2019 Summer Meeting - July 26, 2019 John Wilkerson Wins Hemphill the Sonesta Resort • Hilton Head Island • SC Award Judicial Profile of the Honorable A
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SOUTH CAROLINA DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION S.C. Def ense Trial At torneys’ Associat ion IN THIS ISSUE 2019 Summer Meeting - July 26, 2019 John Wilkerson Wins Hemphill The Sonesta Resort • Hilton Head Island • SC Award Judicial Profile of The Honorable A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr. DRI Update Legislative Update GEICO v. Poole Black History in South Carolina: Justice Jonathan Jasper Wright 2019 Summer Meeting • July 26 • The Sonesta, Hilton Head, SC | 2019 Annual Meeting • Nov. 14 • The Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island, FL WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 WWW.SCDTAA.COM SOUTH CAROLINA DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEYS’ ASSOCIATION S.C. Def ense Trial At torneys’ Associat ion TABLE OF CONTENTS Officers and Board of Directors .............3 John Wilkerson Wins Hemphill Award ...................................35 President’s Message ...............................4 Emerging Leaders ................................37 Editors’ Note ..........................................6 The Life and Legacy of Justice SCDTAA Docket ....................................7 Jonathan Jasper Wright .......................38 The 2018 Summer Meeting Take It To The Limit: Punitive Wrap-Up ................................................18 Damages and Property Damage Limits 2018 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up ...........19 in the Wake of GEICO v. Poole ...........42 The Honorable Verdict Reports ....................................46 A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr. .................27 Case Notes ...........................................48 YLD 2018 Update .................................30 Case Notes II .......................................49 DRI: Invest in Your Professional Life ...31 Legislative Update ...............................33 WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 • WWW.SCDTAA.COM PAGE 2 Officers and Board of Directors OFFICERS 2018-2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2018-2019 PRESIDENT SECRETARY TERM EXPIRES 2019 EX OFFICIO James B. Hood Graham P. Powell David S. Cobb (First District/At Large) (First District) J. Andrew Delaney PAST PRESIDENT Hood Law Firm Wall Templeton & Haldrup Ryan A. Earhart John T. Lay, Jr. P.O. Box 1508, 172 Meeting St. Post Office Box 1200 Michael D. Freeman DRI REPRESENTATIVE Charleston, SC 29401 Charleston, SC 29402 David C. Holler James R. Courie (843) 577-1223 (843) 329-9500 Giles M. Schanen, Jr. Fax (843) 722-1630 Fax (843) 329-9501 Breon C. M. Walker YOUNG LAWYERS PRESIDENT [email protected] [email protected] Richard H. “Dick” Willis Derek M. Newberry TERM EXPIRES 2020 PRESIDENT-ELECT IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT YOUNG LAWYERS Mark A. Allison A. Johnston Cox Anthony W. Livoti VICE PRESIDENT Jared H. Garraux (Second District) (Second District) Nickisha M. Woodward Geoffrey W. Gibbon Gallivan, White & Boyd Murphy & Grantland James T. Irvin III AD HOC PAST PRESIDENT PO Box 7368 PO Box 6648 Elizabeth M. McMillan COMMITTEE MEMBERS Columbia, SC 29202 Columbia, SC 29260 Claude T. Prevost III Molly H. Craig (803) 724-1728 (803) 454-1209 Kenneth N. Shaw Sterling G. Davies Fax (803) 779-1767 Fax (803) 782-4140 Todd W. Smyth Curtis L. Ott [email protected] [email protected] TERM EXPIRES 2021 Michael B. T. Wilkes C. Daniel Atkinson TREASURER HEADQUARTERS OFFICE Walter H. Barefoot Sarah Wetmore Butler 1 Windsor Cove, Suite 305 Peter E. Farr (First District) Columbia, SC 29223 Amy H. Geddes Carlock Copeland & Stair (803) 252-5646 Fred W. “Trey” Suggs III 40 Calhoun St., Ste 400 Fax (803) 765-0860 Charleston, SC 29401 Jay T. Thompson (843) 266-8230 Robert E. Tyson, Jr. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Fax (843) 727-2995 William “Trey” W. Watkins, Jr Aimee L. Hiers [email protected] [email protected] CORPORATE COUNSEL REPRESENTATIVE Lucy Grey McIver LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE A. Shane Massey Table of Contents WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 • WWW.SCDTAA.COM PAGE 3 President’s Message marks the 51st year for the South desire to be actively involved in our organization and by Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys’ including those Emerging Leaders in many of the events PRESIDENT’S 2019 Association. As we embark on the that we host each year. We are excited to tap into their MESSAGE next fifty years, the Officers and Board of Directors are energy and ideas as we continue to grow as an organization. committed to ensuring that we capitalize on the momentum We are planning for a busy 2019 with the launch of a new and energy that the SCDTAA has enjoyed over the last diversity initiative that will include two new events over year. It is going to be an exciting and busy year! Before the course of the year focusing on diversity and inclusion. highlighting what you can expect over the course of Our Diversity Committee is working towards a single day this year, I would like to commend our immediate past CLE focusing on diversity and inclusion in Columbia and