QBE Insurance Corp. v. Sellers In the underlying state-court wrongful death action, defendant Sellers is suing plaintiff’s insured. In this action, plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment that its general commercial liability policy does not require plaintiff to defend or indemnify its insured in the wrongful death action. Even though, under S.C. law, Sellers might not have standing to assert a counterclaim alleging that an additional policy applies, under federal law, Sellers has standing to assert such a counterclaim.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Declaratory Judgment Action Insurance Standing Tort/Negligence wrongful death

Colson v. Samson Hair Restoration, LLC Even though the defendant-doctor was licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina and had privileges at an S.C. hospital, since the doctor never actually practiced medicine in South Carolina, and since he had no contacts with South Carolina except for treating S.C. patients in North Carolina, this court lacks personal jurisdiction over the doctor. The doctor’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is granted.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Personal Jurisdiction

McKnight v. Surgical Associates of Myrtle Beach LLC Even though, as an element of her state-law unfair trade practices claim, plaintiff alleges that defendants violated a federal law - the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) - this allegation alone is insufficient to give this court federal question jurisdiction over plaintiff’s claim. Plaintiff’s motion to remand to state court is granted.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Federal Jurisdiction Remand Unfair Trade Practices

Cockrell v. Lexington County School District One In a proposed amended complaint, plaintiff Justin Cockrell alleges that, although he was originally assigned a qualified “shadow” to assist him with managing his learning disabilities, the defendant-school district assigned him a new, untrained shadow who injured Justin in a physical encounter. These allegations are sufficient to state a claim for gross negligence.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Schools & School Boards Statute of Limitations Tort/Negligence

Wilder v. Blue Ribbon Taxicab Corp. Where (1) more than a year elapsed between the time defendant was served with the summons and complaint and when it moved for relief from entry of default, (2) defendant acknowledged that it had no meritorious defense to liability, and (3) plaintiff showed she would be prejudiced if the matter were further delayed while defendant conducted discovery on issues not in dispute — like liability — then the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found that defendant did not show good cause sufficient to relieve it from entry of default.

Tagged with: auto accident Civil Practice Damages Default Judgment Tort/Negligence

Roesler v. Roesler Even though the parties had relocated to South Carolina from Texas in October 2007, they were nevertheless S.C. residents when the husband filed this divorce action in January 2008; therefore, the family court had jurisdiction over this action. We affirm the family court’s ruling that it had subject matter jurisdiction over the parties’ marriage. We affirm the family court’s failure to appoint an attorney for the wife or to send the case to mediation. We reverse the family court’s summary refusal to consider the issue of alimony.

Tagged with: Alimony Attorneys Civil Practice Domestic Relations Jurisdiction Mediation

Snipes v. Snipes Where (1) the husband does not dispute he was using narcotic drugs prescribed by his physician, (2) the wife offered uncontradicted testimony that the husband was frequently intoxicated because of the medication, (3) the wife observed that the husband “took too much” of the medication for a period much longer than needed to recuperate from his surgeries and would sometimes “grab a handful of pills” when he got aggravated or mad, and (4) the wife testified that the parties had a good marriage in prior years and she separated from the husband because he “had become addicted to prescription medicine,” we affirm the family court’s grant of a divorce to the wife on the ground of habitual drunkenness.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Divorce Domestic Relations Equitable Distribution

Dash v. Mayweather Defendant obtained yet another delay of his deposition by representing to the court that he was recuperating from injuries sustained in a boxing match. However, on the day the deposition was to have taken place, defendant made an advertised appearance at a nightclub. Since defendant is a wealthy individual, the court exercises its inherent authority to fashion an appropriate sanction. Defendant is ordered to perform 40 hours of community service at the Las Vegas Habitat for Humanity Project by Jan. 31, 2012.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Discovery Sanctions

Eastern Business Forms, Inc. v. Davin Plaintiff disobeyed two of this court’s discovery orders, falsely represented on numerous occasions that the requested emails did not exist because there had been no communication by email, and systematically deleted the emails which were relevant to defendants’ counterclaims and which were responsive to defendants’ discovery requests. Plaintiff acted willfully, in bad faith, and with gross indifference to defendants’ rights. As the only appropriate sanction for such egregious discovery abuse, plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed. Plaintiff shall pay defendants’ attorney’s fees relating to this discovery dispute and the entire cost of the forensic examination of plaintiff’s computers.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Discovery Dismissal

Eastern Business Forms, Inc. v. Davin Plaintiff disobeyed two of this court’s discovery orders, falsely represented on numerous occasions that the requested emails did not exist because there had been no communication by email, and systematically deleted the emails which were relevant to defendants’ counterclaims and which were responsive to defendants’ discovery requests. Plaintiff acted willfully, in bad faith, and with gross indifference to defendants’ rights.

Tagged with: Civil Practice Discovery Dismissal