Carolyn W. Rogers, of Rock Hill, for Petitioners. Lucy London McDow, of Rock Hill, for Respondent.

Certiorari was granted to determine whether the probate court had subject matter jurisdiction to determine paternity for the purpose of identifying heirs, and whether a divorce decree constituted a final adjudication of the paternity issue.

J. Brady Hair and Derk Van Raalte, both of N. Charleston, for Petitioners. M. Dawes Cooke, Jr., Wendy J. Keefer and P. Gunnar Nistad, all of Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms, LLC, of Charleston; Joseph Dawson and Bernard Ferrara, both of North Charleston; and Samuel W. Howell, IV, of Howell and Linkous, of Charleston, for Respondents. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, of Columbia, for Office of Attorney General. Gedney M. Howe, III, Alvin Hammer and Dennis James Rhoad, all of Charleston, for Intervenor, The Town of Kiawah Island. M. Elizabeth Crum and Francenia B. Heizer, both of McNair Law Firm, PA, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae SC Chamber of Commerce, et al and for Amicus Curiae Amici Entities. Scott Thomas Price, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae SC School Boards Association. Danny C. Crowe, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae Municipal Association of South Carolina.

This original jurisdiction case involves a constitutional challenge to an ordinance capping property valuation at 15% appreciation for property tax purposes pursuant to section 12-37-223A.

James C. Cothran, Jr. and Michael L. Rudasill, both of Spartanburg, for Appellant. Edwin Brown Parkinson, Jr., of Greenville and Andrew F. Lindemann, of Davidson Morrison & Lindemann, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This is a medical malpractice case. The jury returned a verdict for the doctor. The issue is whether the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury two requested instructions: 1) that conformity to custom is not in and of itself the exercise of due care as a matter of law and 2) when a great degree of danger is present, the doctor has a duty to respond in proportion to the risk.

James T. McLaren and C. Dixon Lee, III, both of McLaren & Lee, of Columbia and Lon H. Shull,III of Andrews & Shull, of Mt. Pleasant, for Petitioner-Respondent. Robert Rosen and Donald Bruce Clark, both of the Rosen Law Firm, of Charleston, for Respondent-Petitioner.

The Supreme Court granted both parties' certiorari petitions to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the award of the marital home to Respondent/Petitioner in equitable distribution of the marital estate; whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the designation of a credit card debt incurred after marital litigation began as a marital debt subject to apportionment; and whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming an order which required Petitioner/Respondent to pay the attorney's fees of Respondent/Petitioner.

Donald Bruce Clark and Robert Rosen, both of the Rosen Law Firm, of Charleston, for Petitioner. Lon H. Shull, III, of Andrews & Shull, of Mt. Pleasant; and James T. McLaren and C. Dixon Lee, III, both of McLaren & Lee, of Columbia, for Respondent.

The Supreme Court granted a certiorari petition to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming an order which did not require Respondent to secure an alimony award with the purchase of a life insurance policy naming Petitioner as beneficiary.

John J. Kerr, of Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, of Charleston, for Petitioner. J. Brady Hair, Derk Van Raalte and Richard Lingenfelter, all of North Charleston, for Respondent.

The Court granted a writ of certiorari to review Evening Post Publishing Company v. City of North Charleston, 357 S.C. 59, 591 S.E.2d 39 (Ct. App. 2003), a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's order denying the petitioner's FOIA request for access to a 911 tape in the possession of the respondent.

Acting Chief Attorney Joseph L. Savitz, III, of Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka and Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Jacobs, all of Columbia and Solicitor John Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for Respondent.

This is a death penalty case. The issues before the Court are whether (1) the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial for the solicitor's argument to the jury, (2) whether the trial court erred in not charging the mitigating circumstances related to intoxication, (3) whether the trial had subject matter jurisdiction because the indictment did not set forth the aggravating circumstances, and (4) did the trial judge err in sentencing Appellant for kidnapping?

