Journal of the House of Representatives
of the Second Session of the 110th General Assembly
of the State of South Carolina
being the Regular Session Beginning Tuesday, January 11, 1994
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Printed Page 6960, May 17
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Printed Page 6970 . . . . .
Tuesday, May 17, 1994
(c) Social Security benefits obtained for 36-year-old accountant suffering
from torticollis. Significant for the young age of the claimant and
rareness of disease.
(d) Social Security benefits obtained for 40-year-old assembly line worker
with brain tumor. Significant because of age of claimant and fact she
had a history of other kinds of skills which might have been
transferrable.
(e) Action by restaurant owners/tenants against landlord for breach of
lease, which resulted in judgment against the landlord for tens of
thousands of dollars in repairs, renovations and penalties. It was
significant for the willful contempt and inaction of the landlord
necessitating a hotly contested and lengthy trial before the
Master-in-Equity.
18. Five (5) civil appeals:
None.
24. Unsuccessful Candidate:
1990 - Lexington County Probate Judge
25. Occupation, business or profession other than the practice of law:
1987-present Managing Partner, Jonas and Wiggins Law Firm
1984-1987 Law Student
Law Clerk, Donald E. Jonas, Attorney at Law; Research
Assistant/Managing Editor of Journal of Law and Education,
Edited by Professor Eldon D. Wedlock
1982-1984 Legal Secretary/Office Manager; Donald E. Jonas, Attorney at
Law
1981-1982 Legal Secretary/Office Manager; Jerrie J. Mealing, Attorney at
Law; and Southbridge Properties
1/81-5/81 Executive Secretary; Intertec Data Systems; Columbia, South
Carolina
9/80-12/81 Construction Loan Administrator; South Carolina National Bank;
Columbia, South Carolina
5/79-9/80 Real Estate Secretary; Ratchford, Cooper and Jonas, Attorneys at
Law; Columbia, South Carolina
11/78-5/79 Personal Injury Assistant; Lourie, Draine, Curlee &
Swerling, Attorneys at Law; Columbia, South Carolina
Printed Page 6971 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
5/76-11/78 Legal Secretary; Carl L. Holloway, Jr., and Russell W.
Templeton, Attorneys at Law; Columbia, South Carolina
5/75-5/76 Bartender/Waitress, Paddlewheel Queen, Fort Lauderdale, Florida;
and Legal Secretary, Tiballi, Schroeder, Truesdale, Sartory and
Beyer, Attorneys at Law; Fort Lauderdale, Florida
11/74-5/75 Bartender; Ground Round Restaurant; Fort Lauderdale, Florida
4/74-11/74 Bartender/Assistant Manager; Italian House Restaurant; Columbia,
South Carolina
1/74-4/74 Bartender; Ramada Inn; West Columbia, South Carolina
11/72-11/74 Legal Secretary; Lester and Lester, Attorneys at Law; Columbia,
South Carolina
9/71-11/72 Legal Secretary; Rentz, Anders and DeBerry, Attorneys at Law;
Columbia, South Carolina
6/71-9/71 Legal Secretary/Receptionist; Burnside and Roof, Attorneys at
Law; Columbia, South Carolina
11/70-6/71 Legal Secretary; Kenneth H. Lester, Attorney at Law; Columbia,
South Carolina
9/69-6/71 Student; Midlands TEC; Columbia, South Carolina
4/68-8/69 Cashier; Atlantic Twin Theatres; Columbia, South Carolina
26. Officer or Director:
Managing Partner; Jonas and Wiggins, Attorneys at Law - responsible for all
day-to-day operations of law firm, including employment, training, financial
matters, purchasing, scheduling, etc.
29. Arrested or Charged:
She was arrested on April 7, 1976, for possession of marijuana. The case was
dismissed without legal intervention or trial.
30. Federal, State or Local Investigation:
Other than No. 29 above, no.
32. Sued: Danny and Donna Bryant v. V. Lynn Wiggins, et al.; Docket
No. 93-CP-32-2051; relates to loan closing she handled
Printed Page 6972 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
44. Bar Associations and Professional Organizations:
Richland County Bar Association; Lexington County Bar Association; South
Carolina Bar Association; South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association; South
Carolina Women Lawyers Association
45. Civic, charitable, educational, social and fraternal organizations:
Member, South Carolina Bar Pro Bono Program, 1988 to present; Am. Jur.,
Constitutional Law, 1985
46. The majority of her practice since leaving law school has been before
administrative agencies, including the Social Security Administration and
Worker's Compensation Commission or in non-jury matters before Circuit
Judges, Masters-in-Equity and Family Court Judges. She is very familiar
through her practice, with the Administrative Procedures Act and the
South Carolina Rules of Evidence and Procedure.
