South Carolina Lawyers Weekly articles from November 2008

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly archives from November 2008

Commentary: Battle Zone: A few observations from the opinion editor.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was as satisfying as carving an elaborate pumpkin and having bugs swarm all over it the next day, with three published Supreme Court cases and four published opinions from the Court of Appeals. Since there...

S.C. Lawyers in the News: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Briefly... Smith Moore Leatherwood attorney Kurt M. Rozelsky has been appointed vice chair of the trucking law committee for the Defense Research Institute, a national organization for...

Justices stanch inflow of briefs in comp dispute in S.C.(workers' compensation)
November 3, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck The state Supreme Court has closed the window on briefs from parties debating the fitness of a proposed settlement in the legal struggle between Gov. Mark Sanford and the state Workers' Compensation Commission. ...

S.C. Bar Web site makeover adds new features, increases user-friendliness.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Lawyers logging onto the S.C. Bar's Web site are finding it has a new look these days, the result of a revamp designed to make it easier to navigate and access online resources. The quietly engineered redo hit the...

Commentary: Local bar discusses what lawyers must do to safeguard funds.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Ruth W. Cupp "Does a lawyer breach his/her obligation to safeguard their client's funds in excess of the FDIC coverage limit?" asked Howard Yates, co-chair of the Real Estate Section of the Charleston Bar. Seventy-six attorneys...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Contract Procurement Code - Mootness - Sealed Bids - Public Interest Exception The trial court's order striking down a portion of the previous county procurement code for being...

S.C. Court of Appeals Unpublished Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Civil Temporary Injunction - Discovery - Final Determination Although a court may consider the merits of a case to the extent necessary to determine whether a temporary injunction should...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 3, 2008.
November 3, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Ecstasy Possession - Distribution Of Marijuana - Definite Suspension An attorney who was convicted of various drug charges, including possession of ecstasy,...

U.S. District Court awards woman $3.1M in suit against Target.
November 3, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A Greer woman's successful federal defamation suit against Target Corp. began after she was wrongly accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill. It ended with a verdict that surpassed what her lawyers had...

Commentary: Battle Zone -- A few observations about South Carolina Court of Appeals opinion.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week, there were three published Supreme Court opinions and four published decisions from the Court of Appeals. I chose to discuss the Court of Appeals case concerning a claimant employed as a "repo man" who...

South Carolina Lawyers In The News: November 10, 2008.(Brief article)
November 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff A. Heath Martin and H. Ellis Fisher have joined Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart as associates. They will focus on labor and employment law. Martin graduated cum laude from the...

Overall South Carolina bar exam pass rate holds steady; Charleston School Of Law's results improve.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Several hundred ambitious legal eagles are ready to take wing as licensed South Carolina attorneys after passing the July bar exam with flying colors. Of the 462 hopefuls who sat for the exam, 362 made the grade....

Not over yet: South Carolina group files amicus brief in comp guidelines dispute.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A South Carolina legal association that advocates for injured workers has filed an amicus brief opposing the proposed settlement in the battle between Gov. Mark Sanford and the state Workers' Compensation Commission...

ABA: Public trust would grow if South Carolina justices did not discipline their own.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Rick Brundrett In some ways, the American Bar Association's review of South Carolina's judicial disciplinary system is a mirror image of its analysis of how attorneys are disciplined in the state. Both reports, prepared by an...

S.C. Supreme Court: No judgment against corporation needed before pursuing alter-ego claim.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom There's no need to obtain a judgment in a separate suit against a corporation before pursuing an alter-ego claim that seeks to pierce the corporate veil, the state Supreme Court said in response to a certified...

Smaller South Carolina firms cope with economy's volatile situation.
November 10, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck In the wake of an October rated as the worst for stock markets since 1987, small and midsize firms in the Palmetto State are checking their vital signs and finding that business goes on, albeit more cautiously. A...

S.C. Court of Appeals Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Voluntary Manslaughter - Self- Defense - Castle Doctrine - Other Means Of Avoidance - Mutual Combat A security guard who shot and killed a man outside an apartment complex...

S.C. Supreme Court Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Attorney Disciplinary Matter Obstruction Of Justice Conviction - Disbarment - Retroactive An attorney found guilty of obstruction of justice is retroactively disbarred from the date of...

U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit Case Summaries: November 10, 2008.
November 10, 2008... Byline: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff Criminal Habeas Corpus - Death Penalty - Brady Claim A petitioner convicted of the rape and murder of a woman he purported to take home from a club in a friend's car is not entitled to...

Commentary: battle zone: a few observations on S.C. Supreme Court decision.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Bess Battle This week was as slow as the drive-thru line at lunchtime, with two published Supreme Court cases and no published Court of Appeals cases. An unpublished Supreme Court decision dealt with a woman who sought an order...

'Reasonable dog standard' rejected by Circuit Court in South Carolina.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck A woman who suffered permanent scarring to her face during a 2006 dog attack won an $85,000 verdict after a circuit judge rejected the defense's argument that the dog reasonably perceived her as a threat. Judge...

South Carolina Supreme Court: no protective order based only on alleged animal abuse.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Gregory Froom Something more than animal abuse is needed for a party to obtain a domestic violence protection order, the Supreme Court has indicated in a 3-2 unpublished decision. In the apparent first-impression ruling, the...

Magistrates hail order to expedite clearing backlog in South Carolina.
November 17, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal's recent memo about a backlog of cases is winning accolades from magistrates who agree with her that too many lawyers are continuing cases in the state's lowest courts. Discussing...

Columbia seminar explores how Obama's election could affect labor law.(President-elect Barack Obama)
November 17, 2008... Byline: Fred Horlbeck With Barack Obama about to take the reigns of presidential power, employers in the Carolinas are eyeing potentially sweeping changes in federal laws affecting their businesses. So are their labor and employment...