Although a check itself is not a factual assertion, here it was defendants’ action of sending plaintiffs deficient commission checks, pursuant to an agreement that full commission would be paid, that constituted the misrepresentation. Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence – Fraud – Payment of Wages Act – Sales Commissions – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Discovery Rule
Insurance – Auto – Stacking vs. Portability – Civil Practice – Declaratory Judgment – Unrelated State Proceedings 
Defendant Ladue argues that the issue before the court is whether the estate of his decedent—who was fatally injured while driving a car covered by neither of the two policies in question—can recover simultaneously from separate, portable underinsurance motorist coverages. ...
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 »Tort/Negligence – FTCA – Gun Purchase – Background Check – Private Analog – Mother Emanuel Shooting – Duty of Care 
South Carolina courts have held private defendants liable for a breach of a duty to collect, analyze, and report accurate information. These cases establish a private analogue to plaintiffs’ theory that a federal government employee’s negligence in failing to stop ...
Read More »Attorneys – Tort/Negligence – Legal Malpractice – Insurance – Disgorgement of Fees Claim 
Where the plaintiff-insurer hired the defendant-law firm to represent plaintiff’s insured in the underlying action, and where the law firm’s failure to respond to requests to admit allegedly caused the insurer to settle the underlying action for $900,000 of its ...
Read More »Insurance – Homeowners – Actual Cash Value – Depreciation – Labor Costs – Certified Question 
The determinative question in this case is whether the defendant-insurers are allowed to depreciate labor costs when they determine the “actual cash value” (ACV)—a term undefined by their homeowners’ insurance policies—of a covered loss. The only relevant South Carolina opinion, ...
Read More »Corporate – Derivative & Direct Claims – Tort/Negligence – Conversion – Arbitration 
The individual plaintiff and the plaintiff-limited liability company both allege harm arising out of the actions of defendants. The individual plaintiff and the plaintiff-LLC, which is suing derivatively, would both benefit from recovery. Since plaintiffs allege that they were injured ...
Read More »