How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate noneconomic damages — then check whether South Carolina's malpractice cap applies, which depends entirely on the type of claim.
A 51% bar that favors the claimant at the exact threshold
South Carolina adopted modified comparative negligence judicially in Nelson v. Concrete Supply Company (1991), now codified at S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15(A). A claimant's own negligence bars recovery only once it exceeds 50% of the total fault — at exactly 50%, a claimant still recovers half of their damages.
No cap outside malpractice, a real cap inside it
South Carolina does not cap noneconomic damages in most personal injury cases — car accidents, premises liability, product liability. Medical malpractice is the exception: noneconomic damages against a single healthcare provider or institution are capped at $350,000 under the original 2005 statute, now inflation-adjusted to $580,461 for 2026 under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-32-220. When multiple providers are named, the cap effectively multiplies, since each provider or institution has its own separate limit.
A genuinely recent overhaul of joint liability
A tort reform law signed in 2025, effective for claims arising on or after January 1, 2026, removed gross negligence and alcohol-related conduct from the list of exceptions that preserve full joint and several liability for a defendant under 50% at fault. Now, only willful, wanton, or intentional conduct, or conduct involving illegal drugs, keeps such a defendant on the hook for the entire judgment — a defendant 50% or more at fault remains jointly and severally liable regardless of the reason.