South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2008

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2008

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Tigerron A. "Tiger" Wells has joined the Columbia office of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd as an associate. He is a member of the business & consumer products industry group and represents the firm's...

Amendment to 403(g), SCACR.(South Carolina Constitution, Rule 403)(Brief article)
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Pursuant to Article V, Sect. 4 of the South Carolina Constitution, Rule 403(g), SCACR, is amended to read: (g) Judge Advocate General Lawyers. The Judge Advocate General's Corps of any...

S.C. Court of Appeals says man couldn't recover against sister for pet raccoon attack.(South Carolina)(Case overview)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A Midlands man who was bitten twice by his sister's pet raccoon cannot recover damages, even though he claimed she should have warned him about the animal's violent streak, the appeals court has ruled. The...

Ruling in case with S.C. roots opens door to 401(k) lawsuits.(South Carolina)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Despite statutory language barring suits for individual damages, an employee of a South Carolina-based management consulting firm could recover losses under ERISA after the firm failed to make requested changes to his...

S.C. Court of Appeals says comp claimant couldn't pick doctor, make employer pay.(South Carolina)(Kimberly-Clark Corp.)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom An Aiken County forklift driver who was injured on the job could not pick her own doctor and make her employer pay the bill, despite her argument that a 2002 appeals court opinion justified it, the Court of Appeals...

South Carolina Women Lawyers Association head aims to partner with female lawyers in region.(Liz Crum)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith Establishing partnerships among women lawyers associations in the Southeast and supporting young female attorneys as they begin their careers are two primary goals for the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association this...

U.S. Supreme Court issues ruling on 401(k) lawsuit.
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Employment 401(k) Plan Participant - ERISA - Fiduciary Duty - Individual Account A participant in a defined-contribution pension plan can sue a fiduciary whose alleged misconduct...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.(South Carolina)(Case overview)
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Murder - Jury Charge - Curative Instruction The trial court properly denied the appellant's motion for a mistrial since the judge's instruction cured any potential prejudice,...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.(South Carolina)
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Power Of Attorney - Misappropriation Of Funds - Attorney- In-Fact Editor's note: The subject of this disciplinary matter, James M. Williams III, is a...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Ineffective Assistance - Reversal Of Writ In Lawrence v. Branker (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-042-08) (23 pages), the 4th Circuit reverses a District Court's issuance...

Commentary: Vintage van transports lawyer who battles car dealerships over shady sales.(Steve Moskos)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Ruth W. Cupp Charleston attorney Steve Moskos has a unique law practice. Seventy-five percent of his practice is litigating consumer law cases. Moskos was admitted to the Bar in November 1986, just after graduating from the...

Commentary: FMLA expanded to permit leave for family of military personnel.(Family and Medical Leave Act)
March 10, 2008... Byline: David E. Dubberly On Jan. 28, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which contains a provision amending the Family and Medical Leave Act for the first time since the FMLA was...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: March 10, 2008.(Babb and Brown)(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The law firm of Babb and Brown has opened its third office in the Upstate, located in Duncan. It will be the firm's first office in the Spartanburg area. Attorney Robin Grossman Poliakoff, an...

BOOT CAMP.(Bankruptcy Boot Camp for lawyers)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith, Staff Writer Consumer bankruptcy attorney O. Max Gardner is marshaling an army. With the rate of home foreclosures escalating nationwide, the Shelby, N.C., lawyer is recruiting attorneys to join the fight for...

Master lacked equitable discretion to refuse deficiency judgment, rules S.C. Supreme Court.(South Carolina)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A Spartanburg County master-in-equity overstepped his authority when he denied a mortgage company's request for a deficiency judgment after a foreclosed property sold for less than what was owed, the Supreme Court has...

Settlement reached after verdict in Golf Trust lawsuit.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Michael Dayton A $3.8 million jury verdict -- the third largest award on January's Verdicts & Settlements survey -- has been converted into a structured settlement, Lawyers Weekly has learned. Charleston lawyer Joseph P....

Wreck site DVD admissible despite 4-year time lapse, rules S.C. Court of Appeals.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A DVD showing traffic flow at a Charleston intersection was properly admitted into evidence at an auto accident trial -- even though the recording was made more than four years after the wreck, the appeals court has...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.(South Carolina)
March 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Commercial Building - Lease - Breach - Ambiguity Summary judgment was improperly granted to a lessor since the Circuit Court, which found the appellant's interpretation of the...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Post- Conviction Relief - Guilty Plea - Resentencing The remand of the appellant's Sumter County sentences is not a "subsequent conviction" rendering him ineligible for parole...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative Tobacco Reform Act - Buyout Contracts - Standing A District Court did not err in dismissing for lack of standing a complaint by two tobacco producers under the Fair and...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: March 17, 2008.
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly Collins & Lacy has opened a new office in Greenville. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough attorney Robert Whelan has received the firm's 2007 Claude M. Scarborough Jr. Award for...

