There were two personal injury jury trials in Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee in November 2012.
One trial was an automobile case that resulted in a jury verdict of $10,762. The second case also involved an automobile accident. The jury verdict in that case was $2500.
The number of jury trials in November was slightly below normal. Typically, there are between three and four jury trials per month in the Circuit Courts of Nashville and Davidson County.
As lawyers who represent people in Tennessee car accidents and Tennessee truck accidents, we are frequently asked about subrogation.
What is subrogation? In the context of auto and truck accident cases, subrogation most frequently arises because the injured person’s health insurance company has language in the health insurance contract which provides that the insurer has an interest in (is "subrogated’) a portion of any recovery that the injured person receives in a personal injury settlement or after a trial.
An example will tell you how subrogation works. Let’s assume that your health insurance policy has a subrogation provision. Assume further that you are in a car wreck and your health insurance company pays $15,000 in medical bills, If you recover $60,000 from the at-fault driver, you will have re-pay your insurance company up to $15,000 because it is "subrogated" to your recovery. The exact amount you will have to pay is depending on multiple circumstances.
There were six jury trials in tort cases in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee during the month of September, 2012.
Here are the results:
Tennessee law does not permit the recovery of prejudgment interest in personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits .
However, if you win a case and a judgment is entered by the court you are permitted to recover interest on the amount of the judgment. Under the law in effect before July 1, 2012, interest accrued at the rate of 10% per year on the amount of the judgment that is unpaid. Now, the interest rate varies from time to time; the interest rate on judgments as of December 3, 2012 is 5.25%.
The inability to collect interest on personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits (unless a judgment is entered) is yet another reason why you want to hire a lawyer who will work to finish your case promptly. To learn how we can help you with your case, call me at 866.812.8787 for a free consultation. You may also complete our Contact form and we will get in touch with you.
My lawyer just settled my personal injury case and now tells me I have to repay my health insurance company for paying my medical bills. I have paid health insurance premiums for 15 years and was never in the hospital one time before my wreck! Why do they have the right to get repaid?
Because the insurance policy you have almost certainly says that the company have the right to be repaid. That is part of the bargain you struck with the insurer – even though you never read your policy and no agent or representative of your employer mentioned it to you.
Depending on the type of health insurance you have there are several arguments that can be made to secure a reduction in the amount that must be paid back to the insurer. An experienced personal injury attorney will know this area of the law and will work with you to secure a reduction if possible.
Personal injury lawyers hear it all the time.
"What do you mean my case is worth only $X? My injury is real. I got hurt. I saw an ad on TV that said that some other law firm got a client $500,000 and they didn’t even look hurt!" How come you say I should only get $X?
The valuation of a personal injury case is complicated and is case-specific. The value of a case depends on the nature of the case, the identity of the wrongdoer, the type of case (auto, medical malpractice, etc.) the type of injury, the amount of medical bills, the amount of lost wages, the place where the case is pending, the personality of the plaintiff (injured person), whether the injuries are temporary or permanent, the type of medical provider (medical doctor vs. chiropractor), the presence or absence of aggravating factors on liability, the opposing lawyer, the judge, the costs of proceeding through trial, the deposition testimony in the case, the strength of testimony of the treating health care provider, the lawyer for the injured person, the amount of liability insurance and other assets, and many more. There is no formula. There is no rule of thumb. There are only the facts, the law, and the considered knowledge, judgment, dedication, and wherewithal of the lawyer who represents the injured person.
There were only four personal injury trials in Nashville (Davidson County) Tennessee in August 2012.
All of the cases were automobile wreck cases. The plaintiff "won" three of the cases – the amounts awarded by the jury were $2995, $12,249 and $5000. In the remaining case the jury returned a verdict for the defendant.
There was also a jury trial in a wrongful termination from employment case. The jury awarded the plaintiff $117,000.
In Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death cases there are two new classification of damages that cause some confusion. The phrases, "economic damages" and "non-economic damages," were added to the law by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2011 and are applicable to all Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death cases that arose on or after October 1, 2011.
"Economic damages" are damages that can be readily measured in money. They include damages like medical bills and lost income.
‘Non-economic damages" are damages for pain, suffering, loss of the right to enjoy life, disfigurement, and other types of intangible losses that are not readily measurable in money. In wrongful death cases, this classification of damages includes the loss of a parent, spouse or child.
Health insurance companies know that certain types of injuries are often caused by trauma, and that trauma many times is caused by the negligence of one or more people other than the person who has hurt.
So, when a health insurance company is presented with a claim that involves an injury that it believes may be related to trauma, it sends out a questionaire trying to figure out the circumstances giving rise to the claim and whether a personal injury claim will be made.
And why do insurance companies do that? Because most health insurance policies have a contractual provision called "subrogation" or "reimbursement" that gives them the right to be repaid in the event that a liability settlement is reached for the injury that required payment of health insurance benefits.
One question frequently asked by our Tennessee automobile accident clients is why they have to repay their health insurance company out of any settlement they receive in their automobile accident claim. The clients feel that they have paid for the health insurance for many years and, when they have to use it to pay medical bills arising from a car accident, the health insurance company wants its money back. It seems unfair.
The reason that repayment of some amount is often necessary is because the health insurance contract has a “subrogation” or “reimbursement” provision that requires repayment if you get a settlement of a personal injury case and the bills were incurred because of the injury covered by the settlement. The power your insurance company has to enforce this provision depends on how it is written, whether it is governed by state or federal law, and other factors.
These provisions in health insurance contracts are now commonplace. Indeed, it is the rare health insurance contract that does not have such a provision. The laws that govern Medicare and Tenncare have similar provisions.
Tennessee Injury Law Center