South Carolina Trial Law Blog

One of the things that I’m going to start doing is putting information that I ‘know’, but don’t use it often enough so that I have to look it up every time just to make certain. One of those items is when getting assigned two court dates at the same time, which court takes priority?

Rule 601 of the South Carolina Rules of Appellate Court lays out the priorities:

1. The Supreme Court
2. The Court of Appeals
3. The Commission on Judicial Conduct, the Commission on Lawyer Conduct, and the Committee on Character and Fitness. (Ouch).
4. The Circuit Court--General Sessions
5. The Family Court--merits hearings in cases involving child abuse, child neglect and termination of parental rights…(with notice).
6. The Circuit Court--Common Pleas, Jury Term
7. The Family Court -- all cases not part of Number 5.
8. The Circuit Court--Common Pleas, Non-Jury Term.
9. Alternative Dispute Resolution Conferences
10. The Probate Court
11. Magistrates and Municipal Courts
12. Other Administrative Bodies or Officials

Workers Compensation cases would fall under Category 12, the Other Administrative bodies. That means that judicially, Workers Comp cases can get bumped for uncontested divorces and traffic court. Ouch.