(State v. Lee-Grigg)(State v. Fairey)
April 23, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil S.C. Unfair Trade Practices Act - Lost Profits Where Collins Holding Corp., who is in the business of placing games in various establishments, sued the appellants/respondents...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 23, 2007.(Jennings v. University of North Carolina)(U.S. v. Pyles)(U.S. v. Hayes)
April 23, 2007... 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, who alleged a hostile environment from sexual...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: April 23, 2007.(Bickford v. Denmark Technical College)
April 23, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Adverse Employment Action - Legitimate, Nondiscriminatory Reason Where the plaintiff, who provided administrative support to a technical college, sued her former employer,...

Verdicts & Settlements April 23, 2007: Woman injured by stray fireworks reaches mediated settlement.(Sandra M. Truesdale and Joseph Truesdale v. Fantasy Fireworks Inc)(Brief article)
April 23, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff $550,000 Mediated Settlement Products liability action. Principal injuries (in order of severity): Plaintiff received severe burn injuries to her neck requiring multiple surgeries. ...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: April 30, 2007.
April 30, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Elmore Named To Governing Committee Of ABA's Construction Industry Forum Attorney L. Franklin "Frank" Elmore was named to a three-year term on the governing committee of the American Bar...

S.C. Supreme Court rules against arbitration of identity theft tort claims.
April 30, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom Lawsuits against a finance company over identity theft by its employees were not subject to arbitration under clauses in loan documents, the Supreme Court ruled April 23. The justices for the first time drew a...

S.C. COA rules contractor couldn't transfer comp claim liability based on Georgia proof of insurance.(South Carolina Court of Appeals, compensation claim)
April 30, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom A general contractor could not rely on a Georgia certificate of insurance to dodge paying comp benefits to an uninsured subcontractor's employee who was injured at a Greenwood job site, the Appeals Court has ruled....

S.C. Supreme Court rules couple's common law marriage action off limits to auto insurer.
April 30, 2007... Byline: Gregory Froom An auto insurer could not intervene or join in a Beaufort County couple's action to validate their alleged common law marriage -- even though the outcome could affect the insurance company's exposure, the Supreme...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: April 30, 2007.
April 30, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Service Of Process - Managing Agent - Authorization Where the Circuit Court found a roofing company was properly served by service of process on its employee, this was proper...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: April 30, 2007.
April 30, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Pool Malfunction - Harassment - Outrage Where the respondent, who ceased making payments after the pool company refused to remedy problems, sued the company after its employee...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: April 30, 2007.
April 30, 2007... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Plan Confirmation - IRS Claim - Partial Surrender - Ch. 13 Debtors have not "surrendered" to the IRS household property that they have retained and will continue to use, and...