By: WLTX https://www.wltx.com/article/money/business/small-business/citing-southcarolina-liquor-liability-law-another-midlands-beer-garden-calls-it-quits-the-dales-west-columbia/101-f3dc7046-057d-42ec-9ca9-d1eb4c2e34c4 This will be the third locally owned beer garden/brewery/bar to announce its closure since mid-September 2025 WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Midlands is losing yet another locally-owned beer garden due to the rising cost of doing business. Citing issu

By: Gia Snape https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/insurers-warned-tplf-could-add-50b-to-industry-costs-552353.aspx Third-party litigation funding (TPLF) has quickly turned into a systemic cost driver for the insurance industry. In a panel discussion at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) Annual Meeting in Orlando this week, corporate executives leading civil justice reforms warned that, if left unchecked, litigation funding coul

By: Stephen Owens & Chris Davis https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/selfinsured-johnson-and-johnson-hit-with-966-million--verdict-552235.aspx Baby powder sounds so clean, fresh and almost wholesome – but the product is being blamed for deaths across the country – despite the manufacturer saying the claims are total nonsense. And some of those claims are winning – and winning big. Johnson & Johnson has just been ordered to pay $966 million to the family

By: Kiernan Green https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/wholesale/insurers-are-spending-less-on-defense--and-paying-more-in-losses-552046.aspx Carriers have cut legal budgets over the past decade, but loss ratios have surged to their highest in years – is there a looming reckoning to be had? Liability insurers are spending less on defending claims, even as their losses mount – a divergence that could reshape strategies for MGAs, program administrators and wholesale bro

By: William Rabb https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2025/10/03/842330.htm If Florida’s insurance market needed more indication that 2022 legislative reforms have made a big difference in the cost of doing business in the state, one of the biggest names in reinsurance has provided it. “Clearly, it is time for both carriers and reinsurers that might have stayed on the sidelines in recent years to take a fresh look at this market, if they have not done so already,”

By: John Monk https://www.heraldonline.com/news/state/south-carolina/article312321300.html The insurance carrier for Jake’s Bar of Five Points in Columbia has paid $6.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man killed by a drunken driver alleged to have been overserved liquor at the bar. Attorneys for Jake’s and its insurance carrier had filed a motion earlier this month to seal the amount of the settlement and keep it confidential. TOP VIDEOS

By: Josie Frost https://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/south-carolina-lawmakers-rising-insurance-rates-possible-reforms/101-a753591f-1a43-44ae-8d3d-5b2d4490375b COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers are questioning why insurance rates keep climbing and what can be done to ease costs for families, while some are accusing insurance companies of discriminating against certain groups. Doug Quinn, a homeowner who testified before the panel, said his insurance company failed h

By: Michael Allison https://www.live5news.com/2025/09/24/claims-stolen-money-cocaine-use-talks-amid-lowcountry-lawyers-legal-fight/ CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Two Lowcountry attorneys and law partners have levied accusations against each other, ranging from stealing money from the law firm to discussions of drug use in new court filings. Kevin Smith, alongside the Hoffman Law Firm, filed a lawsuit against his partner, David Hoffman Jr., last Wednesday claiming that Hoffman dis

By: Coast Live https://www.wtkr.com/coast-live/acpi-argues-frivolous-lawsuits-cause-widespread-economic-harm-on-coast-live HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Dr. Robert P. Hartwig, CPCU, explains how "frivolous lawsuits" and surges in litigation have far-reaching effects on the economy, something the ACPI (American Property Casualty Insurance Association) argues is making life more expensive for Americans. Robert P. Hartwig is Clinical Associate Professor of Risk Management, Insurance and

By: Claire Wilkinson https://www.businessinsurance.com/public-sentiment-shifts-towards-plaintiffs-survey/ The U.S. public increasingly views lawsuits as a legitimate tool for exacting justice, Swiss Re said Tuesday. Only 56% of U.S. adults who responded to a survey think there are too many lawsuits in the country, down sharply from 90% in 2016, according to Swiss Re’s 2025 Behavioral Social Inflation study. Fewer people (24%) think damages awarded in lawsuits are too high com

