Articles Posted in Litigation Process

 I just had a trial in my case and I lost – the jury ruled against me.  The jury was wrong and I want to appeal all the way to the United States Supreme Court.  I can, right?

If a plaintiff or a defendant has a complaint about the way the trial was conducted or the end result of the trial or the judge’s ruling on post-trial motions, he or she can appeal. In Tennessee, the first appeal is to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals does not hear from witnesses. Rather, it looks at the transcript of the testimony given in the trial court, reviews the exhibits, and determines whether there were any errors than mandate a different result than reached in the trial court. The Court of Appeals can affirm the result reached in the trial court, order a new trial, and sometimes it can outright dismiss a case won by a plaintiff in the trial court.  It is extremely difficult to convince an appellate court to reverse a jury verdict by arguing only that they jury made the wrong decision.   In Tennessee, the appellate court will reach the same result as the jury if there is any material evidence supporting what the jury did.  The appellate court will not re-weigh the evidence – it just looks to see if there is any material evidence that supports the verdict.  If asked, the appellate court will also look at alleged errors of law.

I was in a car wreck case.  My lawyer says that I should settle and I don’t want to – I think I should get more money.  What should I do?

First,  lawyers can’t give legal advice to a person already represented by another lawyer.  Therefore, neither I nor any responsible lawyer can give you that kind of advice without getting your lawyer’s written permission to speak with you and without knowing a lot more information.

Second, I assume that you did adequate research before you hired the lawyer you have and considered the type of factors contained in our Legal Guide, "Understanding How to Hire a Lawyer