We hope you are continuing to enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend. Above, you’ll find the cover of Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #63, published way, way back in 1945.

Well, the November issue of the G-Bar News, the official publication of the Greenville, South Carolina Bar Association is out. Click here to read the full issue in PDF format! Check out page 3 of the newsletter for an announcement related to our firm being honored with the 2013 Defense Research Institute’s Law Firm Diversity Award as well as our recent ranking as a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News & World Report. Then check out page 6 for a “Young Lawyer Profile” of our own Amity Edmonds, one of our workers compensation attorneys in our Greenville office.

News Flash: The updated versions of the U.S. District Court for the District Court of South Carolina’s Local Civil and Criminal Rules – with revisions through November 15, 2013 – can now be found online here.

More GWB news: The South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division Foundation just elected our own Lindsay Joyner to its Board of Governors. Lindsay is an associate in our Columbia office.

South Carolina lawyers, please take note that the Souther Carolina Supreme Court has revised the standard subpoena for use in civil cases. The new form can be found here.

Congrats to Jeff Richardson of the iPhone J.D. blog on five years of legal blogging! That is a huge accomplishment. Way, way back in January of 2011, we interviewed Jeff about legal technology issues, and you can revisit that interview here. Later that year, in June of 2011, we met Jeff – as well as legal blogging guru Ernie Svenson – in New Orleans (about which Ernie wrote here).

Happy Thanksgiving from the Abnormal Use law blog and Gallivan, White, & Boyd, P.A.! We wish you a safe and eventful holiday, and we hope that our lawyer readers have pried themselves away from their cases and time slips in order to spend some time with their families this year. To celebrate, above, you’ll find the cover of Simpsons Classics #26, published not so long ago in 2010.

Oh, and if you’ve not yet read it, please check out our “Thanksgiving in 1810, 1910, and 2010” blog entry, which we published this time three years ago. It’s now a seasonal tradition!

Last but not least, you can check out our past Thanksgiving posts – with various Turkey Day related comic book covers – here, here, and here.

What a day! We here at Abnormal Use are pleased and honored to announce that we have been once again been named to the ABA Journal‘s Blawg 100, the annual list of the best of the blawgosphere. This is now the fourth year in a row we have been named to the list, and we couldn’t be more pleased to receive the honor.

Certainly, wee must thank our firm, Gallivan, White, & Boyd, P.A. for its continuing support. We’ve been doing this blogging thing since January 2010, and without the institutional support of our law firm, we simply could not do the things we do here.  But the real heroes are our regular contributors: Rob Green, Nick Farr, and Frances Zacher (along with occasional contributors Mills Gallivan, Stuart Mauney, Chris Kelly, Kyle White, Sally Bowman, and Tom Vanderbloemen). Without their tireless efforts, and their wit, we would not be the blog we are today.

Of course, we must also thank you, our dear readers. Thank you again for all of your support this past year (and the three years before that, as well). We remain humbled.

We’ve got just one more favor to ask. After announcing the final 100 blawgs, the ABA Journal is now asking its readers to vote for their favorites of the final 100 in 13 substantive categories. Our blog is included in the Torts category, and we ask that you register at the ABA Journal‘s site and cast a vote for us here.

It just takes a brief moment, and we’d be forever in your debt.

As 2014 approaches, we’ll be continuing onward here and we hope to bring you some special things in the new year. Stay tuned!

Here we are again on the Monday before Thanksgiving.  It will be difficult to keep our minds on our legal blogging duties this week with the holiday looming over us all. After all, as we’ve said before, this is the time for football, turkey, pumpkin beer and tryptophan.  Because it has become a bit of a tradition around here, we feel we must direct you to our 2010 Thanksgiving post entitled “Thanksgiving in 1810, 1910, and 2010.”  Back then, in our early blogging days, we somehow unearthed a century old magazine article in which the writer, a resident of 1910, looked back 100 years and marveled at the incredible social and technological change that occurred in the previous ten decades.  That writer also looked forward to 2010 and briefly speculated how we, as citizens of the 21st century, might look back at those who lived in his era 100 years before.   That article struck such a chord with us, and it’s become a Turkey Day tradition for us. So, today, we remind you of it once again and direct you back to it 102 years after its publication. (That neat illustration above – and many others like it – comes directly from the 103 year old article.).

As we proceed through this week, looking forward to stuffing and cranberry sauce, we think of all the things that we are thankful for and wish you a happy Thanksgiving.

