South Carolina

Prison Is Next Destination for Disbarred Lawyer Now Working at Kmart

The downfall of disbarred Charleston, W.Va.., lawyer Leonard Coleman, sentenced yesterday to almost three years in prison for embezzlement, is like a Greek tragedy, according to his defense lawyer. Coleman once made $240,000 a year as a partner at Goodwin & Goodwin. Now he stocks shelves at night at Kmart,…

Jan 24, 2008 4:43 PM CST

Chitwood Wins Motley Face-Off; Former Lawyers Spin Off Again

A year-and-a-half after Chitwood Harley Harnes settled claims against four former lawyers who set up a rival securities litigation shop at a new Atlanta office of Motley Rice, the Chitwood firm apparently has prevailed in a head-to-head battle for clients. Motley is closing its Atlanta office, and the four former…

Dec 10, 2007 11:27 PM CST

Bar Exam Error Handled Differently in 2003

The quandary over how to handle a scoring error on the South Carolina bar exam is similar to a problem that surfaced with the Multistate Bar Exam in 2003. But the solution adopted by South Carolina Supreme Court differs with the tougher approach adopted by some state bar authorities four…

Nov 26, 2007 7:35 PM CST

S.C. Supreme Court: ‘Understandable Concerns’ About Bar Exam

Responding to what it describes as “understandable concerns” about the unusual manner in which some who took the South Carolina bar exam in July 2007 belatedly learned that they had passed, the state supreme court has offered an additional explanation of what happened. A scrivener’s error resulted in one examinee’s…

Nov 20, 2007 7:34 PM CST

S.C. Bar Asks Court to Explain Bar Exam Grading Change

The South Carolina Bar’s board of governors is asking the state supreme court to explain more fully why it changed the bar exam results for 20 test-takers, including the daughters of a trial judge and a state legislator with judiciary responsibilities. The statement indicates the bar is distancing itself from…

Nov 16, 2007 6:33 PM CST

Plot Thickens: Bar Exam Chief Wasn’t Told of Grading Change

Updated: The South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision to change the bar exam results for 20 test-takers was a surprise to the man who oversees the state Board of Law Examiners. Board chairman George Hearn told TheState.com that neither the court nor any of his board members informed him of the…

Nov 13, 2007 7:30 PM CST

Judge’s Daughter Flunks Bar Exam—Until High-Court Grade Change

A trial judge’s daughter is among 20 law grads who flunked and then passed the state bar exam, due to a grading change by the South Carolina Supreme Court. The court said the section of the exam on wills, trusts and estates will be dropped from test scoring, but gave…

Nov 9, 2007 4:25 PM CST

Judge Perry to Win ABA Marshall Award

A revered South Carolina civil rights lawyer whose career included numerous “firsts” is to be presented by the American Bar Association later this month with its prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award. To be honored by the ABA at its annual meeting for his “substantial and long-term contributions to the furtherance of…

Aug 6, 2007 5:40 PM CDT

Zoloft Defense Loses in S.C.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of a youth who claimed he was involuntarily intoxicated by antidepressants when he shot his grandparents. Christopher Pittman was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting his grandparents while they slept and then setting fire to their home. He…

Jun 12, 2007 5:43 PM CDT

Paralegal Pleads Guilty to Escrow Thefts

A paralegal has pleaded guilty to taking nearly $700,000 from escrow accounts at the law firm where she worked. Amy C. Smith worked at Abel and Reynolds in Mount Pleasant, S.C., according to the Post and Courier. Smith said she thought she could move money in and out of the…

Jun 5, 2007 8:21 PM CDT

Plaintiffs Firms Bring International Tort Claims

Plaintiffs class-action firms are starting to get involved in international human-rights cases. Previously such suits were usually brought by public-interest lawyers. But now plaintiffs firms such as Motley Rice of South Carolina are suing international defendants for human-rights violations, according to Adam Liptak of the New York Times. Motley Rice…

Jun 4, 2007 12:47 PM CDT

Dad & Daughter Among Law School’s First Grads

After Sydney Jones decided to go to law school, so did her father, Sidney. In fact, the two both wound up in the same class at Charleston Law School in South Carolina, and are to graduate together over the weekend, in the law school’s first graduating class. Although the two…

May 14, 2007 11:01 AM CDT

Not Guilty Verdict in SC Dungeon Rape Case

A convicted sex offender has been found not guilty by a South Carolina jury of charges that he kidnapped and raped two teenage girls, binding them with duct tape and confining them in an underground bunker at his home in March 2006. Prosecutors also said Kenneth Glenn Hinson expected the…

Apr 23, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Court Interpreters a ‘Growth Industry’ in S.C.

South Carolina’s federal court dockets are being flooded with cases requiring interpreters, especially for defendants accused of bringing illegal drugs into the state. Cases involving interpreters are sometimes more complex and time-consuming, the Columbia, S.C., State reports. In one pending drug trafficking case, with 24 defendants accused of dealing in…

Apr 18, 2007 7:27 PM CDT

Adding Un Poco Espanol

Businesses Learn to Serve Hispanics With On-Site Language Instruction

Jan 25, 2005 11:16 AM CST