July 2012

Attorney's Fees

July 30th, 2012

South Carolina Supreme Court amends Rules of Professional Conduct to address the charging of advance fees by lawyers

Today the South Carolina Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct to address the charging of advance fees by lawyers.  Given recent confusing disciplinary opinions regarding the handling of minimum fees or non refundable retainers these new rules provide welcome clarity. The primary change is the addition of Rule1.5(f), which reads: (f) […]

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Law and Culture

July 29th, 2012

The <i>New York Times</i> and Family Law

The amount and quality of the journalism coming from the New York Times that touches on issues related to family law is–literally–remarkable.  I could easily generate 100 blogs a year highlighting Times stories that implicate family law.  Often this journalism identifies first-wave issues that are likely to go national, such as a recent article on […]

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Child Support

July 29th, 2012

South Carolina Supreme Court’s Suspension of Family Court Rule 24 for Title IV-D Cases

Two different family law attorneys have asked–nay demanded–that I blog about the July 19, 2012 South Carolina Supreme Court Administrative Order suspending application of South Carolina Family Court Rule 24 as it relates to the review and enforcement of Title IV-D child support payments paid through the clerk of court.  This suspension is based upon […]

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Of Interest to General Public

July 27th, 2012

Supreme Court applies Federal Indian Child Welfare Act to prevent adoption

The July 26, 2012 South Carolina Supreme Court opinion in Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation, 398 S.C. 625, 731 S.E.2d 550 (2012), had been long anticipated.  The story of two-year old Veronica ripped from her adoptive parents who had raised her since birth and returned to her biological father in Oklahoma was a local media sensation, with comments […]

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Jurisprudence

July 20th, 2012

The limitations of textualist construction in statutory interpretation

Based on a mostly enthusiastic review in the New York Times by Stanley Fish, I purchased “Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts,” by (Supreme Court Justice) Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner.  While generally not a fan of Scalia’s originalist approach to constitutional law, I find his textualist approach to generally be a sound […]

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Not South Carolina Specific

July 19th, 2012

What drinking problem?

The past few years I have, on numerous occasions, met with a family court litigant who has made obvious attempts to alter his or her body to evade the consequences, and change the results, of a court-ordered drug or alcohol test.  On a few occasions they have even admitted drinking large quantities of some substance, […]

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