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Recent Articles from Fred Horlbeck
SC verdict for $327M
The record-setting $327 million verdict levied against the Ortho-McNeil-Janssen pharmaceutical company for violations of the state's Unfair Trade Practices Act is hardly small change, but it could have been a lot bigger. Like more than $2 billion bigger. The award, announced June 3, could have soared to more than $2.6 billion, had the Spartanburg judge who set damages decided to hit Janssen,[...]
Pressured by Chief Justice Toal, courts slim down DUI dockets
The DUI caseload statewide has dropped significantly in the two months since the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered county magistrates and municipal courts to give top priority to clearing such cases from their dockets. Responding to a March 21 order from the state's chief justice, the state's court system has accelerated the process of resolving cases of driving under the influence as well a[...]
Doctor misses cancer report; patient dies
When Franklin Scott Jr. and his wife, Lesie Ann Scott, walked into the doctor's office in August 2009 to review Franklin's second chest X-ray in a year, neither knew that his first chest X-ray had detected cancer 12 months before. Nor did the Williamsburg County couple expect the doctor, after looking at the latest scan, to walk out on them without warning or explanation, leaving them sitting i[...]
‘Objection’ objection rejected
Robert Muckenfuss, a defense attorney, was sure he had said all the words he needed to register his objection, but for a while it appeared he left out one. So Muckenfuss's client, Najjar De'Breece Byers, was found guilty of armed robbery and criminal conspiracy in York County, even though Muckenfuss protested that the only incriminating testimony was hearsay. And when the Court of Appeals ru[...]
4th Circuit reinstates visiting attorneys
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated an order in which a federal district judge in South Carolina revoked temporary admission for out-of-state lawyers who had asked the judge to recuse himself. In a case revolving around three Florida lawyers who asserted claims of judicial bias against U.S. Senior District Judge G. Ross Anderson, the lawyers won in Belue v. Leventhal (South Caroli[...]
Bar suspends 29 over CLEs
Every spring, more than 13,000 Palmetto State lawyers can congratulate themselves on meeting all the state requirements for continuing legal education. And every spring the March 1 deadline that was once 12 months in the future creeps up on lawyers, who fail to complete their requirements and then miss a March 31 deadline to make amends. As of April 1, they're on automatic suspension from the pra[...]
Bar to critics of lawyers: Prepare for counterattacks
Warning to those, including prominent state politicians, who think bashing lawyers is politically profitable: The South Carolina Bar is about to start answering back, and vigorously. Newly seated Bar President Marvin Quattlebaum (pictured with Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal) said combating lawyer-bashing is one of the top three priorities of his year-long term. The Bar is forming a task force t[...]
Court clears shooter in home-is-castle case; AG skeptical
The state fought hard to nail down the murder indictment, giving the trial court plenty of evidence in addition to the autopsy report on the victim, who died of a gunshot wound to his face. There were the witness statements. The photos and video of the crime scene. And the recording of the 911 call during the shooting. But, despite everything the state could throw at him, defendant Gregory D[...]
State loses ownership of marsh islands
The South Carolina Supreme Court has removed a roadblock that for years has thwarted the placing of docks or other structures on the state's marsh islands. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled in favor of a woman who sued to quiet title to a Beaufort County island. The decision overturned rulings under which the state of South Carolina asserted presumptive ownership of thousands of islands [...]
Regions Bank, developer settle dispute over building loan
A foreclosure action in which the parties traded claims and counterclaims over alleged improprieties in the disbursement of a $2.4 million loan for a construction project in Clemson has concluded with a settlement. Regions Bank agreed to reduce the balance owed on the loan to about $1,136,000, down from the almost $2 million the bank originally claimed as due on the loan, lawyers for the defend[...]
Uncivil unrest
The lawyer-to-opposing-counsel email was 146 words, and the South Carolina Supreme Court deemed it uncivil because of two that normally would be thought most benign: "daughter" and "child." But the email was blunt, sharply worded. The sender stated he had information that the other attorney's daughter had been detained for buying "cocaine and heroine." He wrote that a child's drug use was "far [...]
Sign might remain for awhile, but internal changes underway for Buist
As the longtime Charleston firm of Buist Moore Smythe McGee readied for its May 2 debut as Womble Carlyle's newest office, one detail seemed to escape managing partners at both firms last week. Would the Womble Carlyle sign be up on the former Buist Moore offices on this first Monday morning after the North Carolina giant completed its April 30 acquisition?
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- N.C. Bar Association embraces homophobia
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