John H. Blume, III, of Ithaca, NY; Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense; Robert E. Lominack; E. Fielding Pringle; Keir M. Weyble; Jeffrey P. Bloom; Diana L. Holt; Teresa L. Norris, all of Columbia; and David P. Voison, of Jackson, MS, for Petitioners. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves the issue of what procedures should be established in implementing the United States Supreme Court's recent opinion in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), which held the executions of mentally retarded individuals are cruel and unusual punishments prohibited by the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, all of Columbia; and Solicitor John Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for Appellant. C. Rauch Wise, of Greenwood, for Respondent.

Issue is whether trial court properly granted McKnight a directed verdict on charge of Distribution of Crack Cocaine. McKnight was indicted on this charge after giving birth to a stillborn baby which had cocaine metabolites in its system.

John S. Nichols, of Bluestein & Nichols; Rebecca Guental Fulmer; and J. Dennis Bolt, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. Charles E. Carpenter, Jr., Steven J. Pugh and S. Elizabeth Brosnan, all of Richardson, Plowden, Carpenter & Robinson, of Columbia, for Respondent.

The Estate for Richard Cabaniss appeals the trial court’s grant of a directed verdict to Pizza Hut. The Estate claims Pizza Hut owed an affirmative duty to protect Richard Cabaniss, a minor and an employee, because it created a risk of harm by allowing him to leave work early to attend a party hosted by a co-worker where alcohol was served.

Stanford E. Lacy, of Collins & Lacy, of Columbia, for Petitioners-Respondents. D. Michael Kelly, of Suggs & Kelly, of Columbia; William B. Harvey, III, of Harvey & Battey, of Beaufort; and Saunders Aldridge, of Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, of Savannah, GA, for Respondent-Petitioner.

This case involves a workers’ compensation carrier’s lien and whether it should be reduced under Kirkland v. Allcraft Steel, and the factors that fold into that determination. Also, the case involves the definition of “compensation” in S.C. Code Ann. § 42-1-560.

Teresa L. Norris and Maura McNally, both of Center for Capital Litigation, of Columbia; and William Norman Nettles, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka, Senior Assistant Attorney General William Edgar Salter, III, and Assistant Attorney General S. Creighton Waters, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

In this death penalty case, the PCR applicant claims the PCR court erred in refusing to grant relief based on numerous instances of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, Assistant Attorney General Melody J. Brown, all of Columbia; and Solicitor John R. Justice, of Chester, for Petitioner. Assistant Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves the issue of whether the indictments for assault on a correctional facility employee were sufficient to confer jurisdiction upon the trial court.

Joseph R. Barker, of Bethea, Jordan & Griffin, of Hilton Head Island, for Petitioners. Robert J. Thomas, of Rogers, Townsend & Thomas, of Columbia, for Respondent Rita Martin Suder. F. Earl Ellis, John T. Lay, Jr., and A. Johnston Cox, all of Ellis, Lawhorne & Sims, of Columbia, for Respondent Mary Robinson. John E. Cuttino, of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, of Columbia, for Respondents Daniel Lee Fowler and Forest Hills Transfer & Storage, Inc.

This negligence case involves numerous issues, including denial of petitioners' motion to amend the complaint; failure to take judicial notice of certain federal regulations and portions of the South Carolina driver's manual; exclusion of expert and deposition testimony; limitation on closing argument; and a Batson issue.

Louis D. Nettles, of Nettles, McBride, Hoffmeyer, of Florence, for Petitioner. Carlton Bruce Bagby, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case concerns the applicability of the "total policy insuring intent" rule.

David E. Dukes, C. Mitchell Brown and Michael W. Hogue, all of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, for Petitioner. V. Brian Bevon, of Ness, Motley, of Mt. Pleasant; William J. Cook, of Ness, Motley, of Barnwell; Terry E. Richardson, Jr., and Daniel S. Haltiwanger, both of Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brickman, of Barnwell; for Respondents.

The Court granted certiorari to consider whether the Court of Appeals properly applied the Door Closing Statute in this latent disease case.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson; and Solicitor Warren B. Giese, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, of South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.

In this case, the state maintains that the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the state failed to provide reciprocal notice under Rule 5(e), SCRCrimP, of a witness used to respondent’s alibi.

