NEWS BRIEFS

Garfinkel joins law school's advisory board

AUGUST 2010 -- S.C. Family Court Judge Paul W. Garfinkel of Charleston has joined the Board of Advisors of the Charleston School of Law, founder and chairman Alex Sanders has announced. "We're fortunate and honored to have Judge Garfinkel as part of the Charleston School of Law, " Sanders said. "His valuable experience will help us to create an even better law school." Learn more.

Anastopoulo featured in two publications

JULY 2010 -- Assistant Professor Constance Anastopoulo is featured in two recent Carolina legal publications that highlighted "bad faith" cases, which arise when there are insurance disputes between arising out of the implicit covenant of good faith and fair dealing that is present in every contract. In July, South Carolina Lawyer published "Bad Faith in South Carolina Insurance Contracts: From Tyger River Pine Co. v. Maryland Cas. Co. to Mitchell v. Fortis Ins. Co." The month before, the North Carolina State Bar Journal published an article by Anastopoulo titled "Bad Faith in North Carolina Insurance Contracts: A Growing Part of Insurance Practice."

Simpkins guides readers on implications of legal headlines

JUNE 2010 -- Frequently-quoted constitutional law professor John Simpkins has been in the news lately explaining major legal issues in an occasional series in the Charleston daily newspaper.  For example, in a June column in The Post and Courier, he observed that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would face increasing scrutiny as the Senate confirmation process drew near.  Meet John Simpkins, who also serves as the school's director of diversity initiatives.

Gardner nabs diversity fellowship

MAY 2010 -- Rising third-year student Kenny Gardner has been selected a Nexsen Pruet Diversity Fellow.  The award is sponsored by the Nexsen Pruet law firm and seeks to enhance educational opportunities for minority law students and to increase the awareness of minority law students of opportunities in private practice in the Carolinas. 

Students are selected based on the strength of their undergraduate work, the strength of their law school work and an essay in which they set forth their interests in practicing law in North or South Carolina.  Kenny is a resident of Spartanburg, S.C., and a graduate of the College of Charleston.

A ton of food donated in "Canned Immunity" Food Drive

Hard to believe, but Socrates helped Charleston School of Law students generate 2,004 pounds of canned food during a creative fun-raiser March 31 and April 1 by the Pinckney Inn chapter of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. Here's how: Students who donated canned food items received "immunity" from having to answer questions via the Socratic Method for two days. But the immunity could be lost if professors countered with similar donations, which would compel students to answer classroom questions. All totaled, the fraternity generated 1,947 items for the Lowcountry Food Bank. (Pictured at right are Phi Delta Phi members Jennifer Patty, Leah Smith, Adam Kraemer, Laura Hall, Brie Rust, Lauren Ellison and Bronwen Burson.)

Hearn to speak at May graduation

S.C. Supreme Court Justice Kaye Hearn, pictured at left, will serve as the principal commencement speaker on May 15 during the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2010 of the Charleston School of Law. More

Law school offers Diversity Week

Members of the Law School community celebrated diversity throughout the week of March 1 with several panel discussions and events:

• At noon Monday, March 1, the school hosted a panel discussion named "The Marriage Equality Debate and the constitutionality of Proposition 8."
• At noon Tuesday, March 2, a diverse group of panelists discussed "Religious Diversity:  a First Amendment Right."
• At noon Thursday, there wwas a panel that focuses on "Breaking the Glass Ceiling:  Reflections from S.C. female lawyers."  At 6 p.m., the school hosted an international reception and dance performance in the Barrister, 81 Mary Street.

Students participate in moot court competitions

Students from the Charleston School of Law have multiple moot court competitions during the spring.  Here's a running tally of what's happening this semester:

• National Tax Moot Court Competition, Feb. 4-6, sponsored by the Tax Section of the Florida Bar:  Students Todd Lewis, Beth Santilli and Laura Moore comprised the school's team.  They were named Second Runner-Up in a field of teams from 16 law schools, all of which focused on a problem involving a limited partnership engaged in a tax shelter transaction.   "Each team member worked extremely hard over a short period of time," said the team's coach, Assistant Professor Kristin Balding Gutting.  "I am extremely proud of each of them, as several professors from other schools and various judges commented - the team appeared as if they had been doing oral arguments for years.
• 2010 George Washington National Religious Freedom Moot Court, Feb. 5-6, hosted by George Washington University.  The school's team, James McCutchen and James Economou, won their preliminary round in the competition.  But due to a deluge of snow in Washington, D.C., organizers eliminated a quarterfinal round, which led to some undefeated teams (including Charleston Law's) from participating in the semi-finals.  Assistant Professor Bill Janssen, the team's coach, said, "You would have been very proud of their performances, and how they graced our school by their talents and effort."
• National Animal Law Moot Court Competition, Feb. 5-7, sponsored by the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark University:  Students Kelsey Gilmore and John Grimball participated in the competition, which was held at Harvard University.  "Kelsey and John argued twice, both times doing extremely well -- with comments from the judges about their "excellent" presentations and knowledge of the record as well as the "home runs" they hit on questions asked them," said their coach, Associate Professor Allyson Haynes.

In coming weeks, teams from the Charleston School of Law will participate in moot court competitions involving criminal procedure, constitutional law, admiralty law and labor law.

Anastopoulo presents "bad faith" program at UNC-Chapel Hill

FEB. 6, 2010 - Courts across the nation are seeing an increase in cases of "bad faith" between insurers and their clients, Charleston School of Law Assistant Professor Constance Anastopoulo told participants at the UNC Festival of Legal Learning today.

"Bad faith" cases arise when there are disputes between insurers and the insured arising out of the implicit covenant of good faith and fair dealing that is present in every contract, Anastopoulo explained.

During the one-and-a-half day event sponsored by the UNC School of Law, Anastopoulo used her time to outline the differences between how the two Carolinas handle bad faith claims differently.

In North Carolina, private individuals can bring bad faith cases through the state's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Additionally, state law provides powerful remedies for insured individuals who are found to be injured by wrongful claims practices, Anastopoulo said.

South Carolina, however, does not have a private right of action under state law that deals with bad faith, according to case law. In SC, insured individuals who believe they have a "bad faith" claim are able to use common law tort actions to pursue claims related to contract breaches, Anastopoulo said.

"The presentation concluded with a discussion of strategies to avoid bad faith claims," she said. "It was an honor to be asked to discuss this subject at the prestigious Chapel Hill conference."

An article on bad faith litigation is expected later this year in SC Lawyer magazine.

Traurig selected as an Osborn Fellow

JANUARY 2010 -- Third-year law student Anthony Traurig recently was honored as the recipient of a prestigious J. Kirk Osborn Fellowship, which is granted each year by the Fair Trial Initiative of Durham, N.C., to two graduating law students or young lawyers who have decided to devote their professions to the defense of capital cases throughout the country.

The search for new fellows is rigorous one with scores of applicants from the country's best law schools. The fellowship lasts two years, during which fellows on defense teams involving cases where the risk of death sentences are grave. They also assist in the full scope of legal and investigative tasks.

In addition to the fellowship's on-the-job training for learning "best practices" for capital cases, fellows attend nationally-renowned death penalty defense seminars and trainings that supplement training and support from mentoring attorneys and other professionals. The fellowship optimizes the training opportunities to allow for dissemination of new ideas and approaches to be applied in cases immediately.

• MORE NEWS INFORMATION:  Contact Andy Brack at 843.670.3996