South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from February 2009

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from February 2009

Commentary: scribner's eror: if lady justice wears a blindfold, how does she watch CNBC?
February 2, 2009... Byline: Gregory Froom We all know that justice delayed is justice denied. But, what about justice diminished by an economic downturn? As we compiled our annual verdicts and settlements roundup last week, a fair amount of speculation...

Bar delegates in S.C. tackle funding, self-reporting.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Against a backdrop of recent turmoil over state funding of Rule 608 indigent appointments, relative quiet prevailed Jan. 22 as the State Bar's House of Delegates pondered proposed resolutions and laws during the Bar...

Chief justice in S.C. looks for ways to cope with short cash, tall needs.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck In the wake of state budget cuts, the state Judicial Department is "re-engineering" court procedures, especially docket management, to make ends meet, Chief Justice Jean Toal said in her annual address to the State...

Indigent Defense Commission in S.C. seeks cash from lawmakers.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A request for Rule 608 funding began its journey through the mazes of legislative budgeting as the state Commission on Indigent Defense submitted its financial wish list to the General Assembly. In a meeting last...

S.C. Supreme Court lets parking lot trip-and-fall claim proceed.
February 2, 2009... Byline: Gregory Froom A woman who tripped and fell in a Newberry parking lot can go forward on her premises-liability claim because she presented at least some evidence that her accident was caused by a dangerous condition even if it was...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Appealability -- Dismissal Without Prejudice An order dismissing an action without prejudice and allowing the parties to pursue arbitration is immediately appealable, the...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Writ Of Certiorari Where we granted a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' decision in this case, we dismiss the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted after a...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 2, 2009.
February 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Arbitration-- Waiver After Litigation A defendant modular home contractor waived its right to compel arbitration of a buyer's warranty claims because the contractor waited until...

Commentary: building a foundation.(South Carolina)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor In developing a professional career, as in life, there are three important elements that define your starting point: your values (define your boundaries), your vision (is your destination) and your...

S.C. Bar helps attorneys find direction in turbulent times.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck You're just out of law school, you're ready to put your hard-won legal expertise to work and you're knocking on law firms' doors, looking for a paying job to help you take care of those student loans. But it's a...

Booked for Charleston: Justice O'Connor.
February 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Two years after hosting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a 2007 conference, women lawyers in the Carolinas will reunite in the fall for a second get-together featuring yet another high-court...

Circuit judge: evidence indicates class lawyers paid off.(South Carolina)
February 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A construction product-liability class action is moving forward after a state court said there was reason to believe the primary defendant engaged in misconduct with regard to claims that it allegedly paid off lawyers...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 9, 2009.
February 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Voluntary Manslaughter - Sufficient Legal Provocation The trial court erred in charging the jury on voluntary manslaughter since there was no evidence of sufficient...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 9, 2009.
February 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative FOIA - PTO Documents - Litigation Research In this suit by a lawyer and by Hunton & Williams law firm seeking documents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and the...

Verdicts & Settlements February 9, 2009: Improper valuation in LLC dissolution.
February 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Where the master found an LLC's value was the average between the listing price and the sale price, this was improper since the LLC's fair market value is reflected by the sales price, as the...

Commentary: Throw out the rules.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor When we started our careers, how you worked and how you managed is completely and totally different from the currently accepted thought philosophy of today. Every firm has a different idea or...

South Carolina Lawyers In The News: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly... Olgetree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart has named William L. Duda of the Columbia office and Jeffrey P. Dunlaevy of the Greenville office as shareholders. Duda is certified in...

Q&A with Dalton B. Floyd Jr., founding partner of The Floyd Law Firm in Surfside Beach.(Interview)
February 16, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Dalton B. Floyd Jr. is the founding partner of The Floyd Law Firm in Surfside Beach, which has a niche specialty in golf law. Floyd has been in practice for 42 years and has served in a variety of positions,...

