Clik here to view.
Broke and locked-up
Ex-lawyer John Jackson had fallen asleep in a holding cell at the Charleston County jail when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He thought it was a deputy waking him to move him to another cell....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ethics & Professionalism: Respect the eternal nature of email
Few things in this world last forever. Love doesn’t always, hence the need for divorce attorneys. But emails and text messages, those little buggers can be preserved indefinitely, and often to the...
View ArticleBar Discipline Roundup
Attorney: George Hunter McMaster Location: Columbia Bar membership: Member since 1976 Disciplinary action: Suspended until further notice on July 2 Background: The Supreme Court suspended McMaster’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New law grads getting more jobs, study says
Here’s a bit of sorely-needed good news for law students taking this month’s bar exam: the class of law school graduates from 2013 is finding more jobs and making more money than its recent...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Supreme Court reinstates family court’s award to wife
Good things, they say, come to those who wait. For one Richland County woman who waited to apply for Social Security benefits, the good news is that she won’t have those benefits imputed to her as...
View ArticleBar Discipline Roundup: Darlington attorney disbarred
Attorney: William Jones Rivers III Location: Darlington Bar membership: Member since 1991 Disciplinary action: Disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court July 16 Background: Some time around 2006,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Give it up: AG Wilson ordered to hand over public records in James Brown case
Brown Sue Summer is a small-town journalist embroiled in a big public records fight with an even bigger state agency. And, so far, she’s winning. “I didn’t want to ignore this story,” Summer said...
View ArticleClik here to view.
McNair Law Firm, shareholder sued for legal malpractice
The third-largest law firm in the state and one of its attorney shareholders are being sued for legal malpractice. The suit alleges that Bob Deeb, a real estate lawyer at the McNair Law Firm’s office...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Split over spliffs: defenders, prosecutors in chronic disagreement
The legal sale of recreational marijuana began this month in Washington, joining Colorado as the only U.S. states where casual users can legally buy a toke. Two more states, Oregon and Alaska, have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
USC Law alum promises $1.1 M for scholarships, encourages others to follow suit
A 1954 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law has pledged a $1.1 million gift that school officials say will help propel the school during an “exciting juncture” in its history....
View ArticleClik here to view.
4th Circuit: Protest group can seek fees in free speech case
A district court in Greenwood County had no authority to deny attorneys’ fees to an anti-abortion group that successfully sued the county for civil rights violations because no “special circumstances”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Former law firm employee charged with attempted murder of infant
A former Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough employee has been arrested and charged with the attempted murder of his six-month-old son in an apparent domestic incident. On June 17 Richland County...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A tale of two circuits: Appeals courts split along presidential party lines...
The importance of presidential judicial appointments became clear Tuesday when two federal appeals courts reached opposite results on the same question: whether the tax subsidy offered by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
For adults only: Jury trials aren’t suited for those under 18, the state...
The South Carolina Supreme Court has rejected an argument for allowing juveniles to have jury trials, unanimously holding that the state’s constitution does not entitle underage defendants to be tried...
View ArticleLawyers on the move
Turner Padget Graham & Laney announced that Charles E. Ipock has joined the firm’s Florence office as a member of the business and commercial team. Jaclynn Bower Goings has transferred to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Twitter provocateur sues S.C. lawyer discipline counsel
A South Carolina attorney who frequently places himself at the center of national controversy with his inflammatory social media posts is suing the state’s Commission on Lawyer Conduct and Office of...
View ArticleAutopsy reports exempt from disclosure law, court rules
Autopsy reports are “medical records” exempt from disclosure under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, the state’s Supreme Court ruled in 4-1 decision handed down on July 16. The court...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Supreme Court declines to extend civil doctrine to criminal cases
In civil lawsuits, rules preclude litigants from re-arguing an issue decided in a previous case. But should a criminal defendant be similarly precluded from challenging a police search that he failed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Abused homeless man receives $750K settlement from Richland County
Richland County’s general fund is $750,000 lighter after the county council voted to pay that amount to a homeless man brutally beaten by a former jail guard in 2012. The guard, Robin Smith,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A little to the left: Confirmation of Pamela Harris could mark the end of the...
Dolan Media Newswires The confirmation of Pamela Harris to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marks a giant step in President Barack Obama’s ongoing quest to transform one of the country’s most...
View Article