Greenville Personal Injury Attorneys at The Druanne White Law Firm
January 25th, 2012
Child support is the ongoing obligation for the financial care and support of children from a former relationship or possibly terminated marriage. The laws governing child support in the United States vary by state and can cover food, clothing, utilities, education expenses and other costs. In South Carolina, both parents have a joint obligation for child support. However, typically the non-custodial parent pays child support to the custodial parent, who covers most of the child’s expenses.
The Child Support Guidelines published by the state of South Carolina offer guidance on the amount of child support and uses an income shares model based on the income of both parents.
Factors That Affect Child Support Payments
When you contact a qualified family law attorney about your child support case, you can learn more about the factors that be considered in child support payment adjustments. Those can include:
- Having more than six children
- Present consumer debt
- Educational expenses (child or spouse)
- Unreimbursed medical or dental expenses for either the parent or child
- Considerable disparity in incomes
- Alimony
- Mandatory retirement reductions on the part of either parent
What South Carolina Courts Demand in Child Support Enforcement
When non-custodial parents do not live up to their financial responsibilities, it makes it difficult for all involved, especially the children. South Carolina courts will not send the non-paying parent to jail if the circumstances are not considered willful. However, once the parent does not make child support payments as ordered by the court, the following will be required:
- Non-custodial parent must appear in court to explain why payments are not being made
- Without valid reasons, the judge may order an enforcement remedy, such as: license revocation, Federal or State income tax refund offset, administrative offset, unemployment insurance benefit offset, passport denial, administrative lien
- Judge has leeway to fine the non-custodial parent up to $1500 and or sentence the parent to jail for one full year for failure to pay
Please contact the Druanne White Law Firm, if you live in the Greenville area and want to learn more about your rights as a parent or non-custodial parent with regards to child support.
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January 18th, 2012
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects your individual privacy from unreasonable search and seizure by controlling when and how the police may conduct a search of your house, papers, effects or physical person. Today, the Supreme Court has determined the threshold question as whether there is a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” Thus, what you knowingly expose in public, home or office is not subject to the protection of the Fourth Amendment, while the information you do seek to keep private is protected.
Protecting Your Privacy
If you are worried about your online privacy being invaded, the following tips can help you protect your private information:
- Look at the website’s privacy policy before doing business with an online company
- Use a separate e-mail address from the one you use for your family and friends to avoid Internet spam
- Use encryption software to encode your information and make it more difficult for the common hacker to invade
Questions for Your Attorney
The following are some of the most common online privacy cases. Included are some good questions to ask your online privacy attorney should any of these happen to you:
- An online retailer just notified me that my personal information was stolen from their computers. What can I do? If my identity is stolen, who is liable?
- I found some of my personal information on an information website. Can I get it removed? Is it legal for the website to post my information without my consent?
- If my child uses my computer without my permission to engage in illegal drug activities, will I be in trouble too? Must I give the police my computer?
The Druanne White Law Firm proudly represents victims of online privacy invasion from Greenville, Anderson, and Spartanburg, South Carolina. Please contact our experienced personal injury attorneys to learn more about your rights online.
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January 12th, 2012
“Sexting” is the practice of sending erotic messages and/or images that, while practiced by some adults, is becoming more and more commonplace amongst children. In the United States, it is against the law to possess sexually explicit photographs of minors. In South Carolina, misdemeanor to felony charges can result, depending on the age of the defendant.
Because sexting is considered free speech, adults engaging in the act are protected from state intervention under the First Amendment. However, the Supreme Court placed child pornography out of the scope of the First Amendment; thus criminal charges and harsh punishments are quick to follow. Some charges that can result from sexting include:
- Internet sex crimes
- Distribution (the sender) and possession (the receiver) of child pornography
- Communicating with a minor with the intent of a lewd act
- Sending harmful matter with the intent of seduction
Sexting is not currently a separate criminal category in South Carolina, so carries the same penalties as other Class E felony sex offender crimes, including bearing the label of a sex offender for the rest of your life, even if you are only a teen communicating with another teen.
To learn more about sexting and the law in South Carolina, please contact the Druanne White Law Firm in South Carolina today to schedule your first consultation with an experienced sexual assault attorney.
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December 30th, 2011
The American legal system is a complicated process and certainly not one that you should try navigating on your own. A qualified South Carolina criminal defense attorney will help you tactfully handle your case in the effort to reduce the severity of your charges and perhaps even prevent charges from ever being filed.
