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Attorneys – Definite Suspension – Bar Disciplinary Board – Reciprocal Discipline
A definite suspension of 18 months is the appropriate sanction as reciprocal discipline for respondent lawyer’s professional misconduct in Virginia. No reason to justify different discipline; definite suspension imposed. On August 11, 2022, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a decision by the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board imposing an 18-month definite suspension as a sanction […]
Attorneys – Discipline – Definite Suspension – Overbilling
The respondent-associate is suspended from the practice of law after using his firm’s software to inflate the hours that he worked, resulting in an overpayment of $17,772.74 by the firm (no clients overpaid). The associate repaid the overpayment, expresses remorse and explains that his preoccupation with financial security arose from his disadvantaged upbringing. Respondent explains […]
Attorneys – Discipline – Definite Suspension – Domestic Violence – Alcohol Monitoring
After an altercation with her boyfriend in which both parties suffered minor injuries and a gun was accidentally discharged, (1) respondent was charged with third-degree domestic violence, (2) she self-reported the charge and was placed on interim suspension, (3) she entered into a monitoring contract with Lawyers Helping Lawyers (LHL), (4) she successfully completed an […]
Attorneys – Bar Applicant – Truthfulness & Candor – Past Misdeeds
Despite his passage of the bar exam, because of misrepresentations on his law school application and on social media, a bar applicant’s admission to practice law is delayed for one year. The anonymous applicant’s petition for admission to practice law is granted but delayed. Facts On his law school application, the anonymous applicant (applicant) failed […]
Consumer Protection – Attorneys – Debt Collection Letters – Possibility of Litigation – Confession of Judgment
The defendant-law firm’s original debt collection letter didn’t violate 15 U.S.C. § 1692g of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act just because it mentioned that litigation could be commenced during the same period in which the plaintiff-debtor could contest the debt. However, the law firm may have violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e in follow-up letters […]
Civil Practice – Attorneys – Rule 11 Motion – Timeliness – Post-Appeal
A motion for sanctions under Rule 11, SCRCP, filed by defendant nine days after remittitur from plaintiff’s unsuccessful appeal, was timely, especially since one part of the consolidated appeal involved the same conduct at issue in the Rule 11 motion. We affirm the Court of Appeals’ ruling that defendant’s motion under the Frivolous Civil Proceedings […]
Criminal Practice – Attorneys – Conflict of Interest – Adequate Screening
Only a week before trial, the state disclosed a witness who was represented by an attorney in the public defender’s office in obtaining a deal for his testimony against defendant. Although no explicit screening mechanism was in place between that attorney and defense counsel, who also worked in the public defender’s office, no confidential information […]
Court OKs removal of bickering attorneys
A trial judge did not abuse his discretion when, just two weeks before the start of a capital murder trial, he removed and replaced the defendant’s bickering attorneys, the state Supreme Court ruled Dec. 20. The defendant, Allen Cottrell, had established a relationship with his appointed attorneys and told Circuit Court Judge Larry Hyman […]
Criminal Practice – Attorneys – Removal of Defense Counsel – Jury & Jurors – Murder of a Police Officer
State v. Cottrell (Lawyers Weekly No.010-001-18, 24 pp.) (Kaye Hearn, J.) (John Few, J., concurring in the result only) Appealed from Horry County Circuit Court (Larry Hyman Jr., J.) S.C. S. Ct. Holding: When the first chair defense attorney accused the second chair of dishonesty and unethical conduct while the second chair challenged the first […]
Hearing set in lawsuit over inmate access to attorneys
A hearing has been scheduled in a lawsuit accusing a South Carolina jail of violating inmates’ constitutional rights by preventing them from meeting with lawyers from a civil liberties group. Court documents filed Tuesday show a hearing is scheduled for June 22 in federal court in Greenville. The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina […]
Civil Practice – Federal Question – Remand – Attorneys – Legal Malpractice Claim
Tuomy v. Nexsen Pruet, LLC (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-117-17, 9 pp.) (Margaret Seymour, S.J.) 3:16-cv-02806; D.S.C. Holding: Although defendant’s defenses may raise issues of federal law, the complaint does not call into question the proper interpretation of the Stark Law or the False Claims Act; rather, it concerns the reasonableness of defendant’s advice regarding certain […]
Criminal Practice – Attorneys – Ineffective Assistance Claim – Failures to Object – No Prejudice – Victim Impact – Rehearing Petitions
Editor’s Note: On petitions for rehearing in Stone v. State, the court denied the petitions, withdrew its previous opinion, and filed a substitute opinion. The only changes in the substituted opinion are at the end of the “Evidence of Brain Damage and Intellectual Impairment” section in the following paragraph: “As to Stone’s claim that trial […]
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
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- Stericycle decision forces evaluation of policies, practices
- Are workplace DEI policies still legal after SCOTUS decisions?
- Court cases add new twists to legal language
- It’s all business, especially the busyness
- Virginia Tech student got due process in hearing
- 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
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