Today, November 22, 2013, is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the days and weeks leading up to this somber occasion, you’ve probably seen dozens – perhaps hundreds – of news stories both about the legacy of President Kennedy as well as the most minute details related to his tragic death. We encourage our readers interested in these topics to visit Twitter today, as we are quite certain that it will offer as much information as anyone could ever read.  Here at Abnormal Use, our own Stuart Mauney is a bit of a history buff.  He offers these thoughts on this day:

Where were you when JFK was assassinated 50 years ago today?  I was two years old, probably sitting in front of our TV watching “The Three Stooges” or “Captain Kangaroo.”  At some point, years later, I became fairly obsessed with the assassination and the Kennedy family.  I remember Bobby Kennedy’s body being carried by train after he was killed.  I watched intently as Ted Kennedy tried and failed to win the presidency.  And, I have read several of the hundreds (thousands?) of books on the JFK assassination.  After reading all of that, and watching some of the TV documentaries this week, I have concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman and that there was no conspiracy.  There are many unanswered questions and some inconsistencies, but they do not equal a conspiracy by the CIA, Cuba or the mafia to take down our president.  Do you agree?  Let us know.

There are those of us at Abnormal Use inclined to agree with Stuart. After all, if one places a large historical event under a microscope, inconsistencies are bound to surface. For a truly excellent take on that point, you must watch “The Umbrella Man,” a six minute documentary by filmmaker Errol Morris profiling one of the witnesses in Dallas that fateful day. But, as Stuart requested, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Of course, there are comic books dedicated to the legacy of President Kennedy.  Above, you’ll find the cover of John F. Kennedy published by Dell Comics in the mid-1960’s, likely 1964. Below, we have the cover of Personality Comics Presents John F. Kennedy (American Heroes #2), published not so longer ago in 1992.

After interviewing Tiger Lawyer creator Ryan Ferrier earlier this year, we couldn’t resist posting the cover of Tiger Lawyer #3, which you see above. Apparently, it features a story called “Tiger Lawyer Must Die,” so there could be trouble for our protagonist. In case you’ve missed it, we’ve previously mentioned Tiger Lawyer a number of times (including here, here, here,here, and here.)

In last week’s edition of Friday Links, we posted the cover of Public Defender in Action #9, which depicted a gentleman – with a gun! – sitting at counsel table in a courtroom while the title character cross examined a witness (presumably on behalf of the firearm-toting figure).  In our post, we wondered who that mysterious gentleman might be and whether it was the defendant. Well, in response, a diligent reader – and the father of one of our writers – responded with these thoughts (which we have dutifully secured permission to post here):

As you may recall, we occasionally write about beers with legal sounding names.  Well, Stone has released a spicy pair of brews called Crime and Punishment. Apparently, it is so spicy that the brewery filmed people taking a sip to capture their reactions.  Here’s a quote from the brewery’s YouTube page:

We have created what could arguably be described as some of the spiciest beer on the planet. Then we asked people to try it…just to see how they’d react. Hijinks ensued, dutifully recorded in slowwwww motion.

To watch the video in question, see here.

Speaking of beer, you may recall that not too long ago we interviewed Daniel Hartis, author of Charlotte Beer: A History of Brewing In The Queen City. If you missed it, you can read that interview here. Well, this week, The Charlotte Observer published Daniel’s thoughts on the opening of two new breweries, those being The Unknown Brewery and D-9 Brewing Company.  You can read that article here.

Over at Above The Law, Tamara Tabo writes about the interesting intersection of public safety laws and freedom of religion. Check it out, as it’s not what you think.

We here at Abnormal Use and Gallivan, White, & Boyd, P.A. celebrate the heroism of our nation’s military personnel today, Veteran’s Day. As we do each year, today, we pause to reflect upon all of the sacrifices made by American servicemen and women and all they have done for the country, both in present times and years past. To commemorate the occasion, we direct your attention to the comic book cover above – that of Our Army At War #295, published way, way back in 1976. Not too long after, this series was renamed Sgt. Rock. Thank you again to our veterans for their service.

