EBlast 515 - February 21, 2008

South Carolina Bar's E-Blast
Volume 515 - February 21, 2008

Welcome to the South Carolina Bar's E-Blast!
E-Blast highlights upcoming activities, legal information and links to the Bar's Web site at www.scbar.org.

The South Carolina Bar is dedicated to advancing justice, professionalism and understanding of the law.

its your bar
Casemaker® makes the case!
Casemaker® 2.0 is now available to members. Changes that are apparent to users include the new “start” page. Bar members now begin their search in the South Carolina Library. To get to the other states’ or federal libraries, click on “Full Library Menu.”  Another new feature: When you click the “search” button, you go directly to the Advanced Search feature. Also, if you type in the “Full Document Search Query” field, you can hit the enter key to run your search. Stay tuned: More Casemaker® improvements are on the way! Casemaker® questions? E-mail casemaker@scbar.org.
Music for the common good
The Young Lawyers Division is organizing the second annual Justice Jam to raise funds for the Bar’s Pro Bono Program on April 26 from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Five Points Pub in Columbia. Tickets are $15 and will go on sale at the end of February. The event will include a silent auction. To purchase tickets or for additional information please contact Tara Smith at (803) 799-6653, ext. 146. Bands must have at least one attorney member. The bands currently scheduled to appear are Analog Moon, Los Bastardos, The Joe Good Band, Ron Dunbar Band and Sugar Daddy. Mentoring conference
The Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Center on Professionalism at the University of South Carolina School of Law is hosting "Mentoring: The Future of the Profession" March 27-29. You are invited to attend the welcoming session featuring the keynote address of Roberta C. Ramo, former president of the American Bar Association and the first vice-president of the American Law Institute. The keynote address will take place on Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the USC School of Law. For further information, please contact Sharon Williams at williams@law.sc.edu or at (803) 777-5929.

