South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from March 2009

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from March 2009

Commentary: law firm coach: the firm measuring stick.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor Have you ever thought about the level of quality you deliver to your clients? We strongly believe in applying best business practices to law firm practices. In other words, what works for a...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly... Suzanne C. Ulmer has joined the firm of Kernodle, Root, Varnado & Coleman. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the Washington & Lee University School of Law and practices in state...

South Carolina Bar task force seeks dialog with committee over Rule 608.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A new S.C. Bar task force wants to meet with a state Supreme Court commission to discuss why the court should ditch the current Rule 608 and replace it with a mandate for funding indigent court appointments. The...

South Carolina Supreme Court: get comp proof every time.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck General contractors, beware: There's another reason to look before you leap into any attempt to transfer liability for workers' compensation insurance to the S.C. Uninsured Employers' Fund. In an apparent...

S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense could be out of cash for civil appointments by month's end.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, starved for legislative funding and buffeted by multiple state budget cuts, expects to run out of money for Rule 608 civil appointments -- and soon. Facing bleak budget...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Administrative License Suspension - Civil Practice - Subject-Matter Jurisdiction - Appeals South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles v. Holtzclaw. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-036-09, 5...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Statute of Limitations - Accrual - Contract - Banks & Banking - Attorneys - Appeals Logan v. Wachovia Bank, N.A. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-040-09, 3 pp.) (Per Curiam)...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Law of the Case - Subject-Matter Jurisdiction - Magistrate - Amount in Controversy Judy v. Martin. (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-035-09, 3 pp.) (Jean Hoefer Toal, Ch.J.)...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Sentencing - Amendment 706 - Mandatory Minimums U.S. v. Hood. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-039-09, 21 pp.) (Niemeyer, J.) No. 08-7019, Feb. 20, 2009; USDC at Statesville,...

Look at partnership with open eyes.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Ed Poll The financial turmoil that law firms, along with the rest of the economy, are experiencing today may lead to a reassessment of the conventional wisdom that every lawyer should want to become a partner. The essence of...

Commentary: the great communication gap.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor The most popular course or presentation requested through Catalyst is our "Lawyers Are From Mars" series. The presentation focuses on ways to have effective communication between lawyers and...

Lawyers in the News.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff The South Carolina office of Fisher & Phillips, a national labor and employment law firm, has won the South Carolina Hospitality Association's Supplier of the Year Award. Ian D. McVey, an...

S.C. Supreme Court: company could shield secret formula in tire failure suit.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Gregory Froom Managing EditorBridgestone won't have to reveal the ingredients of a compound it used when making tires after the state Supreme Court ruled in a first-impression decision that the trade secret was not discoverable in...

What a tangled web they wove: navigating maze of corporate entities key to recovering $270M verdict.(South Carolina)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck None of the lawyers who recently secured a combined $270 million verdict against two Charleston residents for fraud and racketeering know when or how much their clients will collect. They don't know the full...

COBRA revisions affect all employers with group plans.(Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck * 'Involuntary termination.' The act's lack of a definition of "involuntary termination" may leave room for employees to claim the subsidy short of an actual firing. That's because an employee could argue that...

Q&A interview with Marguerite Willis, an attorney in Columbia office of Nexsen Pruet.(South Carolina)(Interview)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith An attorney in the Columbia office of Nexsen Pruet, Marguerite S. Willis practices in complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on the antitrust field. Last week, she was a guest speaker at the Alliance for...

COBRA revisions affect all employers with group plans.(Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck, Senior Staff Writer Employers should move fast to comply with a new federal subsidy of employee health-care premiums, labor and employment lawyers said during a recent conference on changes in COBRA rules. When...

A Q&A interview with Marguerite Willis.(Nexsen Pruet lawyer)(South Carolina)(Interview)
March 9, 2009... Byline: DIANA SMITH, Staff writer An attorney in the Columbia office of Nexsen Pruet, Marguerite S. Willis practices in complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on the antitrust field. Last week, she was a guest speaker at the...

Company could shield secret formula in tire failure suit.(South Carolina)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Gregory Froom, Managing Editor Bridgestone won't have to reveal the ingredients of a compound it used when making tires after the state Supreme Court ruled in a first-impression decision that the trade secret was not discoverable in...

What a tangled web they wove.(South Carolina)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck, Senior Staff Writer None of the lawyers who recently secured a combined $270 million verdict against two Charleston residents for fraud and racketeering know when or how much their clients will collect. They...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff South Carolina Court of Appeals Municipal Public Utilities - Water Service - Annexation Requirement Robarge v. City of Greenville. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-050-09, 5 pp.) (John D....