Chances are if you are asking yourself whether you need a lawyer, the answer is probably yes. An experienced criminal defense attorney knows the minutia of the legal system and your case – a valuable tool in protecting yourself against criminal charges. If you have been involved in any of the following cases, contact a South Carolina criminal defense attorney to ensure that your rights are properly defended:
In all of these cases, you face the possibility of going to jail or prison, and it is vital for you to appear in court with an attorney. Even if you can’t afford to hire a criminal defense attorney, you can still request a state or government-appointed attorney to represent you in your case.
If you have been arrested or charged with a crime, please contact the Druanne White Law Firm to schedule your first consultation today. We proudly represent clients from Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina and the surrounding counties.
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December 29th, 2011
Insurance companies work to determine the degree of fault after any given car accident. This helps them determine which coverage applies to the accident and how the at-fault driver’s premiums should be adjusted. The person at fault in a car accident must either be careless, or “negligent”.
South Carolina has a “tort liability” system that allows you to pursue legal action after a car accident. If you live in Anderson, Greenville or any of the surrounding counties in South Carolina and would like to pursue a car accident case, you should contact the experienced car accident attorneys of the Druanne White Law Firm, in Anderson.
If fault is questionable in your car accident case, here are some methods that can help you determine who was really at fault and needs to pay compensatory damages:
Fault supported by police reports – if police are called to the scene of the car accident the officer will write a report that you can obtain for your case. This includes whether or not the other driver was cited for any traffic violations, and sometimes even the officer’s own thoughts on the how the collision may have occurred
- Obvious traffic law violations – if one party has obviously broken traffic laws, assessing fault is very clear-cut. Consult your local library or Department of Motor Vehicles to determine whether the specific violation applies to your case
- Left turn accidents – these accidents are easily identifiable by the damage done to both cars: damage to the front of the turning driver’s car and damage to the right-front side of the other driver’s car
- Rear-end collisions – while the law supports the driver who was struck from behind, you may face challenges if you were negligent in maintaining brake lights and other systems
If you were involved in an accident where fault has come into question and would like to learn more about your rights, please contact the qualified South Carolina personal injury attorneys at the Druanne White Law Firm today.
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December 28th, 2011
Everybody knows the saying: A picture is worth a thousand words. Never is this truer than after a car accident, where you may become flustered and unable to accurately recall the events that caused the accident for police or your car accident lawyer.
The rule of thumb is to photograph everything, whether or not you think it can help your case. Below are the three most important subjects to photograph that will aid law enforcement officials to construct the circumstances of the accident and your qualified South Carolina auto accident attorney to support your case:
Both vehicles – these photographs are evidence of the severity of the impact and how the accident occurred. Make sure to photograph where the vehicles came to rest after the collision
- Surrounding objects – take pictures of any trees, guardrails that your vehicle hit
- Visible injuries – if you suffered from any abrasions, lacerations or bruises, have someone take pictures of your injuries
Some injuries, such as a sprain, strain or whiplash are typically not accompanied by visible evidence, and the other driver’s car insurance company could argue that the accident impact wasn’t severe enough to hurt anyone. It is imperative that you take photos to document the severity of the impact and provide evidence for these internal injuries.
If you were involved in a car accident in the counties of Anderson, Greenville, or Spartanburg, South Carolina and would like to learn more about how photographic evidence can help your car accident case, please contact the experienced car accident lawyers at the Druanne White Law Firm today to schedule your first appointment.
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December 28th, 2011
The moments after a car accident are some of the most hectic and stressful in a person’s life. Should you decide to pursue legal action after an accident, your auto accident attorney will need to know exactly what happened during the time before and after your car accident, moments you may not be able to accurately recall if you are unprepared.
The following list is handy to keep in your glove compartment, alongside the rest of your car accident kit. Whether you are in a minor fender bender or suffered serious injuries as a result of an auto accident, this list will help ensure you gather all the necessary information needed to obtain accurate compensation for personal damages:
STOP – whether or not the accident was your fault, it is required by law to stop and make sure everyone is okay and exchange all contact, insurance, and vehicle information
- CALL – if anyone has been injured, the police, ambulance and fire department may need to be called if injuries are serious
- EXCHANGE – information, including your name, address, phone number, car registration number, license plat number and all insurance names and phone numbers should be shared with each party
- PHOTOGRAPH – pictures from the accident of all vehicles involved, as well as any injuries are ways for the authorities and your attorney to understand what happened. All of these will help your qualified auto accident attorney construct an accurate case
- OBTAIN – information from anyone who saw the accident occur is important to your case, so contact information should be gathered on site
During the weeks after the accident, be sure to keep accurate logs of all doctors visits’, medical bills and any transportation costs should you seek compensation in an auto accident case.