Advance Sheet update
February 21, 2008
The Court of Appeals affirmed Ferguson’s convictions for murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. The trial court properly exercised its discretion in deciding to give a curative instruction rather than granting Ferguson’s motion for a mistrial. The trial court cured any potential prejudice to Ferguson with its instruction to disregard a witness’s improper answer to a question posed by the solicitor; the trial court’s curative instruction was simple, and the court refrained from reiterating or emphasizing the unresponsive answer.
State v. Ferguson, No. 4342, is available online. The court affirmed Franks’ conviction for distribution of marijuana. The trial court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of simple possession. The evidence in the case supported the inference that Franks had dominion and control over the bags of marijuana as required by State v. Tabory, 260 S.C. 355, 196 S.E.2d 111 (1973), as opposed to simply offering “proof of mere presence” at the sale of the marijuana to the undercover officer.
State v. Franks, No. 4343, is available online. The court reversed and remanded in this case involving a transfer of land in fee simple determinable with a possibility of reverter in the grantor and an action for trespass. While grantee Williams resided on the land, she mortgaged the property to Green Tree; after Williams vacated the land and it reverted back to grantor Garvin, Green Tree brought a foreclosure action. The special referee erred when he found Garvin had no estate in the property until the possibility of reverter was triggered, which was after Green Tree had perfected its mortgage, and that Garvin’s interest in the property was subject and junior to Green Tree’s mortgage. The deed granting Williams the fee simple determinable estate was duly recorded and was referred to in the mortgage, and Green Tree was on notice of the nature of the estate. Garvin never joined in the mortgages, and the mortgages were subject to the determinable quality of the estate. When the determinable fee was terminated, Green Tree’s interest in the property terminated as well. The court then remanded as to Garvin’s claim of trespass against Green Tree. When a plaintiff establishes a willful trespass, the damages from invasion of the plaintiff’s legal rights will be presumed sufficient to sustain the action even though such damages may be only nominal and not capable of measurement.
Green Tree Serv. v. Williams, No. 4344, is available online. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s order finding that Horace Mann Insurance made Atkins a commercially reasonable offer of underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage and that the underlying policy should not be reformed to include UIM coverage up to liability limits. Horace Mann’s offer, mailed when Atkins purchased a new vehicle and added it to his existing coverage, met all of the tests set forth in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Wannamaker, 291 S.C. 518, 354 S.E.2d 555 (1987), for determining whether an insurer has complied with its duty to offer optional coverages, and was thus a meaningful offer of UIM coverage. Mail is a commercially reasonable method of communicating with an insured about an important business transaction, and the form mailed clearly explained the nature of UIM coverage. As an existing customer, who was also well educated, Atkins had been “intelligibly advised” of his options by Horace Mann. Atkins v Horace Mann Ins. Co., No. 4345, is available online. Firm announcements
Johnson, Smith, Hibbard and Wildman Law Firm, LLP announces that Kelly D. H. Lowry has become a partner with the firm located at 220 N. Church St., Spartanburg 29306. (864) 582-8121. Charles H. Raley Jr. and Erin Brownfield Raley announce the formation of Raley & Raley, PC located at 9100 White Bluff Rd., Ste. 304, Savannah, GA 31406. (912) 925-9991. Real Estate Exchange Services, Inc. announces that Brian Annino has joined the firm located at 3535 Roswell Rd., Ste. 63, Marietta, GA 30062. (770) 579-1155. In memoriam
James Arthur Rowe, 57, of Palm Coast, Florida, died on February 15. His obituary can be found by clicking here. Calendar
February 22-23
Board of Governors Meeting, Kiawah Island February 23
High School Mock Trial Regional Competitions February 29
S.C. Lawyer Editorial Board Meeting, Bar Building Upcoming CLE opportunities
11th Hour CLE solutions
Take the stress out of finishing those last few CLE hours with Seminars Direct Online, the South Carolina Bar’s on-demand Web-based educational portal. With 96 insightful seminars available 24 hours a day, Seminars Direct Online lets you learn on your own time, within the maximum annual distance learning limit of six hours. After you’ve chosen a seminar that suits your interests and area of practice, you can provide any major credit card and watch immediately. Don’t worry about interruptions " you can pause and resume the seminar or even finish watching on a different computer. After finishing the video, notification of your completion and credit hours will be automatically reported to the Commission on CLE and Specialization. For more information about Seminars Direct Online, contact Matt Riley at (803) 576-3818. Publications
South Carolina Case Law and Legislative Update 2007 on CD by John S. Nichols and Kali Campbell Turner is now available. Part I of this resource contains summaries from cases found in 2007 Shearouse Advance Sheets 1-43 and 2006 Shearouse Advance Sheets 39-48 for a total of 362 orders and opinions. This represents coverage from October 10, 2006, to December 31, 2007. The summaries are collected according to areas of the law and are in reverse chronological order. Part II contains brief statements of pertinent Acts passed during the previous legislative year. Each summary notes the Act number and the effective date of the Act. The cost is $45 per CD, plus $4 shipping and handling and seven percent S.C. sales tax. To order click on the link above or contact Vera Belton at (803) 771-0333, ext. 126. Please note that the CD may not be returned unless it is defective. It’s never too early
Mark your calendar now for the 2009 Convention at the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes January 22-25. Hotel reservations can be made using the links below. In the meantime, don’t forget to check the Convention Web site for all the latest developments! Ocean View Reservations Resort View Reservations Live seminars
Sidebar, SC LIVE!, February 22
Faculty: Harrison Saunders, A. Randolph Hough, Desa Ballard, Peter Protopapas, Yulee Harrelson, Scott Hutto and Paul Reeves
The following three sites have been cancelled: Horry-Georgetown Tech in Georgetown, Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood and Trident Tech in North Charleston. Click on the link above to view the other available locations. Professionalism Issues Ahead II: An Afternoon Featuring Mark Curriden, February 29
This seminar is now being held at Midlands Technical College in the Health Sciences Auditorium, Room 144, located at 1260 Lexington Dr., W. Columbia, NOT the Main Auditorium. The following two sites have been cancelled: Horry-Georgetown Tech in Myrtle Beach and Poynor Adult Education Center in. Click on the link above to view the other available locations. Teleseminars/Webcasts
For teleseminar/telewebinar registration, please click here then choose the program you wish to attend. If you have any difficulty registering for these seminars, please call (803) 771-0333, ext. 125 or (800) 768-7787, ext. 125 or e-mail jmerrill@scbar.org. For a complete listing of upcoming CLE opportunities, view the CLE Calendar.To be added or deleted from the E-Blast list, e-mail ljackson@scbar.org.