South Carolina

Black Baptist Church Is Rightful Owner of KKK Store, Judge Rules

A South Carolina district court judge recently ruled that the New Beginnings Baptist Church is the rightful owner of a store that sells Ku Klux Klan robes and T-shirts. The battle over the building began in 1997 when a disgruntled KKK member transferred ownership to Rev. David Kennedy and his…

Jan 4, 2012 5:23 PM CST

Federal Judge Blocks Part of New SC Immigration Law, Says It Infringes on Feds’ Role

A federal judge in South Carolina has temporarily blocked provisions of a new state immigration statute that were to go into effect Jan. 1, finding the state was infringing on the federal government’s prerogative to enforce immigration law. Among the new rules nixed by U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel…

Dec 22, 2011 7:43 PM CST

BigLaw Firm Opens 40th Office with Seven Lawyers from Parker Poe in Charleston

K&L Gates is expanding once again. The law firm is adding an office in Charleston, S.C., with seven partners from Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, report the Am Law Daily, the Pittsburgh Business Times and a press release. It will be K&L Gates’ 24th office in the United States and…

Dec 12, 2011 2:24 PM CST

Lawyer Gets Public Reprimand for Gifting Client with $442.32 ‘Recovery,’ Then Delaying Payment

G. Turner Perrow Jr. presumably meant well. But the South Carolina practitioner spent a year updating an unidentified client about the progress of his effort to help her collect money from a former employer for unpaid vacation time, even though he determined early on that she wasn’t entitled to any…

Nov 8, 2011 6:57 PM CST

SC Officials to Investigate Defense Lawyer’s Claim That Deputy Secretly Taped Conversation

South Carolina officials have been asked to investigate a defense lawyer’s claim that a sheriff’s deputy secretly taped her conversation with a prosecutor in a double-murder case. Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles made the request after a hearing Wednesday on Florence, S.C. Defense lawyer Rose Mary Parham is seeking a…

Oct 13, 2011 8:47 PM CDT

A Lawyer Is Shot and Killed; His Girlfriend, a Onetime Client, Is Charged with Murder

A South Carolina lawyer died from several gunshot wounds Monday evening, and his live-in girlfriend has been charged with the murder. Police found York, S.C., lawyer Michael Howe dead in his bathroom and his girlfriend, Christina Adams, outside in the yard where a gun was also found, the Herald reports.…

Oct 12, 2011 1:57 PM CDT

South Carolina Supreme Court Suspends Lawyer for Slapping Defendant

In a ruling Monday, the South Carolina Supreme Court suspended the license of a Conway attorney for slapping a defendant during a deposition. Conway, S.C.-based lawyer Richard M. Lovelace Jr. pleaded no contest to simple assault and was fined after he slapped a defendant in the face because he thought…

Oct 11, 2011 10:45 PM CDT

Are Your Client Files Hazardous to Your Health? SC Supreme Court Weighs Document Destruction

A lawyer appointed to represent the interests of another lawyer’s clients encountered an unusual health hazard: Some of the files are unsanitary. The South Carolina Supreme Court weighed in on the dilemma in a Sept. 8 order (PDF) noted by the Legal Profession Blog. The appointed lawyer notified the court…

Sep 20, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Double Whammy for Uninsured Man with Breast Cancer: No Medicaid, Due to His Gender

Stunned to learn that he has breast cancer, Raymond Johnson, 26, was then hit hard by another round of bad news. Under federal law, the uninsured tradesman from South Carolina doesn’t qualify for Medicaid because he is male, reports the Post and Courier. He says the sex-based policy that state…

Aug 9, 2011 6:12 PM CDT

Charleston and Drexel Celebrate News of Full ABA Accreditation

Charleston School of Law and Drexel University’s Earle Mack School of Law are celebrating the news that they have earned full accreditation from the American Bar Association. “In 2003, we began with a dream to create a second law school in South Carolina, a student-centered law school focused on service…

Aug 8, 2011 12:16 PM CDT

Jury Trial Planned re $445 Obscenity Ticket Issued Over Plastic Dangling Bull Privates

At least three states have considered banning the fake plastic bull testicles some drivers hang on the back of their pickups, but haven’t yet done so. So that puts a South Carolina town that issued Virginia Tice, 65, a $445 obscenity ticket earlier this month on the front lines of…

Jul 27, 2011 11:37 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Admitted Trying to Hire a Hit Man Used Postdated Check, Disbarment Opinion Says

A South Carolina lawyer sentenced last year to three years in prison for trying to hire a hit man to kill a colleague used a postdated check in the endeavor, according to an opinion by the state supreme court. The lawyer, Irby Walker of Conway, S.C., was disbarred by consent,…

Jul 12, 2011 3:13 PM CDT

SC Lawyer Rapped for Overselling His Small Firm in Brochure, Phone Book and Online Ads

A South Carolina attorney has been publicly reprimanded by the state supreme court for overselling his small firm’s experience and expertise by exaggerating and making statements that could not be factually verified. For example, Michael Hensley Wells said on his firm’s website and in a brochure that he’d “worked in…

May 9, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

2nd Circuit Overturns Injunction Against Southern Gun Shops Accused in NYC Nuisance Suit

A federal appeals court has upheld a default judgment against two Southern gun stores accused of having “New Yorkers’ blood on their hands,” but ruled the injunctions issued against them were overbroad. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday, the New York Post reports. New…

May 5, 2011 12:39 PM CDT

3 Law Firms Open New Offices in Southern States

Three law firms have announced that they are opening new offices in southern states: Cleveland-based McDonald Hopkins is bringing in a onetime general counsel to a former Florida governor to head its new Miami office, reports Crain’s Cleveland Business. Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez, who served in the administration of ex-Gov. Jeb…

Apr 26, 2011 9:06 PM CDT