47. Five (5) letters of recommendation:
(a) G. B. Brazell, III, Vice President
SouthTrust Bank
P. O. Box 12106, Columbia, SC 29211-2106
376-2000
(b) Ken H. Lester, Esquire
1712-1714 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201
779-3700
(c) Carolyn B. Steigner, Esquire
Hendrix & Steigner, P.A.
P. O. Box 1263, Lexington, SC 29072
359-7009
(d) Thomas K. Fowler, Jr., Esquire
P. O. Box 2364, Columbia, SC 29202
254-1570
(e) G. Richardson Wieters, Esquire
Hughes & Wieters, P.A.
P. O. Drawer 6067, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938
785-8040
The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline report no formal
complaints have ever been filed again you. The records of the applicable law
enforcement agencies: Lexington County Sheriff's Office are negative; Lexington
City Police Department are negative; SLED and
Printed Page 6973 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
FBI reports are negative. The Judgement Rolls of Lexington County are
negative. The federal court records are negative. No complaints or statements
were received and no witnesses are present to testify. Would you care to make a
statement before we proceed?
MS. WIGGINS: Yes, sir, just briefly. Thank you.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Proceed.
MS. WIGGINS: The conferring of a law degree does not give an individual an
innate ability to become a good judge. As this committee knows from my last
screening, I have been in the legal profession for 24 years, the last seven of
which have been as a private practicing attorney in a litigation firm. I've
worked for, litigated with and litigated against some of the most respected and
able trial lawyers in this state in front of some our best judges in this state.
I'm familiar with the Rules of Evidence and the Administrative Procedures Act
through practice.
What I would like for every member of the committee to consider and every
member of the General Assembly when they're trying to decide who to vote for ALJ
4 is if it was their personal tax case, if it was their personal ABC permit or
if it was their personal DHEC matter that was being litigated on their behalf,
who would they like presiding over the bench, someone who has been in the
trenches or not? Thank you.
MS. WIGGINS - EXAMINATION BY MS. MCNAMEE:.
Q. Thank you. Good afternoon, Ms. Wiggins.
A. Good afternoon, Sue.
Q. As with the others, we would like at this point to incorporate your last
screening into the transcript of this one; is that all right with you?
A. That's fine.
Q. Thank you. I understand there were some minor changes made in your PDQ this
time. Minor, changing some dates to 1994 and changing a reference and then you
did list a Martindale-Hubbell rating.
A. Right. That came in.
Q. Is that correct?
A. That came in since the last screening.
Q. And that was what?
A. CV.
Q. And what is your understanding of that?
A. C is from Good to, I think, Very Good. And the V, I think is your reputation
in the community, is what my understanding is.
Q. Do you understand or do you know how you get that kind of rating?
A. No, it just came in the mail. I had never asked for it or understood how it
got rated.
Printed Page 6974 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
Q. You didn't ask for it?
A. No.
Q. And in looking at your expenditures, you listed expenditures, or filed
expenditures in February of 1993. I imagine that was for the last race?
A. It was.
Q. And this time it was the minimal amount; is that correct?
A. I have spent nothing on this time.
Q. And then -- so, then, when you do spend some money, you will please make the
appropriate filings?
A. Yes, I will.
Q. Have there been since your last screening any changes in your status or
anything of that nature besides your statement that you would like this
committee to know?
A. No, I haven't.
Q. Have you sought the pledge of a legislator prior to the completion of this
screening process?
A. The simple answer is no, I haven't. Of course, I ran hard all the way to the
end of the last race. I did have supporters, many of whom came to me
immediately after the race and encouraged me to run again. That has been the
extent of my conversations.
Q. Did they -- did you, then, seek any pledges conditional for this race --
A. No, I have not.
Q. -- upon being found qualified? Okay. Has anybody else offered or have you
authorized any other person to solicit or seek pledges on your behalf --
A. No, I have not.
Q. -- before the end of this screening?
A. No, I have not.
Q. Do you know of any other pledges on your behalf that have been made?
A. No, I do not.
Q. And you did say that some conversations were had. Did anyone say to you,
"Well, you didn't win this time and -- but you got my vote next
time"?
