Car Accident Lawyer in South Carolina

South Carolina is a fault-based state with a three-year statute of limitations under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530. The statute covers "an action for assault, battery, or any injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract" and runs from the date the cause of action accrues. There is no PIP requirement and no verbal threshold. The unique thing about South Carolina is the history: SC followed contributory negligence (1% fault = $0 recovery, like Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Alabama) until 1991, when the South Carolina Supreme Court abolished it judicially in Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243. The shift was nearly a decade after most other states had moved to comparative fault and the older rule still surprises drivers who learned it before the change.

The post-Nelson rule is modified comparative fault on the 51% bar model — recovery is permitted if your negligence is not greater than the defendant's, meaning at exactly 50% fault you can still recover (proportionally reduced) but at 51% or above you recover zero. This is the same threshold used in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and most other modified-comparative states. Insurance adjusters in South Carolina push fault assignments above 50% in close cases for the same reason as elsewhere — that single percentage point eliminates the claim.

The other distinctive South Carolina rule is the apportionment statute, S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15 (Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act). When multiple defendants are involved, a defendant whose fault is less than 50% is liable only for their proportionate share of the damages — not for joint and several liability for the full amount. The exception is willful, wanton, reckless, or intentional conduct, which preserves full joint and several liability. This rule changes the calculus in multi-defendant cases: chasing a deeper-pocket defendant with lower fault apportionment becomes much harder than in joint-and-several states. (Note: an updated version of § 15-38-15 takes effect January 1, 2026 with expanded provisions on nondefendant tortfeasor allocation — confirm the current version with counsel.) Charleston, Richland (Columbia), and Greenville counties have historically produced the highest plaintiff verdicts in the state.