South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from June 2003

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from June 2003

S.C. Law Firm Steinberg Named Best In State For Workers' Compensation Advocacy.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The Association of South Carolina Claimant Attorneys for Workers' Compensation has named The Steinberg Law Firm the Outstanding South Carolina Law Firm of the Year. David Pearlman accepted the...

S.C. attorney authors a chapter on CERCLA in the Environmental Law Hanbook.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Greenville attorney Ronald E. Cardwell, a shareholder with the firm Cardwell Conner, recently authored the chapter on CERCLA, commonly know as Superfund, for the 17th edition of the Environmental...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Used Car Buyers Could Get Trial On Consumer Protection Claims.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Spartanburg County couple could get a trial on their consumer protection claims against a used car dealer who allegedly overcharged them and didn't give them a cash receipt, the Appeals Court...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Mechanic Gets Permanent Comp Benefits For 5th Hernia.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Even though a mechanic had four prior hernias and doctors said the condition was "recurrent," he could still collect permanent workers' comp benefits when a fifth work-related hernia left him...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Thumb Injury - Deviation From Work Activities Where the claimant, who was out purchasing teaching materials, injured her hand when she fell outside a restaurant...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Assignment of Insurance Settlement Proceeds - Contractual Privity Where the appellant doctor, who performed surgery on a woman for injuries she received in a car accident, sued...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Automobile Purchase - Failure to Provide Receipt for Cash Payment Where the appellants, who purchased a car from the respondent, sued the respondent and the bank for failing to...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Assault and Battery with Intent to Kill - Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where the PCR court concluded the respondent's appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Rights Constitutional - Commerce Clause - Wine & Beer Imports - Va. Law The 4th Circuit vacates a Virginia District Court decision declaring unconstitutional certain parts of...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules 60 Years Of Road Use Established Easement On Land.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Johns Island church could not cut off its neighbors' access to a gravel road that ran across church property, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The reason: the neighbors had obtained a...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Doctor Couldn't Enforce Assignment Agreement Against Insurance Co.
June 2, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A Columbia surgeon who entered an assignment agreement with an injured motorist could not sue a third-party insurance company that ignored the agreement and sent payment directly to the motorist,...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 9, 2003.
June 9, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Criminal Sexual Conduct - Improper Character Evidence Where the appellant, who denied the victim's allegations in his first interview with the detective but returned a few...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 9, 2003.
June 9, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Appeals Attorney Client Privilege - Interlocutory Where a couple deposed a former trustee of the petitioner electric cooperative, which objected to several questions based on the attorney...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 9, 2003.
June 9, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Admiralty Shipper Payment - Cargo Consolidator - Aluminum Shipment In a case of first impression in admiralty law, the 4th Circuit holds that where a shipper chooses to remit payment by...

Nexsen Pruet Selected As 'Leading Business Firm' In S.C.; Legal Directory Also Highlights Individual Attorneys.
June 9, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Legal publishers Chambers & Partners listed Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard, LLC, as South Carolina's No. 1 business law firm, and the Chambers' legal directory highlighted three of its attorneys...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules 2nd Wife Could Get Trial On Claim To Husband's Pension.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The second wife of a retired DuPont employee could get a trial on her claim that she -- not the first wife -- was entitled to her deceased husband's pension benefits, the Appeals Court has ruled in a 2-1 decision. ...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Worker Limited To Comp Benefits Despite Vendor/Vendee Relationship.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom A Florence County man who worked for a vendor that supplied labor to Wal-Mart was limited to workers' compensation benefits for his injuries in an on-the-job forklift accident, the Appeals Court ruled June 2. ...

S.C. Supreme Court Suspends Former Prosecutor For Not Disclosing Videotape.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton The state Supreme Court has suspended a former Lexington County prosecutor over the videotaping of a privileged talk between a murder suspect and his lawyer. Officials in the county sheriff's department secretly...

S.C. Attorney William C. Hubbard Elected To American Law Institute Council.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Columbia attorney William C. Hubbard, a partner in the firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, L.L.P., was elected on May 12 to the Council of The American Law Institute at the ALI's 80th...

S.C. Lawyers In The News: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Columbia attorney Reginald W. Belcher has become a shareholder in the McNair Law Firm. Belcher hired on at the firm in 1994 as a law clerk and joined the firm's labor and employment section as an...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Drowned Boy's Estate Gets New Trial Over Error In Jury Charge.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The estate of a Richland County teenager who drowned in Lake Murray was entitled to a new trial against the lake's owner, South Carolina Electric and Gas, the Appeals Court ruled June 9. The reason: the trial...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Suppression of Inculpatory Statement - Police Custody Where the petitioner, who was charged with three counts of murder after her three children died in a mobile home fire,...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Leg Injuries - Company Sponsored Retreat Where the claimant suffered leg injuries when she fell down stairs while attending a company-sponsored staff retreat, the...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Rules Guarantor Liable Despite Incomplete Documents And Explanation.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton A Greenville woman who said a guaranty agreement was not filled out correctly and never fully explained is still liable for nearly $63,000 on unpaid loans, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The woman acted as...

