SC Bar Young Lawyers Division Blog

Each month, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina hosts a small group of interested young lawyers for lunch in the library of the Federal Courthouse to hear from a prominent and experienced member of the Charleston Bar.   This project, which is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division, is the brainchild of Senior United States District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy and Mr. Charles Goldberg.   The program is intended to help connect local young lawyers with judges and more senior members of the Bar.  These events provide a learning opportunity for young lawyers, as well as facilitate and encourage collaboration among the different generations of our legal community. The idea for Bridging Broad Street comes from the old Byars drug store in Charleston.  When Judge Duffy and Mr. Goldberg were young lawyers, almost all of the lawyers in Charleston had offices on Broad Street.  At around 10:00 in the morning, those lawyers would all go down to B...

By Kathleen Chewning Barnes I am a solo appellate practitioner. When I say “solo,” I really mean it. Just me. No paralegal. No secretary. That is a great thing about appellate law—all you need to practice appellate law is the trial court record, a legal research engine and yourself. “Appellate law” refers to the appeal of a decision and the procedural law that applies to the appeal. An appellate attorney may handle cases involving many different areas of subject-specific law. For example, I currently have appeals involving product liability, real estate, personal injury, mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy and family law. The diversity of subject matter is a great advantage to practicing appellate law. Practicing appellate law requires concentrated time to examine the trial record, research legal issues and, most importantly, write briefs. The core part of an appellate attorney’s work is brief writing. A case may be decided based solely on the briefs. A good rule of thumb to con...

As technology and social media continue to grow by leaps and bounds, so must we become tech savvy individuals in order to keep up! Given the success of our quarterly newsletter, the Publications Committee of the YLD is pleased to introduce a new avenue of content for and about young lawyers across the state.   Here you will find several short articles pertaining to all things YLD, several ways you can become involved with YLD, and also tips that may be useful in your day-to-day life as a young attorney. The Publications Committee has several awesome ideas we would like to implement on the YLD blog, but we also want to hear from you! Do you have a short article you would like to write? We want to read it! Have an idea you would like the YLD to explore? We want to hear it! Know of an awesome opportunity for YLD members? We want to act on it!   Heard of some amazing deed/accomplishment of a fellow YLD member? We want to celebrate it! Please check us out every m...

Constitution Day is observed each year in September to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and to “recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.” The iCivics Committee is dedicated to teaching students about this important piece of history through classroom presentations that focus on Constitution-related topics and through the distribution of pocket Constitutions to encourage reading and activism as leaders in our democracy.  On Monday September 18, 2017, YLD members will have the opportunity to take part in the celebration of Constitution Day by volunteering in classrooms across the state. This year’s presentation will focus on the vital role of separation of powers in our government. The iCivics Committee will be calling for volunteers in the coming weeks, so please be sure to save the date!    

When I tell people that I practice health care law, their initial thought is that I must represent doctors or patients in medical malpractice actions. Most people are surprised to find out that medical malpractice litigation is only a relatively small part of the “health care law” universe. Rather, health care law is a much larger and more diverse practice area than one might expect, and it affords young lawyers a wealth of opportunities to broaden their legal skills. Health care law is unique, as it essentially encompasses advising and representing clients regarding any law, rule or regulation that impacts the health care industry. The health care industry, which accounts for approximately 17% of the US GDP, is comprised of a large variety of entities, including hospitals, health systems, private and public insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and individual practitioners—just to name a few. The sheer size of the health care industry affords health car...

Thomas Scott has already achieved much in his short legal career! Having been practicing since 2011, Thomas hails from Columbia, South Carolina, and is a proud member of the South Carolina Bar. Thomas’ academic career began at the USC Honors College, where he graduated at the top of his class in 2006 before continuing his studies at both Princeton and Stanford. Returning back to his home state in 2012, Thomas served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in Charleston. His time with Judge Gergel was not the only time that Thomas had the privilege of a clerkship—he also clerked on the 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals AND in South Africa! Following his clerkship, Thomas worked for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, one of the largest international law firms in the world, and now serves as counsel for Cruise Automaton, a self-driving car company based in San Francisco. His most recent accomplishment? Being selected for an international leadership...