David Donovan

Editor in Chief of South Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A man who was committed to the S.C. Department of Mental Health as a sexually violent predator didn’t have a due process right to a competency hearing before he was committed, the S.C. Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled in a case of first impression.

https://t.co/FOnkAwUaug

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A land dispute between a Charleston County man and his late domestic partner’s daughter presented a fact pattern fit for a property law exam question—real “who owns Blackacre?” type stuff.

https://t.co/62F3o5DoDj

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

An Isle of Palms attorney has consented to a six-month suspension from the practice of law as a consequence of a series of offensive comments posted on Facebook.

https://t.co/edBAs7cOWD

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A jury verdict holding the Ford Motor Co. responsible for the death of a man who died by suicide after suffering severe injuries in a car crash must be vacated because the jury received improper instructions, 4th Circuit rules.

https://t.co/k6ZUU3ijeS

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A juvenile offender who was sentenced to life without parole is entitled to a new sentencing hearing because his youth had to be given special consideration rather than simply being considered among a variety of factors, S.C. Court of Appeals rules.

https://t.co/IR3MGGcsyj

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

The South Carolina Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that an insurer could depreciate the cost of labor in determining the ‘actual cash value’ of a covered loss, answering a certified question from the U.S. District Court.

https://t.co/YEbBAY13Ch

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

In a court filing, an attorney referred to four Furman employees as “departmental divas” and gave each one a derogatory nickname: “Dr. Petty Passive Aggressive Diva,” “Dr. OCD Controlling Diva,” “Dr. Clueless Diva,” and “Dr. Double Agent Mata Hari Diva.”

https://t.co/SP8Yei6KqB

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

Nearly three years after a federal jury found that Walmart had infringed a competitor’s trademark in marketing its line of barbecue grills, an appeals court has determined that the trial wasn’t well done.

https://t.co/tvGn9PdgEr

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A dispute that began with a fire at a Boeing plant in North Charleston is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it could significantly change the way that companies that do business internationally resolve their disputes in the U.S. and across the globe.

https://t.co/IhOTTdcBeZ

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

Like you, we’ve had to adapt to working remotely, and it hasn’t always been easy. So I wrote about how the news gets made here at Lawyers Weekly, and some practices that we’ve instituted that have really helped us with the transition to working remotely.

https://t.co/BLRf1IpO4H

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

The most remarkable thing about our list of the Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2020 is how utterly ordinary it is. There's almost nothing in it that would suggest that anything unusual went on in 2020 or anything odd happened around March. Here's why:

https://t.co/kWRTAa8Wnb

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

The most remarkable thing about our list of the Top Verdicts & Settlements of 2020 is how utterly ordinary it is. There's almost nothing in it that would suggest that anything unusual went on in 2020 or anything odd happened around March. Here's why:

https://t.co/kWRTAa8Wnb

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

Workplace safety was and is a small niche within employment law, but the pandemic has, naturally, prompted a flood of questions from employers in need of counsel. My Q&A with an S.C. attorney, workplace safety attorney Travis Vance, of @labor_attorneys.

https://t.co/vFA4mZOmls

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

Not unlike the famous quote that begins episodes of the television show Law & Order, in South Carolina the guarantee of open government is protected by two separate, yet equally important statutes. Harmonizing them can be tricky, as the COA explains.

https://t.co/BFJI9VZTmm

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

When prosecuting cases involving the sexual abuse of minors, prosecutors sometimes fall afoul of rules against bolstering a witness’s testimony or vouching for a witness’s truthfulness.

Judges can sometimes put a foot wrong in this regard as well.

https://t.co/X5cslqSCyh

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A carmaker won’t be able to use theories of comparative fault to reduce the amount of damages owed after a jury found that a South Carolina man's actions enhanced the severity of the injuries he suffered when his airbag failed to deploy as it should have.

https://t.co/MTVTti9npy

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A polling error of a very different sort—a show-of-hands poll taken of jurors just after they handed down a conviction—meant that the conviction had to be tossed out and a new trial granted, the S.C. Court of Appeals ruled in a case of first impression.

https://t.co/Sr5wno1M4e

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

I saw quite a few news stories in other publications this weekend about how today's celebrities might be able to do for the COVID-19 vaccine what Elvis Presley did for the polio vaccine.

Our own @bcresenzosclw was way ahead of them.

https://t.co/WfP8mi4CSU

[SCLawyersWeekly @SCLawyersWeekly]

Click the link below to submit a nomination for our 2020 Diversity & Inclusion award. 🥳

[David Donovan @SCLWDonovan]

A woman who was hit by a pickup truck while crossing a highway will have a chance to argue her case before a jury. The S.C. COA ruled that a jury could find the driver to be mostly at fault even though the pedestrian crossed in a place with no crosswalk.

https://t.co/JUddD4cvzG