S.C. Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association I N T H I S I S S U E: • Memorial to the Honorable Matthew J. Perry • Crossmann revisited • Judicial Profile of the Honorable Richard M. Gergel • Analysis regarding the Unauthorized practice of law • Information on the SCDTAA Annual Meeting and recaps of SCDTAA summer activities The Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island FALL 2011 SCDTAA Annual Meeting VOLUME 39 November 3 - 6, 2011 ISSUE 3 WWW.SCDTAA.COM PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE President’s Message by Gray T. Culbreath s I write my last President’s letter, I am in me have said before, it is malpractice if you do not the midst of learning the processes and attend our Annual Meeting. I would encourage all of Asystems of my new law firm. To be sure, this you to sign up for this year’s meeting at the Amelia has been a year of change for me and with those Island Ritz Carlton. changes has come the opportunity to In today’s environment of dwindling dollars and learn. We all experience the learning belt tightening, many organizations have seen a process as students, but what we do with downturn in attendance, membership, and participa- it and how it shapes us is as different as tion. Thankfully, SCDTAA has not suffered from each of us. Learning for me took flight that. We are blessed to have many members who are when I joined the US Army. As I quickly eager to participate and offer their talents to the discovered, if nothing else the Army organization. Opportunities abound for our forced you to learn and work hard, and if members to write, speak, or be an active participant you were willing to learn and work hard in one of our many substantive law committees. As you could advance and excel. someone whose first job in the SCDTAA was as a Earlier this year I was interviewed by a substantive law committee vice-chair and worked his legal publication, and one of the ques- way up to the Presidency, I have learned that if you tions asked was what I liked best about the practice want to work and want to be involved, there is a of law. The response I gave, which I have given for place for you in SCDTAA. some time, is that I enjoyed the opportunity law Reflecting back upon this year, I was blessed to gives me to learn something new everyday. Everyday have an outstanding Executive Committee. The I am learning something new and in 23 years of prac- Executive Committee has always been the life blood tice I have had the opportunity to learn many things of SCDTAA and this year was no different. I was able that I never would have had if I had not chosen a to task folks with responsibilities, and I have not career as a lawyer. As this year winds down and so been disappointed. As I learned during my years on does ten years serving the South Carolina Defense the Executive Committee, folks rise to the occasion Trial Attorneys’ Association, I began to reflect back and do a good job. This year was no different. on what I’ve learned and what I can pass on to the Likewise, I was blessed with three great officers to membership from my time on the board and as an help me throughout this year. Molly, Sterling, and officer. Curtis each provided excellent leadership, support Over the years, I have had the opportunity to and counsel to me over the past year, and I can truly interact with and observe many of our sister defense say that the Association is in good hands in the organizations from across the country. Clearly, one coming years under each of them. I was also able to of the things that I have learned from those experi- lean on our Past Presidents throughout the year for ences is that South Carolina has, by far, one of the advice and counsel and quickly learned that best, if not the best, State Defense Organizations in although they may be Past Presidents, they are full of this country. Many things distinguish us beyond our good ideas and are always eager to help. Simply put, membership numbers and finances. We put on an this job is not a one man show. It takes the input and array of programs and provide significant benefit to participation of many people to make SCDTAA the our members, often at no additional charge. If you success that it is. and your law firm are not taking advantage of the In parting, I want to thank each of you for what has many opportunities that SCDTAA provides for been an exciting and fun year for me and my family. education and fellowship, you are missing out, and I In a year marked by personal and professional encourage you to participate. changes, I have truly enjoyed the year and appreci- In my role as SCDTAA President for 2010-2011, I ate all the opportunities that came with serving as have had an opportunity to attend other State your President. Now it is time for me to learn some- Defense Organization meetings. Many were well thing new. done, but I have yet to find one that compares with our Annual Meeting. When I tell other State Presidents that the judges come to our Annual Meeting, they are surprised and want to know how they can go about developing a meeting like ours. As several of our former Presidents older and wiser than 2 EDITORS’ Letter From The Editors PAGE by William Brown, Ryan Earhart, and Breon Walker ark Twain once said, "All you need in life is Judge Perry this summer. We hope ignorance and confidence; then success is everyone will read the memorial article Msure." Based on this, when we began this and also take the time to watch online year as editors of The Defense Line, Ryan, Bre and I the speech Judge Perry gave at the 2008 were sure of success. We had an abundance of igno- SCDTAA Annual Meeting which is a part rance. None of us had previously worked on the of the South Carolina Bar Foundation's publication of The Defense Line. The only thing we Oral History Program and is available at had going for us was unjustifiable confidence in our the Bar Foundation's website. If our read- ability to get the job done. We learned, as we went, ers find value in nothing else, we believe the necessary steps to produce the magazine and you will understand the significance of how, hopefully, to make it better. remembering and learning from great We have now successfully published all three of the men of the legal profession, such as William Brown issues of The Defense Line for 2011. However, during Judge Perry. the year, our thoughts changed from the "success" of We would like to again emphasize that getting all of the issues published, as mentioned in the contributions of many individuals the Mark Twain quote above, to a quote from Albert allow for the publication of The Defense Einstein, "Try not to become a man of success, but Line. We would like to thank all of the rather become a man of value." Successfully publish- people who have worked to formulate ing all three of the editions of The Defense Line is an ideas, recruit authors, contribute arti- accomplishment, and we are proud of the efforts of cles or other submissions, or assist in everyone who contributed to it. Nevertheless, we editing. If you are interested in getting have come to realize that merely getting the job done involved with The Defense Line by writ- is not enough. Developing appreciation by the read- ing an article or other submission, or in ers of The Defense Line that it adds value to their any capacity please contact us. There is practice, as tool to learn and an important source of always an opportunity to contribute and Ryan Earhart information was the true goal that evolved from our be a part of the team responsible for The efforts. We endeavored to meet this aspiration with Defense Line. Last, but certainly not articles on timely court decisions, analysis of inter- least, the editors thank our Executive esting issues of law, judicial profiles, as well as infor- Director, Aimee Hiers, for her hard work mation on the many events and activities of the and tremendous dedication to helping us SCDTAA. In addition to these regular features, in produce a quality publication. We hope this issue, is an article dedicated in honor and that through all of our efforts we have memory of the Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. The provided value to the members of the legal community, South Carolina, and the nation SCDTAA through The Defense Line. experienced a tremendous loss with the passing of Breon Walker Submissions Wanted! Have news about changes in your firm, promotions, memberships and organizations or community involvement? Please send all firm news to [email protected] in word format. To submit verdict reports: the form can be found on the SCDTAA website and should be sent in word format to [email protected] 3 S.C. Defense Trial Attorneys’ Association Volume 39 Number 3 • Fall, 2011 THE OFFICERS PRESIDENT Gray T. Culbreath P.O. Box 7368 Columbia, SC 29202 DefenseLINE (803) 779-1833 FAX (803) 779-1767 [email protected] PRESIDENT ELECT Molly H. Craig PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE P.O. Box 1508, 172 Meeting Street Gray T. Culbreath 2 Charleston, SC 29401 (843) 577-4435 FAX (843) 722-1630 [email protected] LETTER FROM THE EDITORS TREASURER William S.