S.C. Supreme Court Rules Comp Claimant Could Block Employer's Contact With Doctors.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The attorney for a Greenville County workers' comp claimant didn't run afoul of the comp statute when he warned the employer to avoid "ex parte" discussions with the claimant's healthcare providers, the Supreme Court...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Banks and Banking Loans - Breach of Guarantee Agreement - Unlimited Liability Where the bank sued the appellant to collect amounts owed on two loans allegedly guaranteed by the appellant,...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Breach - Video Poker Machines - Exclusivity Agreement Where the respondent amusement company sued the appellant pawn shop for breach of contract after the appellant sent a letter...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 16, 2003.
June 16, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Suspension of Dentist's License - Admitted Misconduct Where the appellant dentist, who signed a memorandum of agreement in which he admitted the allegations of a formal...

Lawyers Weekly Announces New Tool For Attracting Clients To Law Firm Websites.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Lawyers Weekly is announcing the launch of a new product that law firms will use to attract clients to their websites: Legal NewsLinks. The new Legal NewsLinks Service automatically sends...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Enforces 2-Year Limitations Period On Lawsuit Against State Officials.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton Two state employees who brought an outrage claim against individual board members of the Commission for the Blind were bound by the Tort Claims Act and had only two years -- not three -- to file their lawsuit, the...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 23, 2003.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Double Jeopardy Clause - Mistrial Where the state moved for a mistrial the day after the appellant's trial started because the victim's body was discovered the previous...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 23, 2003.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Strong- Arm Robbery - Guilty Plea - Sufficiency of Indictment Where the appellant argues the Circuit Court did not have proper subject matter jurisdiction to accept his guilty...

American Bar Association Gambrell Professionalism Award Honors USC Law School Center.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism will honor two law schools and a bar association with the 2003 E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards. The awards will be...

S.C. Legislature Approves Predatory Lending, Domestic Violence Acts.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom Wrapping up the 2003 General Assembly session, legislators approved bills that set new standards for consumer home lending, made certain types of domestic violence a felony and lowered the legal blood alcohol limit...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 23, 2003.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Timely Petition - Enhanced Federal Sentence - Invalidated State Conviction A petitioner, who was convicted of two federal crimes and received an enhanced...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 23, 2003.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Workers' Compensation Settlement Agreement - Admitted Injury - Disbursement of Funds Where the claimant, who suffered an admitted compensable work-related injury, entered in to a...

Law Firm Womble Carlyle To Receive Prestigious Thurgood Marshall Corporate Leadership Award.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC recently announced that the firm is the recipient of the prestigious Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund 2003 Corporate Leadership Award. The award is the...

S.C. Court Of Appeals Upholds Jury Charge On Doctor's Care Standard.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The jury charge in a medmal suit against a Spartanburg ER doctor wasn't defective even though it failed to state that the standard of care was that of a physician "in the same field of medicine," the Appeals Court...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 23, 2003.
June 23, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Physician Privileges - Suspension - Fair Hearing - Due Process Where the Circuit Court reversed the appellant hospital's board's decision to suspend a doctor's medical privileges,...

Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment For Insurer In Bad Faith Suit.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Michael Dayton A federal judge has rejected a bad faith claim against an auto insurer, ruling that stalling tactics by the plaintiff and her lawyer dragged out settlement negotiations for months. The plaintiff was severely...

S.C. Supreme Court Grants Cert On Woman's Botched Adoption Suit.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The Supreme Court will review a woman's claim against the hospital where she was born for its role in a botched adoption that placed her with a sexually abusive family. The high court granted certiorari in the...

S.C. Supreme Court Rules DUI Indictment Sufficient Despite Lacking Phrase.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom A motorist could not upset his 1998 Cherokee County impaired driving plea, even though his indictment didn't include the "materially and appreciably impaired" language from a recently amended statute, the Supreme...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: June 30, 2003.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Real Estate Commission Where the jury found the appellant failed to pay the respondent a sales commission due under a real estate broker's contract, the trial court properly...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: June 30, 2003.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Contracts- Interpretation - Class Arbitration Where the plaintiffs were awarded damages pursuant to their respective class action arbitrations against a finance company for...

U.S. District Court Case Summaries: June 30, 2003.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Tort Automobile Accident - Settlement - Covenant Not to Execute Where the plaintiff, as assignee of the person who hit her vehicle head-on, sued the person's insurance company, asserting...

Verdicts & Settlements June 30, 2003: U.S. Court Grants Insurer Summary Judgment For Bad Faith Claim.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Case is of interest because the court did not allow a plaintiff's attorney to manipulate the settlement process to create a bad faith liability for the insurer. Case shows that plaintiff's...

U.S. Supreme Court Returns Case To Arbitrator For Class Approval.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Gregory Froom The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a South Carolina decision that upheld a $26 million class-action arbitration award to finance company customers who alleged violations of consumer protection laws. In a split 5-4...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: June 30, 2003.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Drug Charges - Waiver of Right to Representation - Public Defender Where the appellant, who was convicted of various drug charges, argues he did not waive his right to an...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: June 30, 2003.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Driving Under the Influence - Sufficiency of Indictment Where the respondent, who pled guilty to a 1998 indictment for DUI, second offense, argues the indictment is insufficient...

Verdicts & Settlements June 30, 2003: Nursing Home Patient's Estate Settles $950K Amputation Claim.
June 30, 2003... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Raymond Hollingsworth was admitted to the Charleston Nursing Center on July 22, 1999. On admission, Hollingsworth was 69 years old, suffered from dementia and Crohn's disease, was bedridden and...