president Anthony Livoti on a fantastic year. Under his another event in Charleston. On April 12, 2019 we will put leadership, the SCDTAA launched the digital version of on Trial Superstars at the USC School of Law. Bre Walker The DefenseLine which was seamless and has provided our and Jesse Waller are busy working on populating a faculty readers with convenient access and the ability to share our President of ten of the top plaintiffs and defense trial attorneys in content with ease. Board members Trey Suggs and Breon James B. Hood the state. They will square off to try our trial academy Walker hosted our annual Trial Academy in Columbia problem before juries drawn from Lexington and Richland which produced another class of graduates of one of the in a one-day trial demonstration CLE presided over by only trial training seminars that includes a full day trial Justice George C. James. Like the first Trial Superstars before a trial judge and jury. Anthony took our Summer in 2012, this will be an event that you can’t afford to Meeting to the beach for the first time in thirty years. Our miss! Our Trial Academy will follow in May, and we will members enjoyed cutting edge CLE content combined return the Royal Sonesta in Hilton Head for our Summer with family friendly social activities which including an Meeting in July. We will be heading back to the Ritz Carlton afternoon of beach games. Our 50th year was capped off on Amelia Island for our Annual Meeting in November. with a wonderful Annual Meeting at the Sanctuary where we had the pleasure of hosting members of our judiciary. I hope that you will make plans to join us as we In 2018, we began an exciting and new program: The race into 2019 with a host of offerings aimed Emerging Leaders Program. This is designed to provide our to meet the varied needs of our members! younger members with the opportunity to become actively engaged in our organization and a path towards leadership. Turning to 2019, we will continue to build on the success from last year by continuing to promote our Emerging Leaders Table of Contents program as a way to promote those members who have a WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 • WWW.SCDTAA.COM PAGE 4 2018 SUMMER MEETING EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS 2018 SPRING GOLF CLASSIC SPONSORS 2018 ANNUAL MEETING EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS SW Smyth Whitley, llc A T T O R N E Y S A T L A W 2018 TRIAL ACADEMY SPONSOR WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 • WWW.SCDTAA.COM PAGE 5 EDITORS’ Editors’ Note NOTE by Geoffrey W. Gibbon, Michael D. Freeman and C. Daniel Atkinson elcome to the Winter 2019 edition of The recent legislation impacting the defense bar, an update DefenseLine. For those wondering, no, you did on recent decisions from South Carolina’s appellate not miss the Fall 2018 edition. Unfortunately, courts, and an acknowledgement of the SCDTAA’s most Wdue to circumstances out of our control, this recent Hemphill Award recipient, John S. Wilkerson. latest edition was a little delayed getting to publication. We plan to release our Spring edition in May and will We apologize and hope everyone enjoys this latest edition. have even more updates on some of the excellent Geoffrey W. Gibbon 2018 was a very busy year for the SCDTAA and 2019 programs the SCDTAA has coming up in 2019 like our looks to be even busier and filled with great programs annual Trial Academy, and the return of Trial Superstars. and meetings. We had a blast in Hilton Head at our As always, we want to thank all of our contributors, Summer Meeting and a great time at The Sanctuary authors, and staff for all of their excellent work on Kiawah Island for our Annual Meeting in November. in providing our content and assistance in getting In this edition we continue our efforts to provide our SCDTAA this edition to publication. We want to thank Judge members and other readers with important information Quattlebaum for taking time to answer our questions Michael D. Freeman about the SCDTAA, helpful practical tools to assist in and being willing to share some of his wisdom to our your practice, and important updates to the law in South readership. For our great sponsors, we appreciate Carolina. We also strive to provide information to help everything you do and much of what we do wouldn’t be SCDTAA members learn how they can get more involved. possible without you. Lastly, we would be remiss if we didn’t thank our SCDTAA members, board, and officers This edition includes a substantive article related to punitive that make our organization so strong and so enjoyable damages in light of a recent Supreme Court opinion, a to be a part of. If you are reading this issue and are not profile on the Honorable A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., a member of the SCDTAA we encourage you to join. C. Daniel Atkinson an update on the happenings of the DRI, a look at some Table of Contents WINTER 2019 • VOLUME 47 • ISSUE 1 • WWW.SCDTAA.COM PAGE 6 MEMBER SCDTAA Docket NEWS South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Cox are both profiled in the publication this year, Cooke for Association Honors Gray, Stepp & Laffitte’s Grady Beard his work in insurance law and Cox for his work in business litigation, intellectual property, products liability law.