James M. Wetzel and Shirley G. Wetzel, of Aiken, pro se Appellants. James J. Corbett, of Holler, Dennis, Corbett, Ormond, & Garner, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves issues regarding a default judgment and the sufficiency of service of process upon an opposing party.

William Joseph Sussman, of Augusta, Georgia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Columbia, and Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan, of Aiken, for Respondent.

This is a criminal case in which the defendant was convicted of two counts of committing a lewd act on a child (his adopted daughter). He appeals, raising several evidentiary issues and claiming erroneous jury instructions. He also contends he should have been granted a continuance and his counsel relieved due to counsel's conflict of interest

Clinch Heyward Belser, Jr. and Michael J. Polk, both of Belser & Belser PA, of Columbia, for Plaintiff. Natalma M. McKnew and Thomas Warren Epting, both of Leatherwood, Walker, Todd & Mann, of Greenville, for Defendants.

The Court accepted two certified questions asking about the applicability of the South Carolina Business Opportunity Sales Act to a contract entered into in Texas.

Stephen L. Brown, of Young Clement Rivers & Tisdale, of Charleston, and James R. Holland, of Wettermark, Holland and Keith, of Jacksonville, Florida, for Appellants. Charles Craig Young, of Willcox, Buyck & Williams, of Florence, and John C. Millberg, of Millberg, Gordon & Stewart, of Raleigh, for Respondents. William McBee Smith, of Smith & Haskell, P.A., of Spartanburg, for Amicus Curiae Association of American Railroads. Michael J. Warshauer, of Atlanta, Georgia, for Amicus Curiae The Association of Rail Labor Attorneys.

This case involves a question of whether the trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the Respondents holding that Appellant's experts' testimony was inadmissible as evidence that a reasonable juror could have found for Appellants under the federal standard.

Carl F. Muller, of Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, PA, of Greenville, Jay Bender, of Baker, Ravenel & Bender, L.L.P., and John Carroll Moylan, III, all of Columbia, for Petitioner. A. Camden Lewis, Keith M. Babcock and Ariail E. King, all of Lewis, Babcock & Hawkins, of Columbia, for Respondent. Clifford O. Koon, Jr., of Moses, Koon and Brackett, of Columbia for Amicus Curiae South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. William L. Pope, of Pope & Rodgers, of Columbia, for Amici Curiae The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Radio-Television News Directors Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Robert L. Widener and Celeste T. Jones, both of McNair Law Firm, of Columbia, for Amicus Curiae Anonymous Physician. James M. Holly, of Hull, Towell, Norman, Barrett and Salley, of Aiken, for Amici Curiae The Associated Press, The State-Record Co., Inc., The Evening Post Publishing Co., Inc., and The South Carolina Press Association.

This case involves the issues of whether the Administrative Law Court is required to issue an order setting forth specific findings regarding closure of physician disciplinary proceedings and what the Administrative Law Court's scope of authority is to review interlocutory appeals involving physician disciplinary matters.

Jack B. Swerling, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott and Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia, and Solicitor Robert Douglas Robbins, of Summerville, for Respondent.

Appellant was convicted of grand larceny greater than $5000 and sentenced to ten years. The issues on appeal are 1) whether the trial court erred in admitting a photograph of the appellant at a Halloween party where he was dressed as a prisoner and 2) whether the trial court erred in refusing to allow the appellant to introduce polygraph results in rebuttal after an insurance adjuster had testified that he asked appellant whether he would be willing to take a polygraph.

Michael Stephen Church, of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, and Larry Cornell Smith, both of Columbia, for Appellants. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Deputy Attorney General T. Stephen Lynch and Assistant Deputy Attorney General J. Emory Smith, Jr., of Columbia, and Lisa Marie Hatley, of Conway, for Respondents.

Appellants argue, among other things, that they are innocent owners of seized property and that they are entitled to the return of their seized property and damages for any destruction of their property caused by the seizing agency.