By: Josie Frost https://www.wltx.com/article/news/state/liquor-liability-insurance-woody-columbia-south-carolina/101-c6dd7493-d84d-407c-a605-55de377b6dfe Lawmakers passed a new law earlier this year aimed at reducing the price bars and restaurants that serve alcohol pay for liability insurance. COLUMBIA, S.C. — "The Woody on Main,' a longtime Columbia staple, will close its doors after Halloween, citing rising insurance prices. They say a new law aimed at reducing the amount

By: Chris Dickerson https://www.legalnewsline.com/florida-record/personal-injury-lawyers-flaunt-cash-after-ppp-loans-forgiven/article_a4ea1aea-464c-4b51-a970-55340efd280d.html WASHINGTON – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of businesses – including thousands of law firms – across the country were given Paycheck Protection Program loans by the federal government. The PPP loans were meant to be used primarily by small businesses for job retention and suppo

By: Jenn Wood https://www.fitsnews.com/2025/09/12/bought-and-paid-for-trial-lawyer-lobby-corrupts-s-c-tort-debate/ South Carolina’s Republican supermajority loves to brag about standing up for small businesses and lowering costs for working families. But when the time came to act on those promises by passing long-overdue lawsuit reform this spring, a different set of interests was suddenly pulling their strings. Suddenly, “conservative” senators started carrying water for one

By: John O'Brien https://www.legalnewsline.com/attorneys-and-judges/legal-elite-s-power-to-pick-s-c-judges-built-in-conflicts-of-interest/article_709a1235-2bcb-43fb-91f0-7bcdd5e85109.html COLUMBIA, S.C. – Voters in South Carolina have expressed concern about conflicts of interest in letting lawyers pick the state’s judges. The response by lawmakers was to add more lawyers. The slightly changed system will be tested in the coming months as three candidates challenging Supreme

By: Angus Loten https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-personal-injury-lawyers-are-chasing-data-breach-settlements39b2ec8cgaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAj1kBDGH4lENDRd3y2qff_hpelonaMKUIt3E2TJIB0kKGXu2yccPdmtnl5KwA%3D%3D&gaa_ts=68bb2944&gaa_sig=MSS2Z6aUfDrpEYmVMBASpT0dkK8WCFVOp4wLUl2JZiHToB0duuNyqPcjrmFheyC6wcjuOzuS8QhnxMZZfHVg%3D%3D A growing number of personal injury lawyers are adding data-breach lawsuits to caseloads, alongside traffic accidents, medical malpractice and dog bites.   T

By: Josh Hammer https://nypost.com/2025/08/28/opinion/florida-cracked-down-on-billboard-lawyers-and-reaps-rewards/ For decades, “billboard lawyers” were untouchable as they plastered highways with promises of easy money, weaponized emotion and turned lawsuits into a profit machine. As personal-injury law firms flourished , industries and governments cowered, insurance premiums soared, and ordinary Americans — playing by the rules — paid the price . But Florida decided enough

By: Michael Carrol https://www.legalnewsline.com/florida-record/fla-trial-attorneys-likely-to-back-away-from-insurance-claims-observers-say/article_f7806cc3-9ef2-49eb-a1cd-0b4bec59fb45.html A lot of Florida attorneys will be reducing their dependence on complex property insurance claims as the legal marketplace evolves in the wake of reforms that have ended the previous one-way attorney fee system benefiting trial lawyers. That appears to be the emerging consensus among civil

By: William Rabb https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2025/08/21/836441.htm With more states adding or considering restrictions on third-party funding of lawsuits, one of the largest litigation finance firms is now planning to invest directly in some law firms. “We are pursuing strategic minority investments in firms where we can support their growth and expansion plans, as a passive investor,” Travis Lenkner, chief development officer for Burford Capital, said in

By FOX Carolina News Staff https://www.foxcarolina.com/2025/08/18/greenville-bar-fundraises-pay-increased-liquor-liability-insurance/...

Management of the new bar, Bailey’s, blamed the dance floor’s removal on liquor liability insurance costs. By Sydney Dunlap...