Articles Posted in Damages in Personal Injury Cases

I have a car accident case coming to trial soon in Clarksville, Tennessee.  My lawyer said he had to give the jury proof of my life expectancy. Why?

Apparently, your doctor has said that you have a permanent injury that will impact you for the rest of your life.  Thus, the jury must have some evidence of how much longer you are likely to live, and that means that it must hear some evidence of life expectancy.

Usually, this evidence comes from government documents.  In some cases, such as those where children or adults have brain injuries or or other catastrophic injuries, medical experts are asked to testify about life expectancy.

I was hurt in a car wreck and do not think that the other driver’s insurance company will offer me a fair settlement.  My neighbor told me that the insurance company will look at my entire medical history before they settle my case.  Is that true?

Your medical history is important in any case in which you are claiming to have suffered a physical or psychological injury as a result of someone else’s negligent or intentional act. Your medical history establishes the baseline of your physical or psychological well being before the injury. You can only recover in the lawsuit for the injury caused by the act or omission of the responsible person. You may not recover damages for physical and mental suffering or medical care necessitated by preexisting conditions. When a preexisting condition is made worse you can recover damages for the worsening of the condition. Your medical history will be important to proving this claim.

So, an insurance company may well insist upon the disclosure of your medical history before settling a claim.  There are certain limits on what they can require you to reveal.  An experienced personal injury lawyer can guide you through this process.

I was hurt in a wreck with a big truck about six months ago.  It wasn’t my fault.  I have been waiting for over a year for the case to settle.  I lost four months of wages and have had to pay some medical bills that were not covered by my health insurance.  Can I get the insurance company to pay interest on my settlement?  It doesn’t seem fair that they can delay my settlement and not have to pay interest.

Not under Tennessee law.   Some states do permit the recovery of interest in this type of situation, but Tennessee law does not permit the recovery of interest in personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits. 

The only exception to this rule is if you win a case and a judgment is entered by the court you are permitted to recover interest.  Interest accrues at the rate of 10% per year on the amount of the judgment that is unpaid.  

I was hurt in an automobile wreck and missed 10 days from work.  Fortunately, I had some sick days and some vacation pay left so I still got my normal pay check.  Does the fact that I got paid mean that I cannot claim "lost wages" when my lawyer and I try to settle my case with the at-fault driver?

Under Tennessee law you can recover your lost wages under this senario.  Wny?  Because the law states that the at-fault driver does not get the benefit your "sick days" or your vacation time.  You had to use them to recover from injuries caused by another’s negligence and therefore you have lost the opportunity to use those days in the future.  Thus, you can get paid for those days by the at-fault driver even though you do not have an out-of-pocket loss of those days. 

I was hurt in a wreck with a tractor-trailer and have missed six weeks of work.   It looks like it I will miss another six weeks of work and I am starting to hurt for money.  The truck driver was clearly at fault.  Will the trucking company’s insurance company pay me now for my lost wages?

Almost certainly they will not.  These insurance companies usually require that all medical bills, lost wages claims,  and other claims for damages be presented at one time and then they try to make a global settlement.

Why wait?  To put financial pressure on you and your family.  You see, they want you and your family to feel financial pressure so that you will settle for less than the fair value of your claim.

I was hurt in a car wreck.,  My doctor prescribed physical therapy.  I am supposed to go three days per week.   The physical therapist is 60 miles away and I simply cannot afford the gas to go back and forth three days per week.  If I don’t go to physical therapy will it hurt my case?

It might hurt your case.  If you don’t go to physical therapy as prescribed the insurance adjuster and the lawyer for the insurance company will assume that you were not really injured or that you did not do everything you should have done to minimize the impact of the injuries on your life.

More importantly, the failure to get therapy may actually impact your recovery.

 I was hurt in a car wreck.  My back and leg were injuried.  I don’t need surgery right now but who knows what will happen 10 years from now.  Can I settle my case for my medical bills, my lost wages, and my pain and suffering and an agreement that the at-fault driver will pay my future medical bills if I have any?

You can try, but in 30 years as a lawyer I have never seen the argument work.  If the at-fault driver’s insurance company believes that its driver is at fault and they want to settle the case, they want to settle all personal injury-related claims at one time.   (They will usually settle property damage claims seperately.)   They will not agree to leave open the issue of future medical expenses.

Thus, if a doctor says you will probably need a future surgery because of the injuries you sustained in the wreck, the cost of that surgery and related damages can be part of settlement negotiations.  If the doctor says that future surgery is possible, then the amount of the possible surgery cannot be included.  If there is a trial, the court will allow testimony only on whether a future surgery is probable and, if a doctor says it is, then the court will allow presentation of evidence on the cost of the surgery and related damages.