South Carolina Business Law Blog

Hello FAA, My Old Friend South Carolina courts have frequently been called upon to consider the ways in which the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to those contracts containing clauses purporting to require arbitration. The recent S.C Court of Appeals decision Grant v. Kuhn Chevrolet is the latest example. The opinion and its result rests not on the application of South Carolina statutory or case law, but instead a line of United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) cases applying the FAA to disputes over agreements to arbitrate. For some background and discussion on some of these cases, click  here , here , or here . While it may not be entirely remarkable to apply SCOTUS opinions in state court cases, the manner of contract interpretation mandated by SCOTUS for arbitration agreements is completely different than the way South Carolina courts interpret “everyday” contracts. More specifically, these SCOTUS opinions explicitly prohibit the use of several contract interpretation t

In Southeast Toyota Distributors v. Jim Hudson Superstore , a panel of the South Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the relocation of the Toyota Center dealership in Lexington County was exempt from protest pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 56-15-46(C) (2006). This issue was a question of first impression in South Carolina, as no appellate court had previously construed this particular statute. On May 30, 2006, Anderson Columbia Acquisition, LLC, d/b/a/ Toyota Center (Anderson) entered into an agreement with Rish-Corey Automotive, Inc. to purchase the assets of the Toyota Center dealership. Toyota Center has been located at 1640 Airport Boulevard in West Columbia since 1972. Anderson also entered into a dealer agreement with Appellant Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET), the authorized distributor of Toyota vehicles, parts, and accessories for South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Because of the inadequacy of the existing facility at 1640 Airport Bouleva