South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from December 2008

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from December 2008

Commentary: Battle Zone: A few observations on workers' comp case.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was as light as whipped non-fat cream cheese, with no published Supreme Court opinions and three published decisions from the appeals court. I chose to discuss a workers' compensation case where a man...

South Carolina Lawyers In The News: December 1, 2008.
December 1, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The S.C. Board of Arbitrator and Mediator Certification recently approved Thomas Kennaday of Turner Padget Graham & Laney as a Circuit Court mediator. Kennaday, who is special counsel in the...

S.C. Bar inks contract to buy lot next door.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The S.C. Bar has signed a contract to buy a downtown Columbia parking lot where it plans to construct a 15,000-square-foot building with expanded meeting space as an adjunct to its current headquarters next door. ...

Lawyers Helping Lawyers gets 'HELP' from new S.C. Bar task force.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Sometimes they argue, swear and storm out, leaving a distressed and puzzled collection of friends, colleagues and loved ones wondering what to do next. Sometimes they enter the room and scope out the familiar...

S.C. Bar opposes 8 of ABA's suggestions.
December 1, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Not all of the American Bar Association's recommendations for improving the state's regulation of attorneys are worth following, the S.C. Bar has told the state Supreme Court. In comments submitted to the high...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 1, 2008.
December 1, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Account Funds - Conversion - Motion To Compel - Significant Relationship Arbitration must be compelled where account funds were converted by a securities broker since: (1)...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: December 1, 2008.
December 1, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment ERISA - Disability Benefits - Appeal Notice The Fourth Circuit in Gagliano v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co. (South Carolina Lawyers Weekly No. 001-160-08) (20 pages) upholds...

South Carolina Workers' Compensation Case Summaries: December 1, 2008.
December 1, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Knee Injury - Sleeping On The Job - Claim Denial An employee who claims he tripped over paint buckets and injured his left knee is not entitled to benefits since his...

Commentary: battle zone - some views from the opinions editor.(South Carolina)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was like waiting all year for a great present and ending up with a pair of reindeer socks with googly-eyes. There were two published Supreme Court cases and three published Court of Appeals cases. I chose...

Second opinions: South Carolina groups give their views on ABA report.
December 15, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The American Bar Association has had its shot at diagnosing the infirmities of South Carolina's judicial system, and now the state's lawyers, legal organizations and regulatory offices have weighed in with their own...

Q&A interview with John Lay, new president of S.C. Defense Trial Attorneys' Association.(Interview)
December 15, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle John T. Lay Jr., the new president of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys' Association, graciously agreed to answer the questions we posited. Lay is a shareholder at the firm of Ellis Lawhorne & Sims. His...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Unpublished Case Summaries: December 15, 2008.
December 15, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Batson Claim-Age-Occupation-Waiver A drug defendant cannot overturn his conviction based on a claim that the prosecution violated Batson v. Kentucky when it struck a black...

Verdicts & Settlements December 15, 2008: Simple approach nets results in construction case.
December 15, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Just keep it simple. That strategy paid off big for a Florence homeowners' association recently as its lawyers streamlined their lawsuit against the developer and builder of a condominium complex and won a $2.246...

Commentary: battle zone: a few observations from the opinions editor.(South Carolina)
December 22, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was as busy as Santa's workshop with three published Supreme Court cases and three published Court of Appeals cases. I chose to discuss a Court of Appeals case where a man sought damages for loss of...

Commentary: does S.C. favor debtors or creditors? Depends on whom you ask.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Ruth W. Cupp "South Carolina is a debtor-friendly state," says Robert A. Bernstein, who practices commercial law. "This makes it hard to collect a debt." "South Carolina is not a debtor-friendly state," says H. Thomas Cone, a...

Even workaholic lawyers can - and should - get away from the office.(South Carolina)
December 22, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Just days away from the holidays, the pastimes that will wrap up 2008 and usher in 2009 may seem lost on the far side of an eternity of work to lawyers desperate to carve out some time away from the office. ...

No diversity based on corporate dual citizenship, rules 4th Circuit.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Two class-action lawsuits over payday loans have been bounced back to state court after the Fourth Circuit ruled that the defendants couldn't establish the diversity necessary for removal despite a recent federal law...

S.C. Court of Appeals denies student increased damages.
December 22, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A man who claimed a trial court miscalculated his damages won't get the increase he wanted after the state Court of Appeals said its job isn't to figure out on its own how the alleged mistake was made. The court...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: December 22, 2008.
December 22, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Public Systems Training Course -- Lost Wages -- Mitigation Of Damages A man who sued for breach of contract, claiming his loss of earnings capacity was due to a company's...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: December 22, 2008.
December 22, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Jurisdiction -- 'Minimal' Diversity -- Class Action This suit by borrowers against a "payday loan" lender in South Carolina is remanded from federal to state court because...

Commentary: battle zone: a few observations on South Carolina Court of Appeals decisions.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was as productive as standing in line for 20 minutes to pay for your Christmas presents and finding you left your wallet in the car. There were three published Court of Appeals cases. I chose to discuss an...

Logic trumps math in public defender dispute.(South Carolina)
December 29, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A state statute governing selection of circuit public defenders has taken a hit from the S.C. Supreme Court in a battle involving the state Commission on Indigent Defense, a county bar association and a duel between...

Pre-filed bills preview 2009 legislative session in South Carolina.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck In anticipation of the General Assembly's Jan. 13 return to the State House, lawmakers have pre-filed more than 400 bills, including proposals to expand the S.C. Supreme Court and give the state a third law school....

Lack of direct evidence stymies South Carolina Court of Appeals dram shop claim.
December 29, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Circumstantial evidence wasn't enough get a dram shop claim before a jury in a lawsuit over a fatal Greenwood County drunk-driving accident, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The plaintiff, who was seriously injured...