D. Non-pecuniary Damages
Library | The Law of Legal Malpractice in South Carolina (SCBar) (2021 Ed.) |
D. NON-PECUNIARY DAMAGES
Damages in legal malpractice cases generally are limited to the pecuniary losses which the plaintiff incurred and, as a result, a plaintiff typically cannot recover damages for emotional distress in a legal malpractice action.30 "Under South Carolina law, it is a general rule that damages for emotional injuries are not recoverable if they are a consequence of other damages caused by the attorney's negligence or a fiduciary breach that was not an intentional tort."31 However, South Carolina allows for a plaintiff to seek damages for emotional distress in instances in which the alleged conduct rises to the level of a separate and independent tort.32 However, the alleged conduct must be "so 'extreme and outrageous' so as to exceed 'all possible bounds of decency' and must be regarded as 'atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.'"33
Although South Carolina has not addressed what specific type of conduct will give rise to emotional damages in the legal malpractice context, the court has addressed specific instances in which the attorney's conduct did not rise to the "extreme and outrageous" standard. In In...
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- Chapter 5 Damages
- A. Generally
- B. The Payment Rule
- C. Attorneys' Fees and Damages
- D. Non-pecuniary Damages
- E. Punitive Damages
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