Francenia B. Heizer, Robert L. Widener and Paul D. Harrill, all of McNair Law Firm, of Columbia, for Petitioners. James G. Carpenter, of Carpenter Law Firm, of Greenville, for Respondent.

This is an original jurisdiction case that involves issues of public indebtedness.

Adele Jeffords Pope, of Columbia, for Petitioners. Thomas E. Lydon, of McAngus, Goudelock & Courie, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This is an original jurisdiction case that raises the issue of whether a non-lawyer's involvement in drafting a will and other documents was the unauthorized practice of law.

Senior Assistant Attorney General James G. Bogle, Jr., of Columbia, for Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Desa A. Ballard, of West Columbia, for Respondent.

This is an attorney disciplinary matter.

Lawrence B. Orr, of Orr & Ervin, LLC, of Florence, for Appellant. Kevin Mitchell Barth, of Ballenger, Barth & Hoefer, of Florence, for Respondents.

Respondents filed a claim under their homeowner’s insurance policy with Appellant. As a result of Appellant’s handling of that claim, Respondents filed this action against Appellant alleging bad faith and negligence. A jury rendered a verdict in favor of Respondents and against Appellant in the amount of $146,600 actual damages and $1,000,000 punitive damages. Appellant appeals several issues related to actual and punitive damages.

Joseph Gregory Studemeyer, of Columbia, for Appellant. Lawrence Sidney Connor, IV, of Kelaher, Connell & Connor, of Surfside Beach, for Respondent.

This case arises out of an arbitration clause in a contract between an automobile dealership and the customer for a vehicle trade-in. Appellant automobile dealership appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion to stay litigation pending arbitration of Respondent customer’s claims under the contract.

Katherine Carruth Link, of West Columbia, and Ross Alan Burton, of Winnsboro, for Petitioners. Paul D. Harrill, of McNair Law Firm, of Columbia, D. Andrew Williams and R. Hawthorne Barrett, both of Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney, of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves the issue of whether the Court of Appeals erred by finding the trial court properly directed a verdict in Food Lion’s favor on petitioners’ cause of action alleging Food Lion was vicariously liable for the torts committed by its employees.

James G. Carpenter, of Carpenter Law Firm, of Greenville, for Petitioners. E. LeRoy Nettles, Sr. and Marian D. Nettles, both of Nettles Turbeville & Reddeck, of Lake City, for Respondent John Truluck. A. Camden Lewis, Ariail E. King and Keith M. Babcock, all of Lewis & Babcock, of Columbia, and Gedney M. Howe, III, of Charleston, for Respondent Robert W. Harrell. S. Jahue Moore, of West Columbia, for Respondent John Hardee. Linda C. McDonald, of Columbia, and Keith D. Munson, of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, of Greenville, for South Carolina Department of Transportation.

This case is brought in the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The issue is whether or not a Department of Transportation Commissioner may serve more than one term as a commissioner, without an intervening break, in light of a statute which states, in part, that “No county within a Department of Transportation district shall have a resident commission member for more than one consecutive term . . . “ The parties dispute the meaning of “one consecutive term.”

Appellate Defender Robert M. Dudek, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Assistant Attorney General Shawn L. Reeves, all of Columbia, and Solicitor John Gregory Hembree, of Conway, for Respondent.

Petitioner was convicted of homicide by child abuse and aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse. The Court of Appeals affirmed petitioner’s convictions and sentences. Petitioner appeals and asks this Court to review the Court of Appeals’ decision.

Richard A. Harpootlian and Graham L. Newman, both of Columbia, for Petitioner. Deputy Director for Legal Services Teresa A. Knox, Assistant Chief Legal Counsel J. Benjamin Aplin and Legal Counsel Tommy Evans, Jr., of Columbia, for Respondent.

This case involves the issues of whether the Court of Appeals erred by (1) finding petitioner was required to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in the State’s DNA database as a condition of parole and (2) finding the ex post facto clauses of the federal and state constitutions are inapplicable to the DNA Database Act.

J. R. Murphy and Adam J. Neil, both of Murphy & Grantland, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Nelson Russell Parker, of Land Parker & Welch, of Manning, and Kristi Fisher Curtis, of Sumter, for Respondent.

Robert C. Brown and J. Austin Hood, both of Brown & Brehmer, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Nelson Russell Parker, of Land Parker & Welch, of Manning, and Kristi Fisher Curtis, of Sumter, for Respondent.

J. R. Murphy and Adam J. Neil, both of Murphy & Grantland, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Thomas Barksdale Cabler, of Spartanburg, and James C. Cothran, Jr., of Spartanburg, for Respondent.

J. R. Murphy and Adam J. Neil, both of Murphy & Grantland, of Columbia, for Petitioner. Randall Lee Chambers, of the Childs Law Firm, of Greenville, for Respondent.

The Court granted certiorari to consider decisions by the Court of Appeals that automobile insurance policies purporting to limit underinsured and uninsured benefits under the policy to the coverage on the vehicle involved in the accident, where the vehicle had no such coverage, were void as against public policy to the extent they denied basic coverage.

Richard H. Rhodes and Ray E. Thompson, Jr., both of Burts, Turner, Rhodes & Thompson, of Spartanburg, for Petitioner. Stephen L. Brown, Jeffrey J. Wiseman and Robert P. Gruber, all of Young Clement Rivers, of Charleston, for Respondents.

This workers’ compensation case involves the issue of whether the Court of Appeals erred by finding the claimant’s accident did not arise out of and in the course of his employment.

John F. Beach and John J. Pringle, Jr., both of Ellis Lawhorne & Sims, of Columbia, for Appellant Tax Lien Agents, Inc. Ned Majors, of Myrtle Beach, pro se Appellant. Scott E. Hultstrand and Tracy A. Meyers, both of Office of the Attorney General, of Columbia, for Respondent.

Tax Lien Agents (TLA) is an Horry County business which purchases tax lien certificates at tax lien sales for its “principals”. The principals pay an “agency fee” of between 12%-25% of the purchase price of the tax lien, and a “performance bonus commission,” upon a sale or transfer of a matured tax lien certificate if it is sold for more than the principal’s cost. The South Carolina Securities Commissioner issued a cease and desist order, requiring TLA to cease selling unregistered securities. The circuit court affirmed the Commissioner’s ruling, finding a) it had jurisdiction over the matter, b) the investment opportunity offered by TLA is a “security,” c) the Securities Comm’n had authority to issue the cease and desist order, and d) TLA was afforded due process. TLA and its sole shareholder, Ned Majors, have filed separate appeals.

R. Mark Davis and William Thomas Bacon, IV, both of McAngus Goudelock & Courie, LLC, of Columbia, for Appellants. Steve Wukela, Jr., of Wukela Law Firm, of Florence, for Respondent.

This is a worker’s compensation case. Appellant argues (1) the workers’ compensation commission lacked jurisdiction; and (2) the circuit court erred in affirming the commission’s finding the claimant sustained compensable injuries.

Frank R. Warder, Jr., and Jason Anderson Williams, both of Wood Porter & Warder, of Charleston, for Appellants. James C. Rushton, III, of Hyman Law Firm, of Florence, for Respondent.

This is a workers’ compensation case. The sole issue is whether the worker’s compensation commission had jurisdiction over this matter under S.C. Code Ann. § 42-15-10 (1976).

Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Columbia, and Solicitor C. Kelly Jackson, of Sumter, for Respondent.

Appellant challenges his conviction on the ground the trial judge should have charged that the State has the burden of disproving the defense of duress beyond a reasonable doubt.