South Carolina Lawyers Weekly

May 2, 2025

Court upholds $3.8M attorney fee award

4th Circuit affirms $3.8M in fees for Montgomery Park in lease dispute, citing common core of facts in defense and counterclaims.

May 11, 2018

Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease – Roof Repair – Bankruptcy – Lease Assumption

The original – now bankrupt – tenant failed to do the roof upkeep required by its lease, and the new defendant-tenant’s assumption of the lease (via a bankruptcy court’s order […]

Apr 14, 2017

Insurance – Fire – Assignments – Commercial Lease – Pleadings Amendment – Statute of Limitations

Crossroads Convenience, LLC v. First Casualty Insurance Group (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-103-17, 21 pp.) (J. Michelle Childs, J.) 1:15-cv-02544; D.S.C. Holding: Once the plaintiff-owner received assignments from its lessee and […]

Sep 2, 2016

Contract – Truck Lease – Tort/Negligence – Fraud & Conversion Claims

Gillins v. Celadon Trucking Services, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-162-16, 15 pp.) (David Norton, J.) 2:16-cv-00795; D.S.C. Holding: Even though plaintiff’s truck lease was with Quality Equipment Leasing, LLC – […]

May 16, 2012

Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease – Appeals – Preservation of Issues – Security Deposit

Atlantic Coast Builders & Contractors, LLC v. Lewis The master in equity found for the plaintiff-tenant on three causes of action – negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment – but the defendant-landlord appealed only the findings of liability for negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract and not the finding of liability for unjust enrichment.

Feb 16, 2012

Contract – Real Property — Commercial Lease – Service Station – Fuel Purchase Agreement – Covenant Not to Compete

BP Products North America Inc. v. Stanley The 4th Circuit reverses summary judgment for defendant service-station operator in plaintiff fuel distributor’s suit to enforce a restrictive covenant that was part of a Purchase Sale Agreement and deed and prohibited the service-station operator from selling non-BP branded products or offering certain automotive services; in a 2-1 split, the p[...]

Oct 7, 2011

Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease – Statute of Limitations – ‘Common Expenses’ – Evidence – Attorney’s Fees

Port City Ltd. Partnership v. City of Charleston The parties entered into lease agreements for two offices in 1994 and 1996, respectively, and each lease required the defendant-tenant to pay its share of “common expenses.” Where the plaintiff-landlord did not request payment for common expenses until 2005, the trial court correctly ruled that the landlord’s claim for monies due prio[...]

Sep 30, 2011

Simple lease dispute requires high court’s attention

A simple commercial lease involving a simple mistake led to a simple disagreement. That led all the way to the S.C. Supreme Court in Atlantic Coast Builders and Contractors v. Lewis, where the high court’s justices disagreed over simple appellate procedural rules that ended the case, for now. In a Sept. 26 opinion, the high court majority, applying the “two issue” and “law of the case�[...]

Sep 29, 2011

Contract – Commercial Lease – Unjust Enrichment – Security Deposit

Atlantic Coast Builders and Contractors, LLC v. Lewis Where the respondent sued after discovering the office space it contracted to lease was actually zoned rural and prohibited almost all commercial uses, the Court of Appeals properly found that: (1) the two-issue rule precluded addressing the merits of petitioner’s argument since she failed to challenge all three grounds on which the [...]

Sep 6, 2011

Landlord/Tenant – Commercial Lease — Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Contract – Real Property

Palmetto Co. v. McMahon Even though the plaintiff-landlord titled its action as one for distraint, its claim for rent arose out of a commercial lease with the defendant-tenant, not out of its title to real property. Because a lease is a contract, the three-year statute of limitations applies.