UPDATE: Judge denies motion to dismiss Mark Tinsley from Beach death suit; attorneys respond

UPDATE: YORK COUNTY, SC -- South Carolina Circuit Judge Daniel D. Hall today denied a motion to dismiss plaintiff's attorneys Mark Tinsley and Tabor Vaux from the Mallory Beach wrongful death civil suit over allegations of improper attorney conduct.

The wrongful death case, sparked by the fatal boat crash involving convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh's son, Paul, remains set to go to trial in Hampton County Aug. 14.

While Judge Hall's order has not been electronically filed on the state court website as of Friday evening, both Tinsley and defense attorneys for Gregory M. Parker and Parker's Corporation, who are co-defendants along with Alex Murdaugh, confirmed the ruling and offered comment.

“We filed the motion to disqualify Mark Tinsley and Tabor Vaux from this case in order to ensure a fair trial," said PK Shere, attorney for Parker's. "Subsequently the Judge has made his decision, and we will look forward to presenting our case to a jury next month and exonerating Tajeeha Cohen and Parker’s."

While Murdaugh is accused of allowing his underage son to drink and boat irresponsibly, Parker's is accused of selling the alcohol to the underaged boaters, and Cohen was the employee on duty the day of the sale.

Tinsley, who had earlier called the motion "almost flattering" and full of "lies," also offered a comment in the wake of the judge's decision.

"Parker's had intentionally made a complicated set of facts even more complicated and confusing in an attempt to construct their narrative to hide the truth," Tinsley stated. "But, their motion was meritless and, as we pointed out in our memo filed with the court, it was filled with misrepresentations. I think it's telling when the foundation of someone's argument is built upon lies. Here, Parker's position and its personal attacks was all a house of cards and the judge saw through it. Now, we hope we can get back to continuing to prepare for trial."

Why was this motion to dismiss filed? Here is our previous report:

Even as a Lowcountry community strives to create something positive from the death of boating accident victim Mallory Beach, the legal battle spawned from this tragic 2019 accident heads to a possible contentious Aug. 14 showdown in Hampton County ― unless a circuit court judge rules this week to disqualify two of the attorneys at the heart of the case.

The family of Beach, a 19-year-old college student from Hampton County who died in the high-profile February 2019 boating accident, filed a pair of lawsuits over the death, including a wrongful death suit naming convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, whose late son was allegedly driving the boat, and Gregory M. Parker, Inc./Parker's Corporation, who allegedly sold alcohol to the minors involved in the Beaufort County crash.

After four years of often heated and bitter pretrial legal skirmishes, attorneys for the multi-million-dollar corporation Parker's have filed a bold motion seeking to disqualify both of the attorneys representing the Beach family and estate, alleging improper actions.

Circuit Judge Daniel D. Hall, who will preside over the wrongful death case, heard arguments at 4 p.m. on Wednesday on the motion to disqualify Allendale County attorney Mark Tinsley and Beaufort County attorney Tabor Vaux, who represent the Beach Estate and Renee Beach, the mother of the drowning victim.

Hall said he will issue a ruling by Friday, said Tinsely after the hearing.

Mark Tinsley responds, claiming motion full of 'lies'

Tinsley, a well-known personal injury attorney who made an even larger name for himself during the recent, internationally publicized murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, called the motion almost flattering but full of "lies."

"This motion to disqualify is a part of a calculated play by Greg Parker and his lawyers to derail the upcoming trial based on half truths and outright misrepresentations," Tinsley told The Hampton County Guardian. "When a person thinks his money entitles him and he is used to acting with impunity, then accountability may seem like injustice. Since the law and the facts are not on their side, Parker and his attorneys have decided to attack the Beach family and its counsel. I guess I should be flattered that they are so afraid of me that they will just outright lie to the court, but I'm not. The Beach family views these continued meritless attacks to be a part of Parker's ongoing attempt to terrorize them. We look forward to demonstrating to the court all of the many lies in the motion."

Tinsley added that this is an attempt to derail a trial four years in the making. The 2019 case is scheduled to go to trial beginning Aug. 14 in front of a Hampton County jury.

However, if Judge Hall approves this motion, and the Beach family has to find new legal representation, the case could be postposed for months, possibly longer.

Parker's attorneys say Tinsley waging improper 'multi-front war'

Attorneys for Parker/Parker's stated that they did not wish to comment at this stage of the lawsuit, but referred The Guardian to several sections of the motion, which was filed June 13 in Hampton County Court of Common Pleas, where the wrongful death suit will be litigated.

The motion alleges that both Tinsley and Vaux should be disqualified based on their "improper receipt and review" of Parker’s privileged documents and information. They further contend that Tinsley should be disqualified from the case for his alleged improper disclosure of privileged information and materials; and his improper communications with a represented person in a related lawsuit.

Parker's attorneys claim that Tinsley has turned this civil action into a "multi-front war against Parker’s." The Beach family had filed a second lawsuit against Parker's after the wrongful death suit was filed in March 2019. This suit alleged that Parker's was orchestrating a social media campaign to harass the Beaches and weaken their resolve to fight in court.

In this second suit, Tinsley and Vaux have sought behind-the-scenes information that they say would prove the existence of a harassment campaign, but Parker's maintains this information holds client-attorney and other legal privilege.

"His campaign includes a parallel lawsuit about the alleged disclosure of materials related to this lawsuit," the motion states. "There, Tinsley issued subpoenas plainly intended to obtain confidential and privileged information about Parker’s strategy in this lawsuit, using an action in one theater of the conflict to benefit another."

Tinsley then rapidly reviewed the information gathered from the subpoenas before a circuit judge could order it privileged, the motion adds.

The motion further alleges that Tinsley has contacted witnesses in this case directly, despite the fact that they have legal representation, and convinced them to fire their counsel and disclose information, to gather "whatever ammunition they can fire at Parker’s."

The motion further states that on May 24, Judge Bentley Price, who presides over the second lawsuit, issued an order "confirming that Tinsley and Vaux had, in fact, obtained and examined Parker’s privileged information," and based on that confirmation, Parker's believes the court should disqualify them and order them to return or destroy any of Parker's privileged documents in their possession, and bar them from using this information in the wrongful death suit.

It is unclear if Judge Hall will rule immediately after this Wednesday afternoon hearing, or take some time to consider the matter and issue a decision later.

Lowcountry community rallies to support Beach charity

The fatal boat crash and subsequent lawsuits preceded a series of civil and criminal cases involving Alex Murdaugh, ultimately exposing a shocking crime spree that would make international headlines, but the death also lead to the creation of a charity in Mallory Beach's memory.

The Mal's Palz charity was formed by friends and family members to raise money for improvements to, or the construction of, a new animal shelter in Hampton County. Beach was known for her love of animals, and she adopted or fostered many shelter pets.

Over the past week, during the Hampton County Watermelon Festival, Mal's Palz held T-shirt drive and other fundraisers, and announced early this week that the fruits of their efforts have been successful.

"We just want to take a moment to thank everyone for their donations!" the Mal's Palz Facebook page stated Monday. "We are getting so close to building a new shelter! To date, with your help, we have raised $68,254.06! This wouldn’t be possible without the love and support from all of you! Not only in our local community, but all over the world. We are so grateful for the goodness that has come out of such a terrible tragedy. We know Mallory would be so proud of what we have accomplished, and what we have set out to do."

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: UPDATE: Judge denies motion to dismiss Mark Tinsley from Beach death suit; attorneys respond