Nominees for South Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Judge Seat Selected

The Judicial Merit Selection Commission have selected circuit judge John Few of Greenville, Paul Short of Chester, and Daniel Pieper of Charleston, both judges on the Court of Appeals, as nominees for the Chief Judge's position at the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Legislators will elect one of the three during judicial elections next spring. Legislators will elect one of the three during judicial elections next year.

Full story: Greenville's John Few nominated for chief judge of appeals court greenvilleonline.com The Greenville News (view on Google Sidewiki)

From Greenville News: 5 years After Deadly Comfort Inn Fire, New Effort Planned to Make Hotels Safer

Interesting article in today's (11/03/09) Greenville News regarding deadly fire at Comfort Inn in Greenville in 2004. Six guests died at the hotel, while others saved themselves by jumping from windows three stories high.The Comfort Inn didn’t have sprinklers, and a clerk turned off the fire alarm the first time it sounded. The Comfort Inn rebuilt and now is among the six hotels in the Wade Hampton fire district that have sprinklers.

in reference to: 5 years after deadly Comfort Inn fire, new effort planned to make hotels safer greenvilleonline.com The Greenville News (view on Google Sidewiki)

From The Big Money: Furthest Distance Between McDonald's? 107 miles

Interesting article on Slate's thebigmoney.com re: the ubiquitiousness of McDonald's in the United States.

in reference to: Furthest Distance From a McDonald's: 107 Miles The Big Money (view on Google Sidewiki)

The Explainer: Damages in South Carolina Personal Injury Actions - Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering is a material element of damages on which a recovery may be based in South Carolina. The plaintiff is entitled to compensation for pain and suffering directly resulting from the wrongful acts of the defendant.

An award for pain and suffering compensates the injured person for the physical discomfort and the emotional response to the sensation of pain caused by the injury itself. In making an estimate of damages to be awarded for pain and suffering, the jury may consider:

(1) the nature and extent of the injuries and the suffering occasioned by the plaintiff and its duration or prospective duration;

(2) the age, health, habits, and condition of the injured party before the injury as compared with his condition afterwards;

(3) the plaintiff’s use of sedatives and other drugs to relieve pain and their effect; and

(4) any aggravation of pre-existing disorders by the incident in question.

Pain and suffering have no market price. They are not capable of exact measurement; accordingly, a South Carolina jury has no fixed rule or standard whereby damages for them can be measured.

The amount of damages to be awarded for pain and suffering is left to the judgment of the jury. Additionally, the jury include such damage for pain and suffering as it is reasonably certain will of necessity result in the future from the injury. Future pain and suffering on the part of the plaintiff in consequence of the injury constitute a proper element of the damages which may be allowed, provided there is the requisite certainty that such pain and suffering will result.

The Explainer: Damages in South Carolina Personal Injury Actions - Mental Anguish

In South Carolina, an injured party may recover for mental anguish brought about by bodily injury and suffering. Where a party’s negligence is directly responsible for physical injury to another, the injured party may recover both for actual physical injury sustained and for concomitant mental and emotional suffering which flow as a natural consequence of the wrongful act.

When connected with a physical injury, the term “mental anguish” includes both the resultant mental sensation of pain and also the accompanying feelings of distress, fright, and anxiety. In other words, mental anguish covers not only the pain associated with the injury but also the mental reaction to that pain and to the possible consequences of the injury.

“Mental anguish” is more than mere disappointment, anger, worry, resentment, or embarrassment, although it may include all of these, and it includes mental sensation of pain resulting from such painful emotions as grief, severe disappointment, indignation, wounded pride, shame, despair, and humiliation.

“Mental anguish” can be composed of fright, nervousness, grief, anxiety, worry, mortification, humiliation, embarrassment, terror, or ordeal.

If a jury finds the injured party is entitled to recover damages, it may consider as an element of those damages such mental anguish as it finds, to a reasonable certainty, will occur in the future as a result of the injuries. In assessing mental anguish, the jury may take into account anxiety or worry about the possible future occurrence or condition resulting from the injuries that the plaintiff received, if it is satisfied to a reasonable certainty that the plaintiff will suffer such anxiety and worry.

The jury may award damages for mental anguish where the evidence shows, for example, that the plaintiff suffered shock, fright, emotional upset, and/or humiliation as the result of the defendant’s negligence.