E. Remedies

• Library: Elements of Civil Causes of Action (SCBar) (2021 Ed.)

E. Remedies

Mandamus is its own remedy, but that does not mean that a petitioner may not also recover damages and attorney's fees. Both are specifically addressed by a South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure that states in pertinent part: "A claim for any other relief to which a party may be entitled in the action may be joined with a claim for writ of mandamus ... in accordance with these rules, including a claim for damages. The prevailing party upon the motion for such writ shall be entitled to recover costs in accordance with the practice as it heretofore existed in the courts of this State, including attorneys fees where proper."¹⁸¹ The South Carolina Supreme Court observed that under common law, damages could not be recovered in a mandamus proceeding, but that the state had changed that rule long ago.¹⁸² It then said, citing the Rule of Civil Procedure, that it was undisputed that a petitioner...