If you have been injured in Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, South Carolina or any of the surrounding counties, please contact the experienced auto accident attorneys at the Druanne White Law Firm. You may be able to obtain compensation for property damage and personal injuries.
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November 28th, 2011
The Supreme Court of South Carolina is the highest court in the state. There is one chief justice and four associate justices on the bench. While they have both appellate and original jurisdiction, and oversee many different types of cases, they also are charged with overseeing the admission of people to practice law in the state.
The South Carolina Bar holds firmly that “the license to practice law is a privilege and not a right.” As such, it is held that indigent defendants are entitled to professional and aggressive criminal defense representation as outlined in the United States Constitution. Should an attorney choose not to represent an indigent defendant on the grounds of inadequate compensation, the South Carolina Bar supports the court’s right to hold that attorney in contempt, and punish him or her within the full extent of the law.
Druanne White, Criminal Defense Attorney
Compensation for attorney’s fees in cases with indigent defendants is capped at $3,500. In many cases, these lawsuits involve several hours of work both in and out of the courtroom. When an attorney puts in sufficient time, and defends her client to the best of her abilities, she may be awarded additional fees at the court’s discretion.
Criminal defense attorney Druanne White strongly believes in “innocent until proven guilty.” When appointed as an attorney for an indigent client, attorney White devotes her time and resources to defending her client to the best of her abilities. Standing with the South Carolina Bar and acknowledging his privilege to serve as an attorney, Druanne White fights tirelessly and aggressively for all of her clients.
If you need a criminal defense attorney in or around Greenville, Anderson, or Spartanburg, South Carolina, please contact the Druanne White Law Firm to schedule a confidential consultation today.
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November 21st, 2011
ID theft is a federal crime that carries with it strict and aggressive penalties. With the rise of computer ID theft, and several high profile cases, the federal government has instituted penalties ranging from jail time to serious fines. However, circumstances are seldom as black and white as they appear, and only an experienced criminal defense attorney like Druanne White can assist you when you have been accused of ID theft.
South Carolina ID Theft
There are two primary types of ID theft:
- Possession – Knowingly possessing fraudulent documents, or having equipment that could produce such documents
- Production – Creating fraudulent birth certificates, driver’s licenses, or personal identification cards
Under the South Carolina Personal Financial Security Act, a person found guilty of these crimes can be charged with restitution, court fees, and imprisonment for up to ten years.
When you are charged with ID theft, you will require someone who is intimately familiar with the law to assist in building your case. Trying to tackle the system alone will almost always result in the maximum penalties. You have a Constitutional right to defend yourself against these and other criminal allegations. Dedicated South Carolina criminal defense attorney Druanne White will work to ensure you are treated fairly, and that your rights are preserved.
If you have been accused of ID theft in or around Greenville, Anderson, or Spartanburg, South Carolina, please contact the aggressive criminal defense attorneys at Druanne White Law Firm to schedule an initial confidential consultation today.
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November 15th, 2011
There can be several causes of brain injuries. Slip and fall accidents, automobile accidents, and workplace accidents can all cause impact to your head resulting in serious and permanent injuries. Depending on the extent of your injury, you may face long-term rehabilitation, and in many cases full recovery is impossible.
When you suffer a brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, you deserve compensation for both the short-term and life-long damages it will cause. The South Carolina personal injury attorneys at Druanne White Law Firm are here to help you and your family get the justice you deserve.
Types of Brain Injuries
There are two types of traumatic brain injuries:
- Open brain injuries in which an object penetrates the brain after it fractures, resulting in damage to just one part of the brain
- Closed brain injuries in which the brain is bounced around within the skull cavity, resulting in damage to a larger area of the brain
Accidents most frequently involve one of two types of brain injury: contusions or axonal injuries. Both of these injuries occur when the tissue of your brain strikes your skull cavity. While the type of damage done to the brain can vary, they both have the potential to be debilitating.
Non-traumatic brain injuries are generally not caused by accidents, but may result from a lack of oxygen during medical procedures or from exposure to environmental toxins. These injuries, like traumatic brain injury, have the potential to negatively impact every area of your life.
No matter what type of brain injury you have sustained, you deserve to be compensated for lost wages, medical expenses, and a loss of quality of life. The attorneys at Druanne White Law Firm will work closely with you and help ensure you are provided with the full compensation you deserve.
If you have sustained any type of brain injury in or around Greenville, Anderson, or Spartanburg, South Carolina, please contact the personal injury attorneys at Druanne White Law Firm to schedule an initial consultation today.
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