South Carolina Supreme Court
Recent News About South Carolina Supreme Court
-
'Judicial Hellholes' report: Philly No. 1, but South Carolina asbestos court moving up
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - South Carolina's asbestos court is now the No. 3 "Judicial Hellhole" in the country, the American Tort Reform Association announced, handing the docket its highest ranking since it first appeared on the annual report in 2020. -
Motley Rice enters the fracas in South Carolina's asbestos court
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) – South Carolina's foremost plaintiffs firm is jumping into what has become an international fight over whether the state's asbestos judge can hand over control of a foreign company to one lawyer in Richland County. -
Overseas, judge criticizes South Carolina's asbestos litigation money-machine
The controversial plan to bring dead companies back to life in South Carolina to raid insurance policies they held decades ago doesn't fly in the United Kingdom. -
Veil lifted, slightly, on asbestos money flowing through South Carolina court
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - The court-appointed receiver for a long-defunct insulation company in South Carolina has paid more than $27 million to settle asbestos cases, according to a new filing that provides limited financial information about one of the secretive funds the receiver uses to hold proceeds of settlements with insurance companies. -
Insurers funding shadowy S.C. asbestos accounts want secrecy to continue
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Nothing to see here, folks. That was the position of lawyers who appeared at an unusual hearing last week called by South Carolina Judge Jean H. Toal to explain how the receivership process in her asbestos court works, and why details about it should remain secret. -
Secrecy shrouds asbestos money in South Carolina, but insurer makes play for records
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A South Carolina personal-injury lawyer with a court-ordered commission to keep a third of whatever he recovers has placed tens of millions of dollars in Delaware partnerships that he controls, out of sight of the public and even the judge who allowed them to be established. -
'Slammed the door in my face': Key cog in South Carolina's asbestos court not at U.K. showdown
A London judge hearing a U.K. company’s challenge to receivership orders handed down by his judicial counterpart in South Carolina called the procedure “a bit sort of odd,” given the U.K. company has never done business in South Carolina and has no assets there. -
Foreign mining company caught in South Carolina's asbestos machine must go to trial in February
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - The judge in charge of South Carolina’s swelling asbestos docket agreed to delay a trial against Anglo American and its De Beers diamond unit over whether they participated in a decades-long scheme to hide assets from U.S. plaintiffs but rejected Anglo American’s central argument, which is that the U.K. mining giants shouldn’t be in her courtroom at in the first place. -
Zombies are on the loose in a Carolina courtroom. Can anyone stop them?
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - An all-powerful judge raises the dead. A lawyer herds them into court. Their prey: Insurance companies. It sounds like the worst horror movie ever made, but it would actually be a documentary. -
South Carolina SC: Public tuition funds paid to private schools violates Constitution
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A split South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled a state law that provides scholarships to students with money from the state's general fund is unconstitutional. -
After $63M loss, Johnson & Johnson preps for another trial in unfriendly South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Johnson & Johnson is scheduled to begin trial next month in a South Carolina court where it lost a $63 million verdict last month and the presiding judge has a reputation for pro-plaintiff rulings and stiff sanctions against companies that dare to oppose her. -
Jury of one: Asbestos judge fattens verdicts when she wants
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A South Carolina judge criticized as overly generous to plaintiffs in asbestos cases is making defendants pay whatever she feels, despite what juries and federal courts say, and was just given approval to do so by the state Supreme Court. -
Winner of $63M talc verdict worked in asbestos-filled building but jurors never knew
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A man who won a $63 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson over what he claims was asbestos-contaminated talcum powder worked in a building later condemned for being “full of asbestos” and told his doctor about his suspected exposure to the deadly fibers. -
'No punt' football coach wins $200K in lawsuit over email criticizing his paperwork
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A high school football coach who was demoted after adopting a disastrous “no punt” strategy can keep $200,000 a jury awarded him in a lawsuit over an email criticizing his paperwork skills, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled. -
South Carolina companies facing injury lawsuits can be liable for hiring wrong contractor
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Answering for the first time the question of whether a company can be liable for hiring the wrong independent contractor, the South Carolina Supreme Court said “yes.” -
Nonprofit earns right to challenge South Carolina AG's $75M transfer to private lawyers
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A nonprofit organization can challenge South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s transfer of $75 million in contingency fees to outside lawyers, the state’s highest court ruled, saying it was “an issue of public importance” because the AG may make several other such transfers including fees associated with a $300 million settlement of opioid claims. -
Restaurant company's theory fails as it seeks insurance money for COVID loss of business
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) – The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled against restaurants seeking to recover the financial drain of the COVID-19 pandemic from their insurers. -
After girl is pricked by needle in parking lot, Target fights to avoid seven-figure judgment
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) – Target will still be liable for injuries a little girl suffered when she picked up a hypodermic needle in one of its parking lots but a $4.5 million punitive damages award will likely be reduced. -
South Carolina Supreme Court rejects key argument for asbestos defendants, affirms $16M verdict
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos defendant hoping to invoke the Workers’ Compensation process in South Carolina has failed and will instead be on the hook for a $16 million verdict. -
Why is South Carolina a 'hotspot' for asbestos lawsuits?
The number of asbestos cases filed nationally is down 9%, so why are they skyrocketing in South Carolina?