Following years of alleged sexual abuse of a minor child at the hands of Joseph Hunter, the mother of the child filed suit in state court against Hunter's wife, Rose Hunter, asserting causes of action for negligence,...more
In 2001, the developer of a condominium project brought an action against the manufacturer of windows installed in the condominiums, seeking indemnity for liability the developer might incur to the homeowners’ association for...more
Addressing a motion to compel arbitration and to dismiss a pending action, the United States District Court for South Carolina analyzed the enforceability of an arbitration clause in favor of a nonsignatory. Supporting its...more
South Carolina’s law of negligence is basic: a plaintiff must demonstrate a defendant owed a duty of care, that defendant breached that duty and plaintiff suffered an injury proximately resulting from defendant’s breach. A...more
S.C. Code §15-39-30 provides, in part:
Executions may issue on final judgments or decrees at any time within 10 years from the date of the original entry thereof and shall have active energy during such period, without any...more
S.C. Code §38-77-160, which provides the statutory authority and requirements for underinsured coverage (UIM), provides, in relevant part, the insurer providing the UIM coverage has the right to appear and defend in the name...more
Insurers Take Heed: South Carolina Law Does Not Require Apportionment of Punitive Damages -
07.10.18 - In a significant but not entirely novel ruling, the South Carolina Supreme Court recently held that South Carolina law...more
In this space alone, there has been a plethora of cases in which coverage was denied based upon an assault and battery exclusion of a commercial general liability (CGL) policy. Recently, in a per curium opinion, the Court of...more
A recent decision of the United States District Court of South Carolina again demonstrated a liberal federal policy favoring arbitration agreements. Suzanne Young v. AMISUB of South Carolina, Inc. d/b/a Piedmont Medical...more
The relationship between children and parents continues to change; it takes but a brief, informal look to see glaring examples. For instance, the average age for Americans to marry has risen by four years since 1990. These...more
South Carolina has long recognized the common law collateral source rule. The rule provides that any compensation received by an injured party from a source independent of the tortfeasor cannot be applied to reduce damages...more
Addressing the appeal from a construction defect case tried to a verdict, the South Carolina Court of Appeals took the opportunity to examine a number of issues basic to both trial and appellate practice. Stoneledge at Lake...more
Faced with cross motions for summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action seeking coverage determination, the United States District Court for South Carolina recently employed exacting scrutiny in its analysis of the...more
Owners Insurance Company issued a commercial general liability policy (CGL) to Cruz Accessories, a/k/a H&C Corp.(Cruz). The policy included standard language relating to Owners’ right and duty to defend Cruz, including the...more
While there are myriad cases interpreting uninsured motorist (UM) coverage in South Carolina, some aspects of the coverage are well determined. No policy of insurance may be issued without providing for the coverage, in an...more
The South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association (the Guaranty) is an unincorporated nonprofit entity created pursuant to the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association Act (the...more
South Carolina Supreme Court Clarifies Successor Liability -
How to successfully pierce the corporate veil has been shrouded in a degree of mystery in South Carolina, to both those in pursuit of and those defending against...more
For the first time in the District of South Carolina, and the Fourth Circuit, a Medicare provider has successfully obtained a district court order enjoining CMS from recouping Medicare payments following an overpayment...more
How to successfully pierce the corporate veil has been shrouded in a degree of mystery in South Carolina, to both those in pursuit of and those defending against the action. However, our Supreme Court has recently made...more
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d) provides, in pertinent part, that “[u]nless a federal statute, these rules, or a court order provides otherwise, costs – other than attorney’s fees – should be allowed to the prevailing...more
There is no shortage of opinions offering guidance in the construction and analysis of insurance policies. For those of us who regularly read and interpret these policies the courts have provided myriad scenarios with various...more
Because many recognize the prudence in securing additional coverage and because, generally speaking, personal liability umbrella policies (PLUP) are not prohibitively expensive for most, it is not unusual to encounter such a...more
South Carolina’s attorney-client privilege protects against the disclosure of communications pursuant to which legal advice of any kind is sought by a client from a professional legal adviser, acting in that capacity. At the...more
Any regular reader has seen a number of articles here regarding assault and/or battery exclusions of insurance policies. These exclusions are commonly part of commercial general liability (“CGL”) and liquor liability...more
South Carolina has loosely addressed the amalgamation of interests theory for more than three decades, generally finding that separate corporate entities may be viewed as one if there has been an amalgamation of the corporate...more