South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Huge news in the Charleston area, and more specifically across the Harbor in Mt. Pleasant, where one of the Howell and Christmas, LLC offices is located, surrounding the wrongful death of a former Wando High School football star who died in his first voluntary workout at Western Carolina University. Your attorneys in Charleston learned of this tragic event back in the summer of 2009, but this week the family of the 20-year-old defensive back filed a wrongful death suit against members of the Western Carolina coaching staff. Named defendants in the lawsuit include the University's athletic director, head coach, defensive coordinator, head athletic trainer, and former strength coach.

According to the lawsuit, said defendants breached their duty to the young player in failing to "develop policies and procedures to safely train and condition athletes with the sickle cell trait." According to the Post and Courier, the suit seeks a sum in excess of $10,000 and further alleges ""information about sickle cell trait and exertional sickling was available to all ... defendants, who chose to ignore it." The wrongful death suit was filed back in January in Jackson County, North Carolina.

In defendant's response to the claim, they acknowledge that the player's mother disclosed that he had the sickle cell trait in questionnaire filled out in 2008, but the response denies all other allegations.

The young player was a recent transfer from Georgia Military College, and while at Wando High School here in Mt. Pleasant, he was a North-South All-Star and an All-Lowcountry Player.

Continue reading " Family of Former Wando Football Star Files Wrongful Death Suit After Accident at Preseason Workout " »

Earlier this week your attorneys in Charleston read that, in New York, the last of the wrongful death lawsuits arising from the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center was settled. The final plaintiff to settle their suit, a 31-year-old hockey scout, was aboard United Flight 175, which was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. Named defendants in the suit were United Airlines and Huntleigh USA, the security company that operated the security checkpoint at Logan International Airport in Boston. The lawsuit alleged gross negligence on the part of said defendants for allowing five terrorists to board United Flight 175.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2002, but the surviving family members of the 31-year-old man were reluctant to settle the suit because they wanted to hold United and Huntleigh publicly accountable at trial for their negligent inaction that allowed the terrorists aboard Flight 175. Although the case was settled, plaintiffs were still able to achieve their want of holding defendants publicly accountable through plaintiff's counsel filing a detailed collection of their evidence in response to defendant's motion to dismiss. Plaintiff's filing their 127 exhibits into Federal District Court record allowed plaintiffs to reveal a cache of information not previously made public.

In August, defendant's counsel filed a motion to dismiss claiming that "[n]either United nor Huntleigh can be held liable under either federal or state law for not stopping an attack that the entire federal government was unable to predict, plan against, or prevent." Defendants' motion to dismiss also contended that the security system in place was done under the direction of the federal government, and "neither intended to stop, nor capable of stopping, what happened that day." However, the filing of evidence, which included excerpts of confidential depositions of checkpoint screeners, by plaintiffs tells a story of inexperienced personnel who lacked the necessary training to properly carry out their job.

Continue reading " Last Wrongful Death Lawsuit Stemming from 9/11 Attacks Settled " »

Last week, your Charleston lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC came across a report of a young man from Moncks Corner who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a fatal drunk driving accident that happened in rural Berkeley County three years ago. The young man, now 21-years-old, was charged with felony driving under the influence (DUI) after an October 2008 car accident killed a 17-year-old Berkeley High School football player. But, the now 21-year-old pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, a lesser charge, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However the sentence is suspended to three years in prison followed by five years of probation, which means if the young Moncks Corner man keeps on the straight and narrow for three years, he will be released. But, if any behavioral issues arise, he could spend a larger part of his 10 year sentence in prison.

It was noted above that reckless homicide was a lesser charge than what the young man was initially charged, felony DUI. The reason reckless homicide considered lesser is because the penalties are less severe. Had the young man and his lawyer, if he was represented, decided to have the felony DUI taken to trial and lost, he could have been sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison, as opposed to the maximum of 10 for the charge of reckless homicide. Without knowing the facts and evidence surrounding this case, and only taking into account the age of the Moncks Corner man, it is a safer bet to accept the three years of prison time and probation than risk having to serve a sentence that exceeds the time you have been alive.

If you look back to a couple past entries posted by your lawyers in Charleston, there a couple posts that discuss some unfortunate statistics concerning the safety of South Carolina roadways. While the Palmetto State may be home the nation's deadliest roads and highways, it appears that the State Department of Transportation has taken notice and are making strides to improve the safety of our State's thoroughfares.