S.C. Court of Appeals tosses arbitrator's award to credit card company.(South Carolina)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Lack of jurisdiction has prompted the Court of Appeals to snub a credit card company's request to enforce a $13,580 arbitration award against a Mauldin man. In a March 4 decision, the appellate panel said MBNA...

S.C. Supreme Court's new decision on CGL coverage clears up confusion from L-J case.(South Carolina)(comprehensive general liability)(L-J v. Bituminous Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 366 S.C. 117)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A subcontractor's faulty application of stucco to a Lowcountry house amounted to an "occurrence" under the same commercial general liability policy language found in the landmark -- and much-maligned -- case of L-J v....

Vicarious liability admission not a bar to negligent hiring claim, rules S.C. Supreme Court.(South Carolina)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Auto tort plaintiffs could still pursue negligent hiring and related claims against a trucking company -- even though it stipulated that its driver was at fault and that it was liable under respondeat superior, the...

Young Lawyers Division of South Carolina Bar sponsoring benefit concert for Bar's pro bono program.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith Move over, Cyndi Lauper. Lawyers just wanna have fun, too. And even better, they want to raise money for a good cause while doing it. For the second year in a row, the Young Lawyers Division of the South...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 17, 2008.(South Carolina )
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Arbitration Credit Card Agreement - Default - Consent To Arbitrate The trial court properly vacated a $13,580 arbitration award for a credit card company since the company failed to show...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 17, 2008.(South Carolina)
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Power Of Attorney - Misappropriation Of Funds - Disbarment An attorney who misappropriated more than $400,000 from a client's personal assets for his own use...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 17, 2008.
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Res Judicata - Surface Mine Remedial Act - Constitutional Challenge A limestone mining company that is challenging a provision of the Maryland Surface Mine Dewatering Act...

S.C. Supreme Court.(South Carolina)
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Failiure To Respond Or Communicate - Public Reprimand An attorney who admitted misconduct in various matters, including failing to adequately communicate with...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit.
March 17, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Jurisdictional Amount - Removal Notice - Sua Sponte Remand In this products liability suit alleging defects in an RV, a District Court erred when it decided sua sponte...

South Carolina Bar Foundation honors 'Nifty-Fifty' for half-century of practice.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Ruth W. Cupp The South Carolina Bar Foundation welcomed 170 guests to the Columbia Convention Center on March 6 to celebrate the Bar's philanthropic arm and the "Nifty-Fifty" members of the S.C. Bar. This year's gala was the...

Nurse assigned to mix of aggressive, passive patients gets comp, rules S.C. Supreme Court.(South Carolina)
March 31, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A Florence nurse could recover comp benefits after she became severely depressed from working with a group of passive and aggressive mentally retarded patients, the Supreme Court ruled March 24. In a 4-1 decision,...

Sub had private right of action against state for failing to ensure contractor was bonded.(subcontractor)
March 31, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A subcontractor that worked on a state highway maintenance project had a private right of action against SCDOT for allegedly failing to make sure the general contractor still had a valid payment...

S.C. appellate court again remands medmal case to see if internal report was admissible evidence.(South Carolina; medical malpractice)
March 31, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom A Lowcountry medical malpractice case will return a second time to Circuit Court for a determination of what parts of a hospital's quality assurance report could be subject to discovery. The case focused on a...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 31, 2008.(South Carolina)
March 31, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Suppression Of Evidence - Drug Trafficking - Consent To Search A man's motion to suppress drug evidence found in his vehicle was properly denied since he gave his consent to...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 31, 2008.(South Carolina)
March 31, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Equipment Purchase - Buy- Back Provision - Counterclaims A company owner's affidavit, affirmative defenses and counterclaims are sufficient to create a genuine issue of material...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 31, 2008.
March 31, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Procedure Appeals - Final Order - Insurance - Duty To Defend A Norfolk, Va., federal judge's administrative closure of a case, in which he held that an insurance carrier had a duty...

South Carolina to hold public hearings on obstacles the poor face utilizing civil court system.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Diana Smith Identifying the key obstacles faced by the poor as they try to utilize South Carolina's civil court system will be the purpose of five state public hearings between now and June 26, according to the leader of the...