Commercial Litigation and Appellate News

• Attorneys Stephen Brown and Jeffrey Wiseman of the Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group received a defense verdict after a three day trial in which the plaintiff was represented by a large local firm. The client, a builder, was sued by the plaintiff who claimed to have fallen from a deck where the railing gave way on a house built by the client. The plaintiff claimed five broken ribs and a compression fracture in his back from the fall and also claimed substantial lost wages. After three days of testimony, the jury returned a defense verdict for Young Clement Rivers' client and found that the client was not negligent in the construction of the railing system.
• The Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group successfully represented a local builder who was sued after a house which the builder was constructing sustained over $2 million in damages from a fire.  The homeowner's insurance company sued the builder and the builder's subcontractor who was conducting the welding on the residence.  Stephen Brown and Jeffrey Wiseman successfully defended the builder by posturing the case against the subcontractor in such a manner to force a resolution in which the subcontractor paid the entire settlement to the insurance company plaintiff.
• Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group associate Jeffrey J. Wiseman was recently named a "Future Star" in "South Carolina Litigation" by the publication Benchmark Litigation, The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys.  Additionally, Jeffrey, a former insurance claims adjuster, continued his involvement with local insurance claims and insurance fraud investigation associations by, among other things, recently teaching an expert witness courtroom testimony course for the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI).  Jeffrey (along with Group paralegal Joseph Rohe) also recently authored an article on Insurance Fraud which was published in the magazine South Carolina Lawyer.
• Former Court of Appeals Judge William Howard, now a member of the Young Clement Rivers team, along with Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group associate Russ Hines successfully teamed together to overturn on appeal an adverse ruling against a property owner regarding a property easement. 
• Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group associate Catherine Chase successfully defended a client who retained Young Clement Rivers after being placed in default against a collection action by challenging the contested charges and ultimately settling the matter with a significant savings to the client.
• The Commercial Litigation and Appellate Group had another successful year defending insurance companies against bad faith claims and on several occasions was able to obtain dispositive rulings dismissing those claims on behalf of the Young Clement Rivers insurance clients prior to trial.