S.C. Supreme Court finds contractor couldn't rely on unsigned workers' comp insurance certificate.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A state Supreme Court decision puts the onus on general contractors to be more careful when citing an insurance certificate as a reason to transfer liability for workers' comp benefits to the S.C. Uninsured Employers'...

Small returns from IOLTA ravages S.C. Bar Foundation grants for nonprofits.
February 16, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Nonprofits and other organizations dedicated to expanding the reach of justice in South Carolina are bracing for a severe blow to their budgets as a troubled economy continues to erode a chief source of funding grants...

New South Carolina bills address terrorist detention, home invasion and DHEC oversight.(Department of Health and Environmental Control)
February 16, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Since the General Assembly's return to the State House in January, budget shortages may have dominated lawmakers' time, but that hasn't stopped them from filing numerous law-related bills on topics ranging from...

South Carolina Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Sanctions Motion - Denial - Attorneys - Good Faith - FCPSA Clegg v. Lambrecht. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-028-09, 7 pp.) (Daniel F. Pieper, J.) Appealed from Beaufort County...

South Carolina Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Soliciting Prostitution - Discipline by Consent - Definite Suspension In re Pearman. (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-029-09, 3 pp.) (Per Curiam) S.C. S.Ct. Holding: Respondent...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 16, 2009.
February 16, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Excessive Force - Suicide Threat - Qualified Immunity Cloaninger v. McDevitt. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-030-09, 19 pp.) (Agee, J.) No. 07-2054, Feb. 9, 2009; USDC at Asheville,...

Commentary: coach's corner: roadmap to success.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor Peter Drucker said it best: "The best way to predict the future is to create the future." That is probably more true in today's economy and with law firms than at any other time in the history...

Commentary: S.C. employers' duties unclear due to preemption issue with immigration act.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Julia Ebert & Chris Lauderdale According to its Web site, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation "is responsible for licensing and regulating more than 139 professions and occupations with a base of more...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Matthew B. Hill has been named the newest shareholder in Ellis Lawhorne & Sims. He is a member of the business, real estate and finance practice group. He focuses on general corporate matters and...

South Carolina Bar's plea to revise Rule 608 rejected.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A petition to amend Rule 608 is back in the spotlight after the state Supreme Court declined to adopt the S.C. Bar's proposal to forbid uncompensated indigent court appointments. The move was likely to be the...

Fetal heart rate charts lead jury to York County medmal award.(South Carolina)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Lawyers for a couple who won a $4.4 million verdict in a York County medmal case said an electronic display of fetal monitoring data helped the jury understand the medical technicalities behind the plaintiffs' claims....

Q&A with South Carolina disciplinary defense attorney Desa Ballard.(Interview)
February 23, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith A graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Desa Ballard handles cases involving disciplinary actions and licensing for lawyers and other professionals. After receiving her J.D. in 1983, Ballard...

Same story, different states: S.C. Bar not alone in tight-budget struggle.
February 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Misery loves company, and there's misery aplenty for state bar presidents to share as they confront similar problems in the wake of economic malaise and government budget-trimming. But solutions are as few and far...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Administrative Remedies - Failure to Exhaust - Dismissal - Abuse of Discretion - Additional Claims - Insurance - Workers' Compensation Capital City Insurance Co. v. BP...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Search & Seizure - Warrantless Search - Plain View - Convenience Store - Separate Room - Video Gaming Machines State v. Tran. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-034-09, 2 pp.) (Per...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorneys Discipline - Definite Suspension - Restitution - Counseling In re Gray. (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-032-09, 6 pp.) (Per Curiam) From the Commission on Lawyer Conduct Full Panel....

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Immigration - Asylum - Panel Referral Quinteros-Mendoza v. Holder. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-033-09, 10 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 07-1544, Feb. 11, 2009; On Petition for Review....

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: February 23, 2009.
February 23, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Door-Closing Statute - Indiana Corporation - Virginia Contract - Virginia Residency Snell v. Golden Rule Insurance Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-004-09, 5 pp.) (Henry W....