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff South Carolina Court of Appeals Unpublished Criminal Practice Attorneys - Effective Assistance - Probation Revocation - Witnesses Hook v. State. (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-051-09, 2 pp.) (Per...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff South Carolina Supreme Court Civil Practice Judgments - Constitutional - Full Faith & Credit - Res Judicata & Collateral Estoppel - California & Indiana Judgments Aaron v. Mahl. (Lawyers...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 9, 2009.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Practice Espionage - Classified Information U.S. v. Rosen. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-043-09, 13 pp.) (King, J.) No. 08-4358, Feb. 24, 2009; USDC at Alexandria, Va. (Ellis, J.) 4th...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: 'Principal Residence' - Mobile Home - Loan Modification.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Holding: Chapter 13 debtors can modify their debt on their mobile home because it is not covered by the Bankruptcy Code's anti-modification clause, and the 4th Circuit reverses a bankruptcy...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Criminal Practice- Espionage - Classified Information.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Holding: In this criminal prosecution of two employees of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee for violations of the Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. Sect. 793, for allegedly obtaining national...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Intellectual Property- Trademark Infringement - 'OBX' Sticker.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Holding: Although plaintiff registered a trademark for items with the "OBX" designation to indicate affiliation with the Outer Banks of North Carolina, "OBX" has become a common abbreviation for...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Real Property-Consumer Protection.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Holding: Homeowners' sale of their Norfolk, Va., home to an investor, who allowed them to stay in the property and with whom they executed an agreement giving them an option to buy the home back...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Taxation; Illegal Drug Income - Prior Criminal Forfeiture.
March 9, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Holding: A taxpayer loses his challenge to the IRS's assessment of his illegal drug income from the sale of marijuana from 1984 through 1998, without relying on findings from a prior criminal...

Commentary: beyond PowerPoint: a whole new world of presentations.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Lee S. Rosen Today, slide presentations are simply expected. Attorneys may need to create them for clients, closing arguments, lectures or mediations. Microsoft PowerPoint may be the most popular software for creating slide...

South Carolina Lawyers in the News: March 16, 2009.
March 16, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly... The law firm of McCorkle & Johnson has named Robert L. McCorkle III as a partner. His practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial real estate, corporate law, condominium...

South Carolina ALC chief judge plans June retirement.(Administrative Law Court)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Chief Judge Marvin F. Kittrell is about to leave the building. On his way out, he escorts a visitor through the quiet and scrupulously neat confines of the offices of the S.C. Administrative Law Court. He makes...

Charleston lawyer refurbishes, donates vintage yacht.(South Carolina)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Giving away a classic yacht sounds like a pastime for Hollywood movie moguls of the 1930s, but for attorney Rob Robertson it's an ideal way to ensure that more folks experience the joys, challenges and heritage of...

Technical translation: senior partners, junior associates speak different dialects of computerese.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith Spam. Ask a 70-year-old lawyer the definition and you're likely to hear it's a canned pork product that's been around since 1937. But a 25-year-old attorney will reply it's the junk e-mail that crowds your...

Commentary: law firm coach: what are your requests for proposals?
March 23, 2009... Byline: Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor We candidly admit that we are penny-pinchers when it comes to controlling overhead. In the majority of law firms, we find that decisions concerning vendors and costs of purchases for anything...

Rule 11 does not apply in PCR cases, rules S.C. Supreme Court.(Rules of Civil Procedure)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A judge in a post-conviction relief proceeding could not fine a PCR applicant under Rule 11 of the S.C. Rules of Civil Procedure, even though no statute expressly forbade such a sanction, the S.C. Supreme Court has...

Commentary: quill & parchment: touching a raw nerve: politics.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck "Lend me your ears!" Hmm, no "Members of the PTA!" Not quite Well, durn. It's not that easy to start writing a brand-new column. Because that's what this is, and I confess that I am figuring it out as I go,...

Widow of former South Carolina congressman can pursue fiduciary breach claim.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The widow of former South Carolina congressman Floyd Spence will get another chance to argue her claim that a Columbia lawyer breached a fiduciary duty in a dispute over the late lawmaker's life insurance. The...

S.C. Bar's ethics advisory opinion: do not rely on non-lawyers' closing assurances.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The S.C. Bar's first ethics advisory opinion of 2009 may be a wake-up call for lawyers who have been attending real estate closings for out-of-state closing coordinating companies. Ethics Advisory Opinion 09-01...

U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals aligns with other courts on ERISA issue.
March 23, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A recent decision heals a split between the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and federal district courts by doing away with the contra proferentem rule in ERISA cases, lawyers say. But they differ over whether...

Commentary: lawyer mentoring program gets deeper roots with new director.(South Carolina)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Ruth W. Cupp A statewide lawyer mentoring program will begin this month, and attorney Cynthia A. Coker of West Columbia has been named as its director. Coker is a part-time staff member of the S.C. Bar. Four years ago, she was...

Direct examination: Q&A interview with South Carolina 'MacLawyer' Ben Stevens.(Interview)
March 30, 2009... Byline: Diana Smith A family law attorney, Ben Stevens of Spartanburg strongly believes that Apple's Macintosh computers are better equipped than PCs to be useful and productive tools for lawyers. Here, he explains why he thinks that's the...

Lawyer owed no duty to third parties to draft will, rules S.C. Supreme Court.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Two friends of a woman who died intestate could not sue a lawyer for malpractice after the attorney failed to draft a will before the woman's death, even though she told the lawyer that the plaintiffs were among the...

Civil 608 funds lasting longer than anticipated, says S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Funds to pay lawyers handling Rule 608 civil appointments are lasting longer than expected but will probably run out during April, an official with the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense said. The commission had...

Down economy might raise interest in South Carolina Business Court.
March 30, 2009... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Judge Edward W. Miller is about to sign off on a landmark decision in the S.C. Business Court, but it's not important because of any first-impression rulings he's about to loose on the world. It's important...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: March 30, 2009.
March 30, 2009... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction - Telephone & E- Mail Contacts Consulting Engineers Corp. v. Geometric Ltd. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-060-09, 14 pp.) (Duncan, J.) No. 07-1453, March...