South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from August 2004

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from August 2004

Colorado-based electronic monitoring firm settles for $1M for murder by house arrest detainee.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Michael Dayton A Colorado company that removed an electronic monitor from a Pickens County criminal suspect shortly before he murdered a Clemson woman has agreed to settle a lawsuit for nearly $1 million. Behavioral...

Supreme Court cautions state of South Carolina about group viewings of photo lineups.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom The high court has "strongly admonished" the state against allowing crime victims to simultaneously view photo lineups while seated in the same room. Despite what the justices called a "blatantly unacceptable"...

S.C. Ethics Committee discusses Internet and multi-state advertisements.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom Issues raised by legal ads on the Internet and advertisements in the context of multi-state practices were addressed by the State Bar's Ethics Advisory Committee in two recent opinions. * In Ethics Advisory...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Daycare Center - Violations - Permanent Injunction Where the appellant child development center, which was owned and operated by the defendant Ms. Almeida, argues the Family Court...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Breach - Implied Warranty - Suitability After a review of the record on appeal, the Supreme Court finds that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial to support the...

Supreme Court rules construction contract implies duty to meet building codes.(South Carolina)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Michael Dayton A contractor that agreed to replace the windows in a Rock Hill condominium project had an implied obligation to make sure the local building codes were met, the Supreme Court has ruled. The two-page per curiam...

S.C. Appeals Court rules lumber company didn't alter a crew leader's at-will status.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom The employment handbook of a Kershaw County lumber company did not alter a crew leader's at-will status -- despite a progressive discipline policy spelled out in the manual, the Appeals Court has ruled in an...

S.C. attorney Mark Fava joins Nelson Mullins in Charleston.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Mark Fava has rejoined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as a partner in the law firm's Charleston office. Fava, who practices commercial litigation, specializing in aviation law...

S.C. Judge William Howard leaves bench and joins Young Clement Rivers law firm.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Newsweek called his handling of the tumultuous, nationally publicized Susan Smith murder case a "textbook trial." Defense and plaintiff attorneys alike voted him South Carolina's top judge. Peers...

S.C. Lawyers In The News: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Anderson attorney James Brislane was recently named as a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Membership in the organization is limited to lawyers who have won million-dollar and...

S.C. Appeals Court rules contractor not required to verify sub's comp coverage was renewed.
August 9, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom A Charleston housing contractor was not required to pay workers' comp benefits to the injured employee of an uninsured subcontractor -- even though the contractor failed to verify that the sub had renewed its comp...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 9, 2004.
August 9, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Corporate Shareholder Derivative Action - Restraining Order - Logo Use Where the appellants, who established a South Carolina corporation in 1993 and a North Carolina corporation in 2001...

Answering tort reform challenge top priority for SCTLA president.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom Combating the pro-tort reform movement is once again the primary focus of the incoming president of the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association. "There is an agenda to cause tort reform. Our agenda is the...

S.C. Appeals Court rules motorist couldn't get jury trial on obstructed vision claim against DOT.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom A woman whose car was broadsided at an allegedly obscured Jasper County intersection could not take her claim against the Department of Transportation to the jury, the Appeals Court has ruled in an unpublished...

Supreme Court rules CGL policy didn't cover damages due to faulty road construction.
August 16, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom A Lowcountry contractor could not tap his commercial general liability coverage to pay for repairs to substandard roads that the company built in a Mt. Pleasant development, the Supreme Court ruled Aug. 9. The...

Two South Carolina labor law firms to join forces.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C. and Haynsworth Baldwin Johnson & Greaves LLC have announced that the two law firms will join forces, effective Sept. 1. The combined firm will...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Insurance Policy Exclusions - Settlement Agreement - Subrogation Where the appellant insurer, who settled with its insured's employee for $50,000 on the employee's tort claim against the...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Plea Bargain - Drug Weight Challenge - Safety Valve Although the defendant pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sect. 846,...

South Carolina Workers' Compensation Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Burn Injury - Temporary Total Benefits Where the claimant and his supervisor, who were working on the supervisor's truck that was to be used by the employer, were...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Self- Defense Charge - Intent to Withdraw Where the appellant, who was convicted of the murder of a robbery victim, testified he: (1) walked up to the robbery and...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 16, 2004.
August 16, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Prepayment of Deposition Costs - Retainer Agreement Where the respondent's client alleges that the respondent failed to depose two potential deponents and...

Rogers Townsend & Thomas attorney speaks at Homecomings Financial Summit.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The law firm of Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC has announced that attorney Reginald "Reggie" P. Corley facilitated a session at the Homecomings Financial 4th Annual Attorney Summit. Corley...