A. No. I wish they had.
MS. MCNAMEE: That's all I have.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Senator, do you have a question?
SENATOR RUSSELL: No, sir.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Thank you so much for coming.
A. Thank you.
Printed Page 6975 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
TRANSCRIPT OF TESTIMONY OF MS. WIGGINS AT PUBLIC HEARING OF JANUARY 13,
1994:
MS. WIGGINS- EXAMINATION BY MS. MCNAMEE:
Q. Ms. Wiggins, I bet about this time you'd like to have a name that started
earlier in the alphabet.
A. It's been my whole life.
Q. You have already done this and I think you did it very well, and I'll just
ask you a few questions to clarify -- what is the most important one or two
things that you want this committee to know about you and your candidacy?
A. My experience, litigation experience. I have been in private practice since
leaving law school. While I was a legal secretary I also worked for litigation
attorneys. I had been in courtrooms prior to law school. I think I have
extensive litigation experience that I can take to this job that will help in
getting on my feet right away in hearing cases.
Q. The experiences of being an advocate, of being one of the attorneys in the
courtroom, would be different than the demeanor, et cetera, that you would need
to be a judge. Could you go into how you would make that transition?
A. Well, as a guardian I've had more of the compromise, mediation aspect. I
prefer to be a mediator rather than an advocate. Adversarial, I've done a lot
of years of adversarial positions and I really prefer compromise, I prefer
settling cases, I prefer working things out.
I think most of the judges that I admire are very good at making attorneys
work together, narrowing the issues that are going be before them. And I have
had to do that as a guardian, I have had to make the attorneys on both sides
work together.
Q. What are the most important qualities for an administrative law judge, as you
see it?
A. Open-mindedness, fairness, courtesy in the courtroom. I believe that
everyone deserves to be heard, and I think also the demeanor on the bench is
very important as to how you are perceived from the bench.
Q. What is your best quality?
A. Sense of humor.
Q. Okay, and how will that help in you being an administrative law judge?
A. I think you have to keep a sense of humor in any job. With those of us who
have been in private practice, you have to have a great sense of humor some
days. But it, I think, makes you a real person. Every day of my career I have
worked with people, and there's going to be people
Printed Page 6976 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
coming before you in this job, and I think I have enough ability to deal with a
person -- I image that we will have a lot of pro se people that will appear
before the administrative law judges and I think I have the ability to deal with
them, to give them their day in court and to be fair with them.
Q. You have a lot of experience, it said in your PDQ, in Social Security matters
and in Workers' Comp areas. Are there any other areas of administrative law
that you --
A. I have been co-counsel in a couple of employee grievances for the state
system.
Q. It sounds like in being an advocate, as you have been for so many years, you
have -- and working in Family Court, as you have, you have come up with some --
up against some stressful situations and everyday probably an amount of stress.
As we've been talking around here, we think that the administrative law judges
are going to be stressed by the amount of work that they have, and I wanted to
know how you deal with stress?
A. As you know, you may know, I practice with my husband and some days that puts
some stress in your life. But we deal with it together a lot. That has helped,
actually, in dealing with a stressful situation. I try to -- we try to leave it
at the office.
I think as an administrative law judge, I don't think you can take all of
this home with you. I think the first year of this court is going to be
terribly stressful. I think that it's going to take a lot longer than a year to
get this up and running totally efficiently, and -- but I think that in private
practice I have dealt with about as much stress as this is probably going to
be.
Q. Do you consider you have any weaknesses in the area, procedural or
substantive, in administrative law and, if you do, how will you deal with
that?
A. There's not a possibility of knowing all of the different regulatory matters
that are going to come before this court. I don't think any candidate could
possibly have dealt with every agency that's going to be before this court. I
have the ability, I think, though, to read the law, to apply the law; I've been
doing that every day over the past seven years. I don't think that it's a
problem.
Q. I think I did read in your PDQ that you Am. Jured in Con Law.
A. I did.
Q. I admire that. Could you tell us a little bit about your philosophy about ex
parte communication? Even now, even these days as an
Printed Page 6977 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
attorney, have you ever engaged in any ex parte communication with a judge on a
case that was pending before that judge?
A. As a guardian, we are allowed ex parte communication when I represent
children. That is absolutely allowed. The judges invite you into their
chambers to discuss a particularly difficult case. As an attorney and an
advocate, no, it's absolutely barred. I don't even attempt it and I don't
appreciate it being attempted.
