Where parties challenging construction of a natural gas pipeline are likely to succeed on their argument that authority was lacking to modify a nationwide permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2017, the construction was stayed. Background Petitioners ...
Read More »Administrative – Gas pipeline stayed over permitting concern
Contract – Oil and gas lessee may shift portion of post-production costs 
Where an oil and gas lease provided a method for calculating the amount to be deducted from the royalty for post-production costs, it sufficiently rebutted the presumption that the lessee bears all post-production costs and allowed an allocation of some ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Appeal waiver dooms due process argument 
Where a plea agreement over child pornography offenses included language waiving challenges to “the weighing of the sentencing factors, and any constitutional challenges to the calculation and imposition of any term of imprisonment,” the waiver barred arguments that the sentencing ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – Abuse of Process – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Underlying Medical Malpractice Action 
Plaintiffs contend defendants abused the judicial process when defendants sued plaintiffs for medical malpractice. However, claims for abuse of process have a three-year statute of limitations, this case was filed in October 2010, and the undisputed evidence shows plaintiffs either ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Lewd Act – Expert Testimony – Lost Video & Photos – Indictment Allegations 
After the decade and a half between defendant’s indictment and his apprehension, the photographs and videorecording of the victim’s medical examination were no longer available. The state’s failure to produce the photos and video did not violate Rule 705, SCRE, ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Civil Practice – Evidence – Preliminary Injunction – Prior Litigation – Racially Charged Messages 
A 2005 preliminary injunction required the City of Myrtle Beach to use the same traffic patterns for both Harley Week and Black Bike Week. In this subsequent litigation, that preliminary injunction is relevant, but its probative value is outweighed by ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – Genetic Testing – Ordinary Negligence Claim – Medical Malpractice – Statute of Repose 
In an effort to avoid the six-year statute of repose applicable to medical malpractice claims, plaintiff contends that the defendant-genetic testing company committed ordinary negligence by failing to update its classification list to reflect that a genetic variant found in ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – RICO Claims – Attorneys – Real Property Transactions 
Although plaintiffs assert allegations of misconduct against four attorney-members of a former law firm, plaintiffs cannot manufacture a RICO claim by recounting every instance of alleged misconduct by the firm’s attorneys in the last decade. The court grants defendants’ motion ...
Read More »Civil Practice – Discovery – Confidential Agreements – Attorney-Client Privilege & Work Product – Trusts & Estates – Copyright 
In litigation involving the copyright termination rights to a deceased entertainer’s songs, the decedent’s adult children are entitled to discover confidential agreements between the decedent’s estate and defendant Hynie, the mother of one of his children. Hynie has failed to ...
Read More »Labor & Employment – FLSA exemption incorrectly applied in restaurant wage dispute 
Where restaurant employees claimed that tips and automatic gratuities could not be considered in determining whether their employer met its obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, it was error to apply a statutory exemption—29 U.S.C. § 207(i)—to ...
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