Online doctor visits have quickly become commonplace in the United States, and South Carolina is keeping pace.
As just one example, earlier this year the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) partnered with Darlington County Schools, to the northwest of Florence, to bring online medical visits to students.
The death of a loved one (let’s assume a parent) often leaves you with serious responsibilities. It can help to know you’re doing the right thing on their behalf.
The legal process of ensuring your parent’s assets go where they should is called probate.
Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2019 is here - including the Myrtle Beach Harley Davidson Spring Rally that begins this weekend and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, now called the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival, which begins on Memorial Day Weekend.
Both events will be packed with events and things to do, and the Grand Strand will be flooded with motorcycles of all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, there will also be motorcycle crashes, some of which will be caused by careless drivers who are not paying attention to motorcycles on the road around them.
If you are injured in a motorcycle wreck during Myrtle Beach Bike Week, call the SC motorcycle accident attorneys at Axelrod and Associates as soon as possible - before you leave town and before you give any statements to the insurance companies.
When is a dog owner liable for dog bites or dog attacks in Myrtle Beach, SC?
If you are walking down the sidewalk, and a cute, adorable boxer runs out from someone's driveway and bites you on the leg without any provocation on your part, it's pretty clear that the dog's owner will be liable.
What about the property owner, if it's not their dog? What if the dog does not bite you, but instead jumps on you, knocking you down and causing an injury? What if you are attacked by a wild animal on someone else's property? Is the property owner responsible for that also?
If you have been injured by a dog attack in Myrtle Beach, call the SC dog bite lawyers at Axelrod and Associates immediately - before giving any statements to the homeowner or their insurance company.
SC has strict liability for dog attacks, but there are defenses for dog owners and property owners. Below, we'll discuss when a dog's owner is liable for injuries caused by their dog, what defenses are available to the dog's owner, and when a property owner is liable for wild animal attacks on their property.
Should I talk to the police?
You answer a knock on your door to find a uniformed police officer standing outside on the porch. You're feeling nervous and can feel the adrenaline starting to pump, but you answer the door anyway, hoping everything is okay.
"Hello, Mr. Smith," the polite officer says. "We would like to talk with you for a minute and ask you a few questions." "About what," you ask? "Oh, we don't think you've done anything wrong," they say. "We just need to ask you a few questions so we can clear your name..."
Sounds reasonable. I've got nothing to hide and I've done nothing wrong, so no harm can come of it, right?
Wrong.
Whether the police think you are a suspect in a crime or a witness to a crime, you are in danger anytime you agree to answer their questions. You don't know why they really want to talk to you, you don't know if they are telling you the truth, and you should always tell the police you cannot speak to them without your attorney present.
Workers' compensation in SC pays benefits for as long as 500 weeks, or for life in some cases when you suffer a total and permanent disability.
What is a total and permanent disability? Who decides whether an injury has resulted in total and permanent disability or partial disability?
More importantly, what are the available benefits for a total and permanent disability in SC? Do I have to take periodic payments, or can I opt for a single lump sum payment?
If you have been hurt on the job and suspect you have a total and permanent disability, be aware that the workers' compensation insurance company will probably do everything they can to not pay you total and permanent disability benefits.
You may need to have your own, independent medical experts give a second opinion, and it is critical that you contact an experienced Myrtle Beach workers' compensation attorney as soon as possible who can help you to put together the medical evidence you need, present it to the Commission, and appeal any adverse decisions.
When can you sue the bar?
If you were involved in an accident with a drunk driver, you probably already know that we can sue the driver, hold them accountable for what they've done, and make them pay for the injuries, pain, and suffering that they caused. They are probably going to be on the hook for punitive damages as well.
But they are just one person, who most likely does not have resources available to fully compensate you for the damage they've caused and their ability to pay will be limited by the policy limits of their insurance.
Were they the only person responsible for their condition and the accident they caused? In many cases, the establishment that got them drunk in the first place may also be on the hook for the damage that they caused - including punitive damages in some cases.
In a recent dram shop settlement, a Columbia bar paid $3 million to compensate the victim of a drunk driver who hit another motorist head-on after drinking to excess at the bar.
When can you sue the bar? And, why would you sue the bar? How do prove dram liability, and why was the settlement in the millions?
Is emotional abuse grounds for divorce in SC? What about mental abuse?
In SC, anyone can get a divorce if they have lived separate and apart for a full year. But you can get a divorce faster if your spouse is physically assaulting you, if they are cheating on you, or if they are habitually drunk or addicted to drugs.
What do you if you are subjected to extreme emotional and mental abuse?
Currently, under SC law, you must wait for one year before you can get a divorce from an emotionally or mentally abusive spouse - a proposed bill in SC would change that:
Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, cosponsor of the bill, said by recognizing that physical and mental cruelty is another grounds for divorce, the state would allow people to file for divorce and leave a spouse within a shorter period of time.
"There are situations where there is not necessarily physical abuse but there's emotional abuse and that is something that I think we've really come to recognize as a society," Powers Norrell said. "There's nothing in our law that shortens the wait period for a divorce when you have a situation of emotional abuse or just where you can't stay together anymore."
What about physical or sexual abuse of a child? If your spouse is abusing your child, that is also not grounds for divorce in SC - another proposed bill would change that as well.
How long do workers' compensation benefits last in SC?
Assuming you do not resolve your case with a lump-sum settlement, how long your workers' compensation benefits will last depends on the type of injury you suffered, the severity of your injuries, and, more importantly, when your doctors say that you can return to work.
If you have a permanent and total disability, your benefits could last for as long as 500 weeks or even for the rest of your life. Otherwise, they will terminate at some point...
When and how do workers' compensation benefits end in SC?
In State v. Slocum, decided this week, the SC Supreme Court held that juveniles can be sentenced to life in prison in SC, as long as the court doesn't call it a life sentence...
The US Supreme Court has held that:
Slocum was sentenced to 130 years in prison - the total of the consecutive sentences the court gave him for non-homicide offenses committed during two separate incidents at 13 years old.
The SC Supreme Court's reasoning in affirming his 130-year sentence is that 1) it wasn't life without parole, and 2) it's not up to them to add protections under the Eighth Amendment that the US Supreme Court hasn't already given.
Obviously, in the absence of new advances in medicine and longevity, 130 years is a life sentence.
The SC Supreme Court, however, pretends that it is not, because the US Supreme Court's opinions only forbid sentencing a juvenile to life in prison when a court calls it life in prison, as opposed to a 130-year sentence.
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Axelrod & Associates, P.A.
4701 Oleander Drive, Suite A
Myrtle Beach,
SC
29577
Phone:
843-353-3449
Fax:
843.916.9311
Myrtle Beach Law Office Map
Axelrod & Associates, P.A.
331 E. Main Street, Suite 200
Rock Hill,
SC
29730
Phone:
843-353-3449
Rock Hill Law Office Map
Axelrod & Associates, P.A.
3700 Golf Colony Ln
Little River,
SC
29566
Phone:
843-353-3449
Little River Law Office Map
Myrtle Beach Office
1550 N. Oak St.
Myrtle Beach,
SC
29577
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