A family court judge properly ordered a father to pay roughly $250,000 in fees and costs to his ex-wife’s attorneys and their children’s guardian ad litem in a modification action, the South Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled, affirming ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

  The attorney’s fee provision in a promissory note covered the costs incurred in collecting the debt post-judgment, the South Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled. The court rejected the so-called “merger doctrine” in a case of first impression, which ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

Raynor v. Byers (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-001-18, 4 pp.) (Paula Thomas, J.) Appealed from Aiken County Circuit Court (Doyet Early III, J.) S.C. App. Holding: Where the parties’ promissory note said, “In the event of default in the payment of ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees post-judgment collection

A South Carolina pet supply company that sent high-priced Boston-based intellectual property lawyers into a contempt fight with a competitor could get stuck with a big legal bill, despite emerging the victor in the underlying litigation. Nutramax Laboratories argued that ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

A South Carolina federal judge’s decision to cut attorneys’ fees to 5 percent of the request in a civil rights case over access to social services was “clearly wrong,” according to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Chief Judge ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

Rush v. Zurich American Insurance Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-140-16, 7 pp.) (R. Bryan Harwell, J.) 4:15-cv-04367; D.S.C. Holding: Even though there is no private cause of action under the Improper Claims Practice Act, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 38-59-20 et ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

It’s a well-known principle in U.S. civil law: Each party to a lawsuit is responsible for its own attorney’s fees, unless a statute or contract makes it clear that the other party may be held liable for those fees. The ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

Andrews v. America’s Living Centers LLC (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-112-16, 18 pp.) (Gregory, J.) No. 15-1658, June 28, 2016; USDC at Asheville, N.C. (Reidinger, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: An award of attorney’s fees is permissible after a voluntary dismissal under ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

A Columbia lawyer who found himself caught between beneficiaries with conflicting wishes after being appointed to represent a woman’s estate now has to return more than $40,000 in compensation he took for his work. Not only that, but Edward Sullivan ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees

Sullivan v. Brown (In re Estate of Kay) (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-055-16, 18 pp.) (H. Bruce Williams, J.) (John Few, Acting Judge, concurring in part & dissenting in part) Appealed from Laurens County (Donald Hocker, Probate Court Judge; Frank Addy ...

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees