By Phillip Bantz
Published: February 17,2012
Ask most lawyers about Torrens law and the typical response is silence accompanied by a blank stare. But an acrimonious dispute over remote waterfront property in North Carolina has cast light on this little-understood title recording system and its shady history.
By The Associated Press
Published: February 7,2012
A federal appeals court on Tuesday declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: February 3,2012
As American Bar Association leaders consider more exacting standards for law schools for reporting post-graduate salary and employment information, a new round of class action suits is ratcheting up the pressure on schools and the ABA to address allegations of fraud and misrepresentation. An ABA committee has recommended that an ABA council on legal education and bar admissions adjust its standards, according to law.com, an American Lawyer Media website. Law.com reports that the committee’s proposal includes requiring individual schools to report salary numbers for the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile for graduates in jobs requiring a law degree, J.D.-preferred jobs, other professions, and nonprofessional jobs. Schools would need to report salary information in 15 job categories.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: February 3,2012
A Myrtle Beach man’s lawsuit against a Horry County police officer and state trooper is heavy on soap-opera drama and light on legal substance, a U.S. District Court judge in Florence has ruled. The plaintiff claimed that his wife was having an affair with the officer and that the two lovers conspired to have him arrested for drunken driving. His wife had told the officer that her husband was getting drunk at a bar and would eventually be driving home.
By S.C. Lawyers Weekly staff
Published: February 3,2012
A $327 million verdict against a pharmaceutical company for violating the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act tops the list of South Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s annual roundup of the year’s top verdicts and settlements. The 2011 list comprises the 14 awards of at least $1 million that were reported to Lawyers Weekly during the year.
By S.C. Lawyers Weekly staff
Published: February 3,2012
Mixed in with Lawyers Weekly’s list of the top verdicts and settlements for 2011 were a pair of notable defense wins: A restaurant owner who successfully defended his right to use the word “firehouse” in his business name, and a developer who fought off a foreclosure action and forced a bank to settle the case. Sarah Day Hurley (pictured) represented the defendant in the restaurant trademark case.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: February 3,2012
North Carolina’s largest law firm grew by three lawyers, one city and an unknown number of Palmetto state political connections last week when Winston-Salem-based Womble Carlyle merged with the boutique firm Hall & Bowers of Columbia. The lawyers of Hall & Bowers — Kevin Hall (pictured), Todd Carroll and Butch Bowers — have deep roots within the South Carolina political establishment, including relationships with South Carolina’s sitting U.S. senators and Republican congressmen, and the state’s current and former governors.
By Sharon McCloskey
Published: January 27,2012
Maybe alimony orders ought to have sunset provisions, to coincide with the sunset years of life. Court of Appeals Judge James E. Lockemy, who wrote wistfully last week in a concurring opinion about the role of age and work in alimony, might like that. Though he agreed with his colleagues’ ruling in Fuller v. Fuller that age alone should not determine whether alimony can be reduced, Lockemy waxed poetic about the advancing years and the need for time to enjoy life’s extras.
By Phillip Bantz
Published: January 27,2012
In a ruling that strengthens victims’ rights and clarifies an ambiguous state law, the N.C. Court of Appeals has determined that deferred prosecution agreements can toll the statute of limitations on civil claims arising from criminal cases. The decision gives plaintiffs extra time to file civil lawsuits seeking compensation from defendants in certain cases. The unanimous Jan. 17 ruling reverses a trial court decision that the limitations clock was ticking during the deferral agreement. The lower court reasoned that the tolling statute applied only to convictions.
By Amber Nimocks
Published: January 27,2012
Like most of the country’s law schools, those in South Carolina and North Carolina stumble when it comes to reporting clear and accurate information about post-graduate employment on their websites, according to a new survey by the advocacy group Law School Transparency. The nonprofit policy organization issued the Transparency Index on its website (www.lawschooltransparency.com) earlier this month. The exhaustive evaluation is LST’s latest effort to cajole law schools into providing prospective and current law students with more realistic portraits of the economic conditions awaiting them after graduation.
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