South Carolina

Mass shootings prompt bar associations to offer pro bono services to survivors and victims’ families

Attorneys are flocking to volunteer for bar association programs that help with probate, child custody, guardianship, victim compensation or trust matters.

Mar 1, 2019 1:40 AM CST

Prison inmates indicted in sextortion ring that targeted military service members

Five prison inmates and 10 of their associates have been indicted in a sextortion ring in which they allegedly posed as women online and then as angry fathers demanding money. The ring targeted military service members found through dating websites and social media platforms, report the Herald, the Army Times,…

Nov 29, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Burr & Forman will grow to more than 350 lawyers with acquisition of South Carolina law firm

Burr & Forman has announced it will acquire the South Carolina-based McNair Law Firm, a move that will swell its ranks to more than 350 lawyers. Burr & Forman, based in Birmingham, Alabama, will have 19 offices in eight states when the merger is complete on Jan. 1, report the…

Nov 1, 2018 3:00 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer suspected in shooting of 7 South Carolina law enforcement officers

The suspect was admitted to the bar in 1980 and disbarred by consent four years later in an order by the state’s supreme court.

Oct 4, 2018 9:15 AM CDT

Some courts, law schools affected by Florence starting to reopen

Continuing coverage: Florence is now a tropical depression in the Ohio Valley, and while damage from the onetime hurricane is still being felt, some courts and law schools are reopening.

Sep 17, 2018 7:48 AM CDT

South Carolina requires insurers to have plans safeguarding customer data

Less than a year from now, insurers doing business in South Carolina will be required to have a “comprehensive information security program” that protects consumer data.

Jul 6, 2018 10:27 AM CDT

Judge tosses suits over background check of Dylann Roof, calls FBI explanation ‘nonsense’

A federal judge in Charleston, South Carolina, says the FBI provided a “nonsense” explanation for its failure to quickly discover a key fact in a gun background check of mass shooter Dylann Roof, but the judge nonetheless tossed 16 lawsuits against the agency for the misstep. U.S. District Judge Richard…

Jun 20, 2018 10:40 AM CDT

Nelson Mullins, Broad and Cassel set to form ‘super-regional’ law firm

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough is merging with Broad and Cassel to form a firm with more than 725 lawyers.

Jun 11, 2018 12:14 PM CDT

Some states are welcoming back ex-offenders to work behind bars

In 2010, Cindy Stubbs was nearing the end of a 14-year sentence in a South Carolina prison, determined never to return. A mother of four, locked up on gun and drug trafficking charges since she was 34, Stubbs worked inside the prison translating textbooks to Braille. Three months before her…

Jan 18, 2018 1:25 PM CST

8 states file brief supporting the government’s attempt to deny abortions to immigrant minors

Eight states described as having “a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life” have weighed in on a lawsuit seeking to clear the way for immigrant minors in federal custody to have abortions. An amicus brief in Garza v. Hargan from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan,…

Jan 9, 2018 4:02 PM CST

Former cop sentenced to 20 years for fatally shooting unarmed black man

A federal judge in Charleston, South Carolina, has sentenced a white former police officer to 20 years in prison after his guilty plea to a federal civil-rights charge for shooting an unarmed black man who was running from him. Michael Slager had admitted to using excessive force against Walter Scott…

Dec 7, 2017 12:39 PM CST

South Carolina chief justice tells judges to stop jailing poor defendants without lawyers

Thousands of arrest warrants from lower-level judges are being suspended in South Carolina as a result of instructions by the state's chief justice.

Nov 10, 2017 10:26 AM CST

Suit claims South Carolina municipal courts jail poor people without providing a lawyer

A class action lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that municipal courts in South Carolina fail to provide lawyers to people who can’t afford them and fail to advise defendants of their right to a lawyer.

Oct 13, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Cases raise questions about adult guardianship and lawyer-hospital relationships

Cases in Michigan and South Carolina are raising questions about lawyers who receive guardianship appointments as a result of their relationships with hospitals.

Oct 10, 2017 7:45 AM CDT

South Dakota inmates get tablets for legal research; state drops paralegal and part-time lawyer

Inmates in South Dakota no longer have a need for legal help from a paralegal or lawyer because they can do their own research on tablets, according to Department of Corrections Secretary Denny Kaemingk. South Dakota is one of two states that had offered legal help to inmates researching the…

Oct 3, 2017 11:02 AM CDT