Two weeks ago, we brought to your attention Public Defender In Action, a legal themed comic book series from the 1950’s with which we were previously unfamiliar.  Above, you’ll find the troubling and uncomfortable cover of issue #9, published way, way back in 1957. Let’s consider this cover. We see the judge, the bailiff, a witness, and the public defender presumably cross examining said witness. (We doubt the public defender would be gesticulating so – or the witness reacting in such a way – during a direct examination.). So who is it in the foreground producing a gun from his attache case? Is it the public defender’s client – the defendant? We doubt it, as we can’t imagine why the defendant would want to interrupt his own lawyer’s examination with a fusillade. Is it the prosecutor? Surely not.  To be sure, it’s an odd and disturbing image. We’ll see if we can track down this issue and determine what is actually occurring.

Here’s our favorite excerpt from a federal court opinion this week:  “The Beastie Boys are a famous hip-hop group ‘from the family tree of old school hip-hop.'”  See Beastie Boys v. Monster Energy Co., — F. Supp. 2d —-, No. 12 Civ. 6065(S.D.N.Y. Nov. 4, 2013) (citing Beastie Boys, InterGalactic (Capitol Records 1998)).

Jeff Richardson at the iPhone J.D. blog reviews the new iPad Air.

“With all the focus on using Facebook, Twitter, and the newest communication technologies, the basics of practicing law are often pushed to the wayside,” writes Bill Miller of Greer & Miller, L.L.P in “Witness Preparation Program,” which appears in this month’s Texas Bar Journal. To see the full article, please see here.

The ABA Journal brings us “The Top Trials That Changed The World.”

Finally, we here at Abnormal Use and Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A. are very pleased to announce that eight of our firm’s attorneys have been recognized as being among the 2013 Legal Elite of the Midlands by Columbia Business Monthly. Those who were honored include:

• James Brogdon – Personal Injury
• Johnston Cox – Insurance
• Will Harbison – Workers Compensation
• John Hudson – Healthcare
• John T. Lay – Civil Litigation
• Shelley Montague – Construction
• Grayson Smith – Insurance
• Childs Thrasher – Environmental

Our Columbia office opened in June 2011 with six attorneys.  In just two years, we reached sixteen lawyers. How about that?

If you’re a South Carolina lawyer, you definitely need to know about an order that the South Carolina Supreme Court issued yesterday.  In said order, the Court ordered all South Carolina lawyers to login to the Attorney Information System and change passwords, update security questions, and update and verify biographical and contact information.  Failure to to so could result in a suspension.

For easy reference, here’s the the text of the full order:

The South Carolina Judicial Department is currently developing an e-filing system to allow the electronic filing of documents in the courts of this State.  This system will rely, in part, on the information already maintained by the Attorney Information System (AIS), and lawyers will ultimately use their AIS user name and password to access the web-based portal for e-filing.  In preparation for e-filing, it is necessary to make various security enhancements to AIS.  This includes requiring stronger passwords.

Accordingly, between the date of this order and December 15, 2013, every member of the South Carolina Bar (including those holding limited certificates to practice law), and every foreign legal consultant licensed under Rule 424 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR), must log-on to AIS and:

(1)  Change their password to a stronger password meeting the requirements specified in AIS.  Once logged-on, the lawyer or consultant will immediately be prompted to update their password and will be provided with detailed information on the complexity required for that password.

(2)  Choose and answer updated security questions.  The lawyer or consultant will be automatically prompted to provide this information once a new password is entered.

(3)  Update and verify their information in AIS, including their contact information.  Lawyers and consultants are reminded that the contact information in AIS, including the required e-mail address, is the official contact information for them.  Rule 410(e), SCACR (“The mailing and e-mail address shown in the AIS shall be used for the purpose of notifying and serving the member.”).

Lawyers and foreign legal consultants who have not changed their password and security questions, and verified their AIS information, will not be allowed to pay their license fees for 2014 until they have done so.  This may result in the lawyer or consultant being suspended under Rule 419, SCACR.

(Emphasis in original).

The process only takes a few moments to complete.  To access the Attorney Information System in order to comply with the order, you can click here.

To see the Supreme Court’s order itself, please see here.

We here at Abnormal Use and Gallivan, White, & Boyd, P.A. were saddened this weekend to learn of the passing of former federal circuit court judge Karen Williams. Admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1980, she was appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by President Bush in 1992.  Following that appointment, she became the first female jurist on that court and rose to be the first female chief judge of that circuit a number of years later. She retired from the bench in 2009.  South Carolina’s legal community has suffered a great loss, and our thoughts are with her family at this sad time. To read The State‘s article on her passing, please see here, and to find her obituary in Orangeburg, South Carolina’s Times and Democrat, please see here.

For informations on memorials, please see this article from WISTV.