Softening up an unrealistic defendant
February 20, 2020
I began trial in a visitation establishment case yesterday. While preparing for trial earlier this week my client (the plaintiff) asked me how I thought
The difficulties of predicting alimony reduction on retirement
December 3, 2019
In 2012 South Carolina passed a statute, S.C. Code § 20-3-170(B), in which one subsection set forth criteria for the family courts to consider when
Marital property as lump sum alimony
December 2, 2019
There are occasionally cases in which a spouse who would typically pay significant permanent periodic alimony as part of a marital dissolution has destroyed his
What de novo appellate review is actually doing
November 12, 2019
I thought it noteworthy when the Supreme Court remanded Stoney v. Stoney, 421 S.C. 528 , 809 S.E.2d 59 (2017), back to the Court of
An evasive or incomplete answer is to be treated as a failure to answer
October 14, 2019
I find it curious that attorneys routinely treat incomplete or evasive discovery responses as no big deal. From my reading, Rule 37(a)(3), SCRCP, could not
The guardian’s questionnaire is additional interrogatories
September 17, 2019
While not thought of as such, the guardian’s questionnaire is akin to additional (child-custody related) interrogatories. As an example, the current questionnaire of a local
Does your work product convey seriousness?
September 15, 2019
With every litigation both parties have the options of settlement or trial. One factor in deciding whether and on what terms to settle is how
The pitfalls of boilerplate supplemental interrogatories
September 14, 2019
I’m shocked how often I encounter supplemental interrogatories in family court in which the issuing attorney has clearly given no thought into how interrogatories might