Q. How will you deal with that if you become an administrative law judge?
A. I would stop it immediately if it was in my presence or if someone tried to
approach me about a pending matter. I think sometimes, especially if you have
inexperienced attorneys, it could be inadvertent. I would cut it off. If it
continued or they tried to press on with it then I would feel I had to report
it.
Q. And if you just finished a hearing at lunchtime and the attorneys wanted to
take you out to lunch, what would you say?
A. Although I love to go out to lunch, I'd have to say no.
Q. Have to say no?
A. Yes.
Q. You will be required to meet a lot of deadlines, discipline is going to be
important for it, and I just wanted you to speak to that.
A. I have a problem that probably drives my husband crazy. I come back from a
hearing, if I have been told to draft the order I have to do it then because I
can't stand to have something hanging over my head. If at all possible, I try
to draft it within a couple of days of the hearing. I don't like things that are
hanging undone. I am too organized, I can't stand disorganization.
Q. What if it's been a two month hearing?
A. I agree with one of the other candidates that said the notes are going to be
important. You're going to have to have notes. There's no way to recreate a
two month hearing. I think I would take as good of notes as I could, that I
thought would help me in the decision process. Obviously, if you have a two
month hearing and the issues are complex, you're probably going to have a
complex order to write. In that situation, I might ask the attorneys involved,
if there were attorneys on both sides, to submit proposed orders to help with
that situation.
Q. Have you ever been found in contempt or sanctioned by any court that you've
appeared before?
A. No, I haven't.
Printed Page 6978 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
Q. Are there any outstanding actions that you are a party to?
A. Yes, there is. In my PDQ, there is a lawsuit against me for a loan closing I
handled.
Q. How far along is that?
A. It's just -- we've just answered. It's in the initial stages, it was just
filed.
Q. You were just one of the attorneys --
A. I was the attorney who handled the loan closing. Also named were the Realtor
and several other entities.
Q. What guidelines will you operate under to avoid impropriety or the appearance
of impropriety?
A. I don't have any agency connections at this point that I think are going to
be conflicts for me. I don't see many cases where I would have to recuse
myself from a case, unless it involved the parties or the litigants, perhaps,
were personal friends or family members, and, of course, it's an absolute
recusal. Full disclosure I think is warranted even if there is a question that
someone might object, and I would offer myself to be recused if there was an
objection.
THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Ms. McNamee.
THE CHAIRMAN: Ms. Wiggins, your husband practices -- well, you both practice in
Columbia. Do you think the presence of that practice or the nature of that
practice would create any problems with you being an administrative law
judge?
A. Absolutely not. My husband doesn't do that type of practice at all.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does anybody in your firm do substantial administrative law
work?
A. My husband and I are the only members of my firm.
THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you. Any further questions from the Members? Ms. McNamee?
All right, thank you very much.
END OF PRIOR TESTIMONY OF MS. WIGGINS.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Karen Kanes, would you come forward, please.
KAREN LYNN KANES, having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Have you had a chance to review your Personal Data
Questionnaire?
MS. KANES: Yes, sir. I have.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Is it correct?
MS. KANES: Yes, it is, sir.
Printed Page 6979 . . . . . Tuesday, May 17,
1994
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Does anything need clarification?
MS. KANES: No, sir.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: Is there any objection to making this Summary a part
of the record of your sworn testimony?
MS. KANES: No, sir.
REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDER: It shall be done at this point in the transcript.
PERSONAL DATA QUESTIONNAIRE SUMMARY
1. Karen Lynn Kanes
Home Address: Business Address:
1775 Reidville-Sharon Road Spartanburg County Courthouse
Greer, SC 29651 Spartanburg County Magistrate Court
180 Magnolia Street
Spartanburg, SC 29301
2. She was born in Houston, Texas on August 14, 1962. She is presently 31
years old.
4. She was previously divorced on July 20, 1989; Family Court of the
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit; James Lafon Rogers (moving party); ground of
one year's continuous separation. She was married to Michael Murphy
Armor on May 31, 1992. She has no children.
5. Military Service: N/A
6. She attended Goucher College, 1980-1983, Bachelor of Arts in 1983; and
the University of South Carolina School of Law, 1983-1986, J.D. in 1986.
8. Legal/Judicial education during the last five years:
Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, 1988-1993, a sundry of classes
non-specific ranging from Worker's Compensation to Evidentiary Issues.
Mandatory Judicial Education, 1992 to present, classes attended as
incoming Magistrate coupled with mandatory annual magistrate
conference.
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