More dang unpublished opinions

Posted Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific

A few weeks ago, I complained about the South Carolina appellate courts issuing uncitable, unpublished opinions from cases that were not decided in a summary fashion. The business day after I posted this blog, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed an unpublished Court of Appeals opinion: Eldridge vs SC Department of Transportation. This really should not be happening.

Just this week, in Brunson v. Brunson, the Supreme Court did it again, reversing the Court of Appeals’ own unpublished opinion (which had reversed and remanded the family court’s decision on alimony) and reinstating the family court’s original decision.

Both appellate courts had some pretty strong views on the issue of alimony in Brunson.  You might think they’d let us lawyers cite these opinions as authority.