The Supreme Court of South Carolina
Re: Amendments to Rule 416, South Carolina Appellate Court Rules
Appellate Case No. 2016-000248
ORDER
The South Carolina Bar requests that Rule 18 of Rule 416, SCACR, which controls appointment of a hearing panel in matters involving the Resolution of Fee Disputes Board, be amended to change how a hearing panel is selected in the event of a conflict of interest.
We adopt the Bar's proposed amendments to Rule 18, as set forth in the attachment, with minor changes to indicate that a co-chair may select the members of the hearing panel in the event the circuit chair is disqualified based on a conflict of interest. This amendment is effective immediately.
s/Costa M. Pleicones C.J. s/Donald W. Beatty J. s/John W. Kittredge J. s/Kaye G. Hearn J. s/John Cannon Few J. |
Columbia, South Carolina
March 30, 2016
Rule 18 of Rule 416, SCACR, is amended to provide:
RULE 18. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
In case of a conflict of interest or disqualification of a circuit chair and any co-chair in a given case, the circuit chair shall request assistance from the chair in another circuit and transfer the case to that circuit.
In extraordinary cases where members of the circuit panel are disqualified for any reason, either voluntarily or involuntarily, in a specific dispute, and there do not remain enough members of the circuit panel to comprise the hearing panel, the chair of the Executive Council, or, in the event of the disqualification of the chair of the Executive Council, the President shall appoint the requisite number of members from the Board to the hearing panel.
Should any member of the circuit panel in a judicial circuit fail or refuse to discharge the duties of a member of the Board, the chair of the Executive Council shall appoint a substitute member from members of the Board.