President's Article

Kirby Mitchell

Welcome to mid-July – I hope you have already had a relaxing getaway from Greenville or have a trip scheduled on your summer calendar. Or, if you are fortunate: both.

Appreciating and enjoying the practice of law in Greenville is not hard to do. It is also easier to do when you leave now and again. Way back in the day, Greenville was known as a place lawyers and judges who could afford a vacation escaped to rather than from, but over the past 100 years, Greenville judges and lawyers developed a very healthy Greenville Bar tradition of leaving Greenville for a few summer weeks.

In the 1850s the little resort village of Greenville (population: about 1,000) became “the Athens of the Upstate.” Low Country summer heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and the diseases that came with them made the Upcountry’s relatively mild climate very attractive as a summer resort / destination. But over time, Greenville’s growing Bar developed local traditions and well-worn getaway paths to summer escapes.

At the turn of the twentieth century, when textiles and attorneys were prospering, Greenville lawyers

and executives commuted from Paris Mountain during the week and spent the weekend at their

“summer colony.” Later they drove up the “Geer Highway” to Caesar’s Head and Lake Summit, while

workers vacationed at mills’ camps—Reasonover, Wildwood, and others at Cedar Mountain during the

week.

After World War II, South Carolina’s coast was more accessible and attractive. In its heyday from the

1960s to 1990s, the condos and beach houses at Litchfield and Pawleys Island were so popular with

Greenville Bar members they were known as “Greenville By The Sea.” You could have had an in-person

July Greenville Circuit Court trial roster meeting down at the Sea View Inn at Litchfield Beach. I have had

summer informal motion hearing / phone conferences with Greenville judges and Greenville attorneys

where I was the only one physically in Greenville – everyone else on the call was in Litchfield and/or at

Pawleys Island.

In 2019, Greenville is becoming a tourist destination again. Modern 24/7 connected-from-everywhere

law practice, nearby international airports, ubiquitous air-conditioning, and AirBnB have all changed G-

Bar members’ modern vacation practices, but I see the hints of some of the old summer rhythms (as

well as some G-Bar members!) still at Lake Summit and Pawleys now and again. I am writing on a little

getaway in Abingdon, VA, and yesterday I looked south towards Greenville from the top of Roan Mountain's "Round Bald" (5,826 feet) in the breezy 74-degree Blue Ridge haze. All looked fine to me.

Photo courtesy of Wesley Mitchell (age 12) 07/13/19

ONE SPACE OR TWO?

In the last issue of the G-Bar News, we posed the question: One space or Two spaces after a period in legal writing? This created a very spirited battle with numerous emails, text messages and conversation. The results from this survey show an undeniable winner:

28% - One Space

72% - Two Spaces

FAMILY COURT LIAISON COMMITTEE REPORT

May 3, 2019

Attention Attorneys:

Monthly Judicial Reports: Family court judges must submit status reports each month in regard to matters

under advisement and any matter over 30 days old to the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice has now required that the following be included: (a) the names of the attorneys on the case and (2) a designation of which attorney was charged with preparing the order. Please be mindful of this reporting requirement and continue to make every effort to timely draft, circulate, modify and submit outstanding orders.

Interpreters: If you need an interpreter for a hearing, please notify docketing so the appropriate agency

may be contacted. This includes notifying docket for already pending hearing requests for which an interpreter will be needed. Please be careful to request additional docket time when a hearing involves an interpreter.

A few tips for the digital courtroom: (1) the microphones are broad range so please do not adjust; (2) if the numbers on the digital “clock” are moving, the recording is in progress; (3) if you need a client conference, please utilize the mute button; (4) when requesting a digital transcript, please email the court reporter AND South Carolina Court Administration at [email protected] using the appropriate transcript request form (SCCA 800 which you can find https://sccourts.org/forms and (5) as always, please keep your voice up and encourage litigants and witnesses to do the same.

The next Family Court Liaison meeting will be Friday, August 9, 2019 at 12:30 p.m. in the Conference

Room in the Judge’s Hallway. Anyone who is unable to attend these meetings but has issues they would like addressed may contact: Vanessa Kormylo at 864-242-1644.

CONGRATULATIONS

The Greenville County Bar Association is excited to announce that the Greenville Bar Pro Bono Foundation was awarded a grant from the South Carolina Bar Foundation! These funds will go towards training attorneys and creating a fund to reimburse legal expenses such as deposition and expert fees. Given that the Foundation is just over a year old, this accomplishment is especially significant.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dority & Manning, P.A.  is pleased to announce that  Drew Coelho,  Michael Gagliano, Aaron Stonehocker and and Rita Vacca have joined the firm as associates. 

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd is pleased to announce that Bonnie Lynch has recently graduated from Leadership Greenville. Bonnie focuses her practice on business, construction, utility and personal injury litigation. Her clients include general contractors, subcontractors and business owners involving matters such as contract disputes, construction litigation, performance and payment bond, business law and business torts. She also represents regulated utilities and their contractors on a variety of matters including commercial contract, construction payment, construction defect, property damage and tort liability cases, including defense of claims for personal injury and wrongful death. Bonnie is a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America and serves on the board of directors for the Carolina Ballet Theatre and Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc.

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd shareholder Frank Davis has joined the Board of Directors of South Carolina Charities, Inc. (SCCI). SCCI is the non-profit foundation of the BMW Charity Pro-Am and was created to showcase the beauty and hospitality of the Upstate and to raise money and awareness for South Carolina charities. Since 2001, the tournament has donated over $13 million to more than 200 charities across the Upstate. Frank has more than 25 years of experience representing both publicly and privately held companies, including family businesses, in acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic alliances, economic development transactions and general contract negotiations. He frequently works with companies based outside of the U.S. in connection with U.S. transactions and operations and has extensive experience in legal matters related to business acquisition, location and expansion. 

Governor Henry McMaster has conferred the Order of the Palmetto upon fellow Greenville County attorney Steve Shaw. The Order of the Palmetto is the State's highest civilian honor and comes upon the nomination of Congressman William Timmons and Representative Mike Burns. The prestigious award recognizes those who have made extraordinary and significant contributions to the life and well-being of South Carolina and her people. Shaw authored and keeps current the annual editions of Shaw’s South Carolina Gun Law. He also organizes and chairs statewide gun law seminars for judges, attorneys, and CWP instructors where he brings the most recognized national litigators and instructors to our state. His book is the only one of its kind accepted into the libraries of the South Carolina Supreme Court, University of South Carolina College of Law, and the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. It is also the only South Carolina Gun Law book accepted into Barnes & Noble stores with well over 15,000 books in circulation around the state.

PHOTOS FROM OUR SUMMER LUNCHEON- July 11, 2019