Chatjgc

Plain-English legal information for Horry County and coastal South Carolina

Posted for Horry County, Georgetown County and the rest of coastal South Carolina

Plain-English help with legal questions, from Conway to Little River

Chatjgc explains legal questions the way you'd want them explained across a kitchen table. We start with the question you're actually asking, translate the court words, and say clearly which parts depend on your facts and need a lawyer's eyes.

What the courts are doing this week

Headlines from SCOTUSblog, the ABA Journal and FindLaw. We link out and never rewrite their reporting.

More from SCOTUSblogMore from ABA JournalMore from FindLaw

How every answer here is built

  1. What the issue is

    We name the situation in ordinary words: a ticket, a court date, a letter you don't understand.

  2. What information matters

    Dates, the court's name, the charge and the papers you were handed. These shape almost every answer.

  3. What questions to ask

    You leave with questions you can take to a clerk, an official website or a lawyer.

  4. When you need individual advice

    We mark the point where general information stops and your own facts take over.

LQ · Section 01

Most legal trouble starts with one question that's hard to put into words. This section helps you shape it: what happened, when, where, and what you were handed. A well-framed question saves time with a clerk and money with a lawyer.

Open the Legal Questions section

No guides posted in this section yet. The DUI consultation checklist below works as a model for framing almost any first legal question.

CP · Section 02

Court Process

Court is a sequence, not a single day. Tickets, first appearances, continuances and hearings all follow an order, and each step has its own paperwork. These guides walk through that order as it usually runs in South Carolina courts.

Open the Court Process section

Latest from the Supreme Court beat

More from SCOTUSblog
LT · Section 03

Arraignment, continuance, nol pros, bench warrant. Courts use words most of us never needed before. We define each term the moment it shows up and tell you what it means for your next step.

Open the Legal Terminology section
More from SCOTUSblog
CL · Section 04

Criminal Law Basics

An arrest starts a process. It doesn't decide the outcome. This section explains the stages of a criminal case in South Carolina, from bond to plea to trial, without assuming anyone is guilty.

Open the Criminal Law Basics section

No criminal law guides posted yet. The DUI consultation questions apply to many first meetings with a defense lawyer.

DU · Section 05

DUI

A South Carolina DUI runs on two tracks: the criminal case and your driver's license. They have separate deadlines, and one of them starts the day of the arrest. Start here if you or someone in your family was just charged.

Open the DUI section
TC · Section 06

Traffic Cases

Speeding on Highway 501, a stop sign in Socastee, a ticket on Ocean Boulevard. Traffic cases look small until points, insurance and court dates pile up. These guides explain what the ticket says and what your options usually are.

Open the Traffic Cases section

No traffic case guides posted yet. If your stop involved a DUI charge, start with the DUI consultation questions.

Asked first

Two questions almost everyone asks

What should I know before I start asking legal questions?

Start with four facts: what happened, the dates involved, the county or city where it happened, and the exact papers you received. Those details decide which court or office is involved and which rules apply. General guides like ours explain the usual process, but questions that depend on your own facts need a licensed South Carolina attorney.

How much does it cost to get legal questions answered in Horry County and coastal South Carolina?

Reading Chatjgc is free. Lawyer consultations vary: some offices in Conway, Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand offer a free first meeting, and others charge a fee. Ask about cost when you schedule, and ask whether the fee would be credited toward the case. The South Carolina Bar also runs a lawyer referral service if you don't know where to start.

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