Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance in South Carolina

South Carolina at a glance

Primary regulator

South Carolina Supreme Court, Office of Disciplinary Counsel

The Commission on Lawyer Conduct hears contested disciplinary matters.

Trust account program

IOLTA required for client and fiduciary funds

Coastal real estate closing volume raises reconciliation importance seasonally.

Malpractice disclosure

Uninsured-attorney client notice historically required in some form

Confirm current requirement with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

Bar structure

Discipline runs through the Supreme Court, not the voluntary bar alone

The South Carolina Bar provides membership services separate from regulation.

The Commission on Lawyer Conduct and Disciplinary Counsel

The South Carolina Supreme Court oversees attorney discipline through the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates complaints, and the Commission on Lawyer Conduct, which hears contested matters, a structure separate from the South Carolina Bar's voluntary membership functions. Firms responding to both a grievance and a parallel malpractice claim over the same representation should coordinate counsel carefully, since the standards and evidence in each proceeding can overlap without being identical.

Trust accounts and South Carolina's recordkeeping expectations

South Carolina requires attorneys holding client or fiduciary funds to maintain an IOLTA trust account and keep records adequate to reconstruct transactions, and real estate closings represent a substantial share of client-fund activity for many South Carolina firms. Coastal and resort-area practices in particular handle high transaction volume tied to seasonal property sales, which raises the practical importance of monthly reconciliation discipline over any single large closing.

Malpractice-insurance disclosure practice

South Carolina has required, in some form, that attorneys without professional liability coverage disclose that fact to clients, a client-protection approach shared with a number of states; firms should confirm the exact current requirement with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel rather than rely on general assumptions, since disclosure rules are periodically revisited.

Who we write this for in South Carolina

Lawyers professional liability FAQs for South Carolina