Continue reading " Young Man Pleads to Lesser Charge in Drunk Driving Accident and DOT Takes Strides to Make South Carolina Interstate Safer " »

Last month your Charleston accident lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC posted an entry covering the highly publicized stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair. In that post it was presupposed that claims might be filed on behalf of those killed and seriously injured in the accident. As it turns out, two weeks after the stage collapse a number of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against concert organizers, claiming gross negligence for failing to warn patrons of an oncoming storm.

Their claim, citing the law negligence, is based on the forseeability aspect of proximate cause and is established by proof that the actor, or in this case fair organizers, should have reasonably foreseen that their negligent act would imperil others. Plaintiffs allege that fair organizers had the opportunity to warn concert patrons of a dangerous, oncoming storm and that this catastrophe could have been avoided.

To reiterate a point of interest noted by your Charleston attorneys in the last entry, at the time of the State Fair accident there was another large music event in close proximity that successfully evacuated 6,700 people before the storm reached the site. Thus, it could be said that promoters and organizers of the State Fair breached the general standard of care by not exercising due care and caution for the safety of the concertgoers by not evacuating the fairgrounds.

Continue reading " Storm and Stage Collapse at State Fair Result in Negligence Suits " »

Around a month shy of a year ago your Charleston personal injury lawyers posted an entry concerning the settlement made between New York City and those who sustained work related injuries in the ground zero rescue and cleanup efforts. Now some of those more than 10,000 fire fighters, firefighters, police officers, volunteers, and others who sued for injuries and illnesses, primarily respiratory, which were said to be linked to the City's failure to provide proper protective gear, are looking to share in a $55 million bonus settlement. The bonus comes under the terms of agreement in the original settlement, because more than 99% of plaintiffs accepted the settlement they are entitled to a share of the extra moneys.

However, the judge that signed the order granting the bonus payments last Thursday has ruled that the injured workers will not have to pay lawyers' fees on the increased settlement. Needless to say, plaintiffs' lawyers are unhappy that they are not entitled to a percentage of said bonus payments. Prior to these forthcoming payments, lawyers' fees were set at 25% of the settlement amount.

All in all, the more than 10,000 plaintiffs in the case stood to receive an amount in the neighborhood of $725 million when agreements with other defendants were factored in, translating to about $187.5 million dollars in lawyers' fees after expenses. The New York Times pointed out an interesting comparison, counsel for the City and other contractors have already made more than $200 million.

The reasoning behind the judge's ruling, he writes, "Such fees, taken after plaintiffs' counsel have had all their expenses paid out of the settlements fund, are more than sufficient to compensate counsel for their representation." It must be mentioned that this same judge has presided over the workers' litigation for seven years before a settlement was reached last year, and some feel barring plaintiffs' counsel from receiving further compensation is keeping with the disposition of his past rulings.

Continue reading " 9/11 Settlement Bonus Payments Cause Dispute " »

It has been some time since your Charleston work accident lawyers have posted an entry to the South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog, so the lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC would like to use this post as a brief re-cap of accidents and injuries that have happened across the Palmetto State since our last entry. Surprisingly, yet nonetheless tragic, they all concern driver's running off the roadway they were traveling.

At the beginning of this month the driver of an AT&T work van that struck and killed a cyclist on the James Island connector paid a $113 fine for his involvement in the fatal July accident. The driver's payment of the fine allowed him to miss his court date in Charleston Municipal Court. The fine is form of settlement; commonly known as "forfeiting a bond," which also means the driver is not formally admitting guilt for his involvement in the fatal bicycle accident.

The driver was charged by police with improper lane usage, as it was the closest charge applicable under the South Carolina Code of Laws regarding car-versus-bike accidents. Allegedly, the driver of the AT&T van drifted into the breakdown lane on the connector, striking said cyclist from behind, ultimately resulting in the cyclist's untimely and wrongful death. While police have said there was evidence indicating that the van's driver was distracted because of his use of a mobile device, it is not illegal to use a cell phone or text while driving in South Carolina. The driver contends he was not distracted by a phone or other electronic device.

A week ago today, a Summerville man was killed and another person injured after the pickup truck they were in ran off Interstate 26, struck a tree, and overturned. Charleston's Post and Courier reported that the 23-year-old driver of the 2007 Chevy Colorado was pronounced dead at Medical University Hospital after being airlifted from the scene of the serious auto accident. Authorities were unsure if either of the occupants were wearing their seat belts at the time of late-night accident. In a plethora of the posts entered to the South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog, your Charleston car accident lawyers have urged readers to remember that wearing a seat belt is the easiest way to prevent serious injury in the event of an accident. Although that information is unknown in this case, it is safety measure all should keep in mind.

Continue reading " A Look Back Since the Last Entry Reveals a Trend of Driver's Running Off the Road " »