South Carolina Lawyers Weekly

  Finding that the relationship had run its course, the South Carolina Supreme Court abolished common-law marriage in the state as of July 25.  “We have concluded the institution’s foundations have eroded with the passage of time, and the outcomes ...

Tagged with: common law marriage

An insurance company that denied bad faith, and asserted good faith, in its answer to a lawsuit alleging a bad-faith refusal provide coverage to one of its insureds didn’t necessarily place a privileged communication “at issue” and waive its right ...

Tagged with: Bad Faith

  Overruling 22 years of precedent, the en banc 4th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Chapter 13 debtors may divide some undersecured home mortgage loans into secured and unsecured claims and “cram down” the unsecured portion of such ...

Tagged with: mortgage

Lawyers across the country are waiting to see how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on an issue at the intersection of tax law and trusts and estates. The justices on Jan. 11 agreed to answer whether the Due Process ...

Tagged with: taxes

The legal practice is facing a serious problem – and it has nothing to do with the law. As the bulk of the Baby Boomer generation ages, lawyers are struggling with how – and when – to end their practice. ...

Tagged with: Retirement

Evolving technology and lessons learned in the wake of the Great Recession have conspired to change the model of law firm staffing. Traditionally, every lawyer at a firm had his own secretary and often a paralegal as well. Today, only ...

Tagged with: law firms

In 2009, family law practitioners were worried. The phones were quiet and new clients were walking through the door with less frequency. The Great Recession was so bad, couples were actually waiting to divorce. With 401(k) plans and stocks low ...

Tagged with: Divorce economy

Changes in the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual are likely to have an impact in the courtroom. The fifth iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – better known as DSM-5 – updated existed diagnoses, including a broadened definition of post-traumatic stress disorder; added new diagnoses; and eliminated disorders that appeared in previous editions, such as Asperger’s syndrome.

Summertime has arrived with all of its accompaniments: warmer weather, longer days and interns. Many employers rely on unpaid interns for summer help without realizing how employment law applies to them and the intern. “Employers need to look very closely at whether or not to use unpaid interns,” cautioned Matthew S. Disbrow of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP in Detroit. “Having an intern in and of itself is not a problem — just when the intern is not paid.” Unpaid interns are an area of focus for the Department of Labor, explained Terry Bonnette of Nemeth Burwell in Detroit. The agency is concerned about the potential exploitation of workers seeking to gain a toehold in an industry by offering to work for free.

Ever-evolving and constantly growing, electronic discovery presents a variety of challenges for litigators.

Tagged with: Discovery