Recent Articles from Renee Sexton
Coronavirus has lawyers springing to action, too
As the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to dominate international headlines, attorneys say they are increasingly getting calls from employers inquiring about possible legal issues if their employees became infected. It turns out that a virus that originated on the other side of the globe can implicate a surprising diversity of U.S. employment laws. […]
New imaging technology crucial to $550K workers’ comp settlement
A man who suffered permanent brain damage in a workplace accident has reached a $550,000 confidential workers’ compensation settlement after using some advanced technology to challenge the evaluation made by the neurologist assigned by the defendant, his attorney reports. David Pearlman of Steinberg Law Firm in Charleston said his client, whose name was withheld, […]
State seeks to end coding errors that keep people locked up
A simple typo or misinterpretation of a judge’s handwriting could cost the state of South Carolina thousands of dollars when an inmate is held longer than sentenced. In 2019, the South Carolina Department of Corrections reported that errors in calculation of sentences cost the state $492,117 by holding inmates 7,549 days over their release […]
Tenn. judge awards $15.1M med-mal verdict to Army family
A federal judge in Tennessee has awarded the son of a U.S. Army soldier a $15.1 million bench verdict in a medical malpractice suit in which he suffered permanent brain damage during birth that led to cerebral palsy, the family’s South Carolina-based attorneys report. Gerald Jowers and Kenneth Suggs of Janet, Janet & Suggs […]
Why ‘ban the box’ rules are becoming more popular
Last year the City of Columbia passed an ordinance that prevents employers who do business with the city from asking job applicants if they have a criminal history. Richland and York counties passed similar policies covering applicants for county jobs. So-called “ban the box” laws have been passed in 35 states and the District […]
Proposed legislation would create rules for collaborative law
Collaborative law is catching on in South Carolina beyond a concept of legal method and into a practice specialty. The South Carolina Academy of Collaborative Professionals is currently drafting legislation that would establish rules and limitations for collaborative law. Collaborative law is not recognized as a legal specialty in South Carolina. Previously, the practice […]
Feds to pay family $4.41M for easement for base
A Beaufort family will receive $4.41 million as compensation for a restrictive easement that the U.S. government placed on a large tract of land near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the family’s attorneys report. Paul Dominick and Alexandra Austin of Nexsen Pruet in Charleston represented the Trask family, which had since 1995 owned 269 […]
$1.3M settlement after man killed by trailer left in highway lane
The family of a man who was killed when the van he was riding in crashed into an empty car-hauler trailer that had been allowed to come to rest in the lane of a highway has received a $1.3 million settlement for wrongful death and serious injury, the plaintiffs’ attorneys report. Chris Hart of […]
New reform should increase inmates’ safety in prisons
For years, frantic families have asked the South Carolina Department of Corrections to relocate incarcerated loved ones who were assigned to cellmates with violent tendencies or committed violent crimes–under longstanding SCDC rules, an inmate without a criminal record but serving a sentence for felony DUI causing death could end up sharing a cell with […]
Tort/Negligence – False Arrest & Malicious Prosecution – Probable Cause – Stand Your Ground
The fact that an assistant solicitor eventually nolle prossed an assault charge against plaintiff does not mean that plaintiff was falsely arrested or maliciously prosecuted. The Protection of Persons and Property Act does not provide immunity from arrest, only prosecution. We affirm the directed verdict for the defendant-sheriff on plaintiff’s false arrest claim. We reverse […]
$150K verdict against sheriff’s office overturned
The South Carolina Court of Appeals has reversed a $150,000 malicious prosecution verdict awarded against the York County Sheriff’s Office, saying that the only reasonable conclusion that a sheriff’s deputy could have drawn from the evidence he encountered at a chaotic crime scene was that there was probable cause to issue a warrant for […]
Pro bono program seeks to break cycle of domestic violence
Ever since the Violence Policy Center, a research organization based in Washington, D.C., released the first of its annual studies of male-on-female lethal violence in the United States in 1998, South Carolina has each year had one of the ten highest rates of murders committed against women by men, including four years in which […]
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