Carl B. Epps, III, Christopher J. Daniels, C. Mitchell Brown and Rachel Atkins Hedley, all of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia, for Appellants Monsanto Corporation and UAP/GA Ag Chem., Inc. M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., of Barnwell, Whaley, Patterson & Helms, of Charleston; and Stephen L. Thomas, of Bradley, Arant, Rose & White, of Jackson, MS, for Appellants Delta and Pine Land Company, Paymaster Seed Company, Helena Chemical Company and Mixon Seed Company. John E. Parker, Mark D. Ball, and Ronnie L. Crosby, all of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, of Hampton; Daniel A. Speights, Marion C. Fairey, Jr., and Robert N. Hill, all of Speights & Runyan, of Hampton, all for Respondents. Ronald R. Norton, of Conway, for Amicus Curiae Washington Legal Foundation. Henry B. Smythe, Jr., and Julius H. Hines, both of Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, of Charleston; Chilton Davis Varner and Michelle Jerusalem Cole, both of King & Spalding, of Atlanta, GA; and Hugh F. Young, Jr., of Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., of Reston, VA, for Amicus Curiae Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc. Robert D. Moseley, Jr., of Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann, of Greenville, for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in Support of Appellants.

This case involves the application of the door-closing statute, § 15-5-150, to a class action.

Elliott F. Elam, Jr., and Charles M. Knight, both of South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, of Columbia, for Appellant Philip S. Porter, Consumer Advocate for the State of South Carolina. Fred David Butler, of South Carolina Public Service Commission, of Columbia, for Respondent South Carolina Public Service Commission. John M. S. Hoefer and Paige J. Gossett, both of Willoughby & Hoefer, of Columbia, for Respondent Palmetto Utilities, Inc.

Primary issue involves proper accounting treatment for utility company's "plant impact fees."

Joseph Preston Strom, Jr., L. Henry McKellar and Mario A. Pacella, all of Strom Law Firm, of Columbia, for Plaintiff. C. Mitchell Brown, of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia; Michael Tucker Cole, John S. Slosson and Deidre Shelton McCool, all of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Charleston, for Defendant. Darra W. Cothran and Edward M. Woodward, Jr., both of Woodward, Cothran & Herndon, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae National Association of Independent Insurers. Fred Thompson, III, of Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, of Mt. Pleasant, for Amici Curiae Donna Norrie, Heather Plunkett and Sandra Orvig.

This case answers the certified question of whether an insurance company must, in addition to properly repairing an insured’s vehicle, also compensate insured for any diminution in value of the vehicle from its pre-accident market value.

Michael Parham, S. Blakely Smith and William L. Dodson, Jr., all of Parham, Smith & Dodson, of Greenville, for Appellants. G. Dewey Oxner, Jr., Sally McMillan Purnell and J. Ben Alexander, all of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This case raises the constitutionality of the retroactive application of the statutory caps provision of the South Carolina Tort Claims Act.

Paul Andrew Anderson, of Maxwell and Anderson, of Aiken, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Deputy Attorney General Treva Ashworth, Assistant Attorney General Deborah R. J. Shupe and Assistant Attorney General Steven R. Heckler, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves the following issues: what is the burden, if any, present in the probable cause hearing to determine if a trial should be held on the issue of whether a committed sexually violent predator is safe to be released; what is the standard of review an appellate court should use in reviewing the probable cause determination; and whether the hearing court properly found there was not probable cause to believe appellant's mental abnormality or personality disorder had so changed that he was safe to be released and was not likely to commit acts of sexual violence.

Steve A. Matthews, of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, of Columbia; and Benjamin T. Zeigler, of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, of Florence, for Appellant Hilton Head No. 1 Public Service District. Stephen P. Hughes and Mary Bass Lohr, both of Howell, Gibson & Hughes, of Beaufort, for Appellant Beaufort County, South Carolina. Camden Lewis, Mary G. Lewis and Ariail E. King, all of Lewis, Babcock & Hawkins, of Columbia; and Joel D. Bailey, of Beaufort; for Respondents.

This lawsuit involves the issues of whether respondents may, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, recover damages from an unconstitutional tax levy and whether the trial court erred in certifying the class.

Joel H. Smith and Susan M. Glenn, both of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, of Columbia; Paul F. Hultin and Edward C. Stewart, both of Wheeler, Trigg & Kennedy, of Denver, CO, all for Petitioner. A. Camden Lewis, Mark W. Hardee and Ariail E. King, all of Lewis, Babcock & Hawkins, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case presents the issue of whether the subornation of perjury and concealment of documents during litigation by an attorney may constitute fraud on the court.

John D. Kassel; B. Randall Dong, of Suggs & Kelly; John S. Nichols, of Bluestein & Nichols; and David G. Owen; all of Columbia, for Petitioner. W. Frances Marion, Jr., of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This case involves the review of the Court of Appeals' opinion which deals with adequate warnings in a design defect case.

Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Robert M. Ariail, of Greenville, for Respondent.

Petitioner, convicted of first degree burglary and sentenced to life without parole, argues that the trial judge erred in allowing evidence of seven prior convictions to establish an aggravating circumstance for first degree burglary when the statute only requires two prior convictions.