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Recent Articles from Phillip Bantz
Lawyer for James Brown’s widow: “I feel good”
Tommie Rae Brown has secured another legal victory in her effort to prove that her marriage to legendary soul singer James Brown was the real deal. “I feel good,” quipped her Charleston-based attorney, Robert Rosen, after the South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a trial judge’s ruling that Tommie Rae’s marriage to Brown was […]
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Sporting an “Explorer” badge and a pistol while driving a car decked out with a siren, blue lights, a PA system, and a North Carolina license plate, a 21-year-old cop impersonator tried to pull over a motorcyclist in South Carolina earlier this month. Things didn’t go well for the fake cop, according to a news […]
Manslaughter defendant granted new trial based on crime scene testimony
Paramedics typically don’t moonlight as crime scene reconstruction experts. But an EMT’s total lack of forensics training did not stop a trial judge from allowing her to testify about the location of a victim’s body, which undermined the defendant’s self-defense claim. “They’re definitely pushing the envelope on this,” said Robert Dudek, chief appellate defender […]
Pothole money pit
When it comes to addressing the annoying and pervasive presence of potholes, South Carolina apparently prefers a reactive approach—instead of actually fixing the potholes, the state would rather pay for the damage that the pavement pockmarks cause to vehicles. Have a bent rim, busted tire or broken ball joint after failing to avoid one […]
Well, that’s a fine howdy-do
Some doors are best left closed, especially when you’re a meth dealer and the handle you’re reaching for is attached to a unmarked vehicle packed with drug enforcement agents and their K-9. Despite the fact that the police dog was barking, 40-year-old Eric Hall of Goose Creek went ahead and pulled that handle, according to […]
Judge can’t use voir dire answers to gauge jury knowledge
Answers that prospective jurors offer while being questioned during the voir dire process can reveal potential biases or hang-ups that might make them unfit to serve on a jury. But trial judges should never use those answers to gauge the jury’s knowledge about a particular subject, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled. The July […]
Avvo ditches fixed-rate legal services ahead of ethics opinion
The new owner of Avvo.com, one of the top players in the online legal marketplace, has put the kibosh on the company’s fixed-rate legal services—just as a North Carolina State Bar committee was working on an ethics opinion concerning whether lawyers could get into trouble for working with the website. Now, as a result of […]
Probation, parole not ‘confinement’ under rules
While on trial for attacking his wife with a barbecue fork after downing moonshine, a Laurens County man opened the door for prosecutors to inform jurors that he was convicted of murder when he was a teen, the South Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled. After the jury convicted Preston Shands Jr., he and his […]
County sold house for back taxes, didn’t tell owner
A South Carolina county’s alleged failure to follow the law has led to the undoing of the forced tax sale of a home, which happened without the owner’s knowledge. The homeowner, Corretta McMillan, paid some of the property taxes on the residence while she was in the dark about the 2007 tax sale in […]
Don’t blame the moonshine
The moonshine defense didn’t work. A man who claimed that laced homemade liquor caused him to blackout before he went berserk and stabbed his wife with a barbecue fork has failed to convince the South Carolina Court of Appeals that he was entitled to an involuntary intoxication instruction at trial. “Usually, I don’t think that’s […]
Defendant claims win in $5K defamation settlement
After initially demanding $2 million and then, shortly before trial, asking for $300,000, a plaintiff accepted $5,000 to settle a defamation case, according to an attorney for one of the defendants in the case. “I would call $5,000 on a defamation case a victory,” said Shaun Blake of Rogers Lewis Jackson Mann & Quinn in […]
IRS ordered to pay $61K to disbarred SC lawyer
The IRS has been ordered to pay more than $61,000 in attorneys’ fees to a disbarred South Carolina lawyer who operates a tax advisory firm that caters to American expats. “They gave us every dime we asked for,” said James Sexton’s attorney, Desa Ballard of Ballard & Watson in West Columbia. She had argued that […]
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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