Supreme Court sets out new rules for custody relocation cases.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Michael Dayton Rejecting decades-old case law, the Supreme Court has laid out new guidelines for trial judges and family lawyers to use when a custodial parent wants to move out-of-state with his or her child. The focus in the...

American Law Institute names South Carolina lawyers to its executive committee of the council.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff William Hubbard, a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, has been named to the executive committee of the council of the American Law Institute. In other Nelson Mullins...

Federal judge rules auto policy covered death when gun removed from truck.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Michael Dayton The estate of a woman who was killed when her husband's shotgun discharged as he unloaded it from his pick-up truck was entitled to coverage under the couple's automobile insurance policy, a federal judge has ruled....

Verdicts & Settlements August 23, 2004: Mediation for med-mal case results in $520K settlement.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff, a 57-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic, complained of a small sore on the tip of his little toe. The anonymous defendant, a podiatrist, debrided the grade two sore and provided...

Verdicts & Settlements August 23, 2004: Property owner wins inverse condemnation suit against state.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff $550,000 Verdict Inverse condemnation. Principal injuries (in order of severity): Denial of access, ingress and egress. Special damages: Owner's opinion of fair market value:...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Trafficking Crack Cocaine - Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where the petitioner, who was indicted for one count of trafficking crack cocaine by conspiracy and four counts of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights EAJA - Attorney's Fees - Condemnation Challenge Where the petitioner successfully challenged a condemnation action brought by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a Virginia...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Emergency Medical Treatment and Access to Labor Act - Violation Where the plaintiff, a licensed clinical social worker, contends his employer's reason for terminating him was a...

S.C. Workers' Compensation Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Back Injury - Permanent Partial Disability Where the claimant suffered a back injury while hanging picture tubes for his employer, the appellate panel affirmed the...

Plaintiff settles for $1M for stroke while on blood thinner.
August 23, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom A Charleston man who suffered a brain hemorrhage and diminished IQ due to high levels of an anticoagulant in his bloodstream has settled a medical malpractice claim against his treating physician for $1 million. ...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 23, 2004.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Default Judgement - Late Answer - Appearance Where the appellants argue that because they filed a late answer, they made an "appearance" in the action and entry of default...

Verdicts & Settlements August 23, 2004: S.C. jury awards $228K to plaintiff for breach of contract.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff This action came before the court for a trial by jury. The issues have been tried and the jury rendered its verdict. The plaintiff, BSA Sales, Inc., was awarded the sum of $228,000 actual damages...

Verdicts & Settlements August 23, 2004: Estate gets $315K verdict in suit against doctor.
August 23, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The plaintiff's decedent, 43 years old, received a gunshot wound in 1991 requiring abdominal exploration. In 1997 he developed an obstructed bowel, presumably caused by scar tissue adhesions, and...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment Prevailing Wage Statute - Inmates - Private Right of Action Where the appellant inmates filed a Tort Claims action, alleging their training wages and hourly wages did not...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Bankruptcy Tenancy By Entirety - 'Strong- Arm' Clause A District Court did not err in upholding a Bankruptcy Court order overruling the Chapter 7 trustee's objection to an exemption, in...

Supreme Court grants certiorari on prescriptive easement case.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom The Supreme Court will hear the case of a Jasper County landowner who was denied a prescriptive easement over a private road after his neighbor set up barriers to prevent him from using it. The high court granted...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Limitation of Cross- Examination - Prior Conviction Where the appellant argues the trial court erred in limiting his cross-examination of the state's key witness, Mr....

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. again ranks No. 1 as Bond Counsel in S.C.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The law firm of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. ranked first among bond counsel in South Carolina for mid-year 2004, based on the total principal amount of bonds issued, according to The Bond Buyer,...

U.S. Appeals Court didn't waive arbitration despite delay.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Gregory Froom A contractor did not waive its right to compel arbitration even though it delayed enforcing the clause until eight months after a subcontractor sued in a Greer school renovation dispute, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of...

Supreme Court amicus brief features video clips from Senate debates.
August 30, 2004... Byline: Michael Dayton Two Greenville attorneys have turned in an electronic brief to the state Supreme Court that includes hyperlinks to cases -- and video clips of a Statehouse floor debate. The multimedia brief was prepared by Keith...

The South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association installs new officers for 2004-2005.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association elected new officers at its recent convention in Hilton Head. They are: * President: Preston McDaniel of Columbia, primary practice in the area...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: August 30, 2004.
August 30, 2004... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Criminal Sexual Conduct With a Minor - Pre- Indictment Delay Where the appellant, whose stepdaughters were removed in 1988 and returned home within two to three months after...