South Carolina

Top SC Court Reminds Lawyers to Mind Their Manners, Raps Practitioner for Email re Opponent’s Child

Representing clients in “an emotional and heated domestic dispute” apparently pushed three South Carolina lawyers into a dispute of their own that has now resulted in a general “letter of caution” to all attorneys from the state’s highest court. Reminding the state’s lawyers to mind their manners, the supreme court…

Apr 26, 2011 7:17 PM CDT

Murder Conviction Reversed Due to Prosecutorial Misconduct; Double Jeopardy Bars Retrial

The South Carolina Supreme Court has reversed a murder conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct and held that double jeopardy precludes retrial of a man who undisputedly shot and killed his sister’s boyfriend. Because the prosecutor goaded the defense counsel into seeking a mistrial, the state is not entitled to a…

Mar 15, 2011 10:25 PM CDT

Suspended for Incivility: Lawyer’s Indignant Letter Questioned Town Manager’s Soul

Columbia, S.C., lawyer William Gary White III fired off a letter when the town manager of Atlantic Beach, S.C., wrote the lawyer’s church client about the need for zoning compliance. White sent his indignant letter to two owners of the church property and copied the town manager, Kenneth McIver. The…

Mar 10, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Lacking Ballistics Expertise? Looking to Pack Some Heat? Admitted in SC? Here’s a CLE Course for You

For South Carolina attorneys who seek to arm themselves against the potential vicissitudes of law practice but lack the practical training to feel confident about doing so safely, their bar association has anticipated a need. On a single weekend in April, lawyers can not only receive firearms and ballistics analysis…

Mar 4, 2011 10:17 PM CST

Probate Matter Takes Unusual Twist as Client’s Brother Is Charged with Solicitation to Murder

Attorney Bobby Pearlman was handing what seemed like a somewhat routine probate matter in Charleston, S.C., until his client’s brother was arrested for allegedly trying to put a contract hit on Pearlman’s client. “We don’t get this all the time. It’s the talk of the legal community and certainly a…

Jan 19, 2011 5:50 PM CST

Probate Judge Can’t Moonlight at a Funeral Home, Says Ethics Panel

Adding another gig to the list of jobs forbidden to moonlighting jurists, a South Carolina ethics panel has ruled that a newly elected probate judge who happens to be a licensed funeral director can’t continue to work weekends at a funeral home. “[A] judge should not engage in business or…

Dec 20, 2010 10:09 PM CST

Parrot’s Chilling Comments Aid Police in Elder Abuse Case

A talking parrot provided what could be taken as chilling evidence in the case of a 60-year-old South Carolina woman charged with neglecting her 98-year-old mother, who was found on the verge of death suffering from severe bedsores. “The parrot was mimicking, ‘Help me. Help me.’ Then he would laugh,”…

Dec 8, 2010 7:12 PM CST

Lawyer Accused of Hiding Money Had Nearly $1M in Cash in His Law Office Closet

A South Carolina lawyer known for his TV commercials and billboards has turned over $994,000 in cash kept in a closet of his Myrtle Beach law office after a court-appointed bankruptcy investigator stressed the important of disclosing his assets. Harry Pavilack, who urged clients to “Call Pavilack Today!” in his…

Nov 2, 2010 1:03 PM CDT

S.C. Supreme Court Weighs 1802 Gaming Law’s Application to 2006 Poker Bust

A lawyer for South Carolina told the state supreme court this week that an old 1802 state gaming law doesn’t bar Friday night poker games and penny ante games of bridge. But senior assistant attorney general Sonny Jones argued that the law does apply to five men busted for playing…

Oct 21, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Nelson Mullins to Merge with 19-Lawyer IP Firm

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough is merging with a 19-lawyer intellectual property firm in Boston. The firm’s merger with Lahive & Cockfield takes place on Nov. 1, according to the State and a Nelson Mullins press release. The move will double the size of Nelson Mullins’ Boston office and will…

Oct 7, 2010 4:06 PM CDT

Law Firm’s Website Warns Clients: We Aren’t Perfect and We Don’t Work Weekends

High-maintenance divorce clients may not want to hire the Pincus Family Law firm in Columbia, S.C. The law firm takes work-life balance seriously, and it expects its clients to behave. The firm sets out the boundaries on its website under the heading “Client Expectations (Realistic or Unrealistic).” Pincus Family Law…

Oct 7, 2010 3:27 PM CDT

Sex with Client’s Spouse Is a Per Se Legal Ethics Violation, Top SC Court Says

An anonymous member of the South Carolina bar had an unblemished disciplinary record in 37 years of practice. But he has now been admonished after admittedly having a brief affair with a client’s wife. A hearing panel of the state Commission of Lawyer Conduct dismissed an allegation that this conduct…

Sep 14, 2010 4:43 PM CDT

Girlfriend Charged in Lawyer’s Murder Is Now Accused of Defrauding Him, Too

Charged in May in the murder of her longtime boyfriend, South Carolina attorney and former York mayor Melvin Roberts, defendant Julia Phillips is now also facing a criminal breach-of-trust case concerning her dealings with him. Roberts, 79, was found strangled to death in February outside the York home he and…

Aug 18, 2010 4:55 PM CDT

Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Plot to Murder Colleague After Secretary’s Suspected Theft

A South Carolina lawyer was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for trying to solicit the murder of a former colleague. Conway lawyer Irby Walker pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit a felony and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspended to three years in prison and five…

Aug 17, 2010 12:08 PM CDT

Plaintiffs Firms Form Alliance Offering Free Help to BP Compensation Fund Claimants

A group of plaintiffs law firms in the southeast have formed an Oil Spill Legal Alliance that is offering to help victims of the BP spill file claims without charge. Alliance members will be available, however, to represent oil spill victims who opt to litigate on a contingency basis or…

Aug 2, 2010 11:00 AM CDT