I have a personal injury case that must be filed in Tennessee. Are there any caps on damages in these cases?
Not under current law. However, the Tennessee General Assembly has recently passed a law that the Governor is expected to sign that will cap non-economic losses in most cases at $750,000. In a few cases the cap is raised to $1,000,000.
Non-economic damages are damages for pain, suffering, disfigurement, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life.
I haven’t filed tax returns in over filed years – I have been working and making money but I just didn’t get around to filing the returns. I was hurt in a wreck and missed four weeks of work.
You might, but if you push too hard you may find yourself in the situation where the IRS finds out that you have not filed tax returns and you may face criminal and civil penalties. Also, if the jury finds out that you have not been filing tax returns and paying taxes as you should it may hurt your case.
Defendants in cases frequently ask for income tax returns to prove loss of earnings claims, and it your income is not reported it makes it very difficult to recover it. This is often a problem in cases involving small business owners, who all too often understate their income and overstate their expenses in an effort to reduce their taxes. Doing so is not only illegal but also hurts your ability to prove your true damages in a personal injury or wrongful death case.
I was hurt in a car wreck in Sparta, TN. I lost six weeks from work but I am now back to work and think I will be able to work in the future. I hired a lawyer but we could not get the case settled. A lawsuit was filed. Now, the insurance company of the guy that hit me says they want my federal tax returns. I don’t think it is any of their business. Can they make me give them my tax returns?
Probably not, although the defense does have a right to have proof of your loss of income.
If our clients are uncomfortable about releasing their tax returns, we typically argue that tax returns are not discoverable in personal injury cases and instead will produce only the W-2 forms (which show the income earned from each employer). Our position is the tax return contains much more data than income information and that in a person injury case it is only data about income that has anything to do with the case.
My daughter is 21 years old and is a college student. She is has no declared major but she is doing well in school. She was in a bad car wreck and had severe injuries to her leg. Can she include a claim for loss of future earnings as part of her personal injury claim?
Yes, but she will have to be able to prove how the injuries affected her ability to earn money in the future. This will require evidence of what she was wanted and able to do before the wreck and evidence of how the wreck limited those opportunities. Those lost opportunities then need to be converted to dollars.
At our office, in appropriate cases, we utilize the service of a vocational expert to help us make the assessment of how an injury affects future work opportunities. We then use an economist to demonstrate the amount of economic loss as a result.
What types of damages can be recovered in a personal injury case?
In most personal injury cases, you can recover monetary damages for medical bills, past and future physical pain and suffering, past and future mental or emotional pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, disability, lost capacity for the enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.
These categories of damages are explained below.
What are punitive damages? How frequently are they awarded in Tennessee?
Punitive damages are awarded only in cases where the defendant acted intentionally, knowingly, maliciously, or recklessly. Punitive damages are designed to punish the wrongdoer and deter both the wrongdoer and others from similar conduct in the future.
In Tennessee one must prove they are entitled to punitive damages by "clear and convincing" evidence. This is a higher burden than applies in the typical civil case, where liability and damages must be proved by only preponderance of the evidence.
I have a pending personal injury claim from a wreck with a truck. I think someone is following me around and photographing or videoing my activities. Can insurance companies do that?
Yes, within certain limits. It is not uncommon for insurance companies to use surveillance to determine what task you can perform. The private investigators look to "catch" you performing sports activities, yard work and other physical labor that they say is inconsistent with the limitations and physical injuries you are claiming in litigation.
This is something that you need to discuss with your lawyer as soon as possible.
My 22-year old son was hurt in a car wreck. Can I file a lawsuit for him?
No, unless he is so severely injured or suffers from some type of disability that he is deemed incompetent. If he is incompetent, there are formal proceedings which must be filed to have him declared incompetent in the eyes of the law. If that happens, a conservator will be appointed and he or she will have the power to file or defend a lawsuit. If you are appointed the conservator, you would have that right.
However, if your son is competent, he is the only one who can file suit on his behalf. You can help him find a lawyer and can give him assistance in preparing the case, but the decision to file and the right to file is his and his alone.
I was hurt in a wreck with a big truck in Tennessee? What damages are available in a trucking accident claim?
Answer: In a personal injury cases, you can recover monetary damages for past and future medical bills incurred because of the injuries, past and future physical pain and suffering, past and future mental or emotional pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, disability, lost capacity for the enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.
A significant part of many personal injury claims in the recovery of the reasonable medical bills necessarily incurred as a result of the incident. To the extent that the injuries likely require on-going medical bills in the future, those future medical expenses can also be recovered.
I keep hearing that Tennessee doctors pay a lot of money for malpractice insurance and that if we limit the right of patients to bring lawsuits doctors will save money on insurance. Is that right?
There is no reason to believe that malpractice rates will be dramatically or even materially reduced if the Tennessee Legislature caps damages in medical malpractice cases.
Here are a few statistics that address the issue. In 2010 an internist in Tennessee paid $7076 for $1,000,000 worth of medical malpractice insurance. This provided the doctor for up to $1,000,000 for any single act of malpractice and total payments for three or more claims of $3,000,000 in any year. The rate for this insurance was 23.11% less than it was in 2009.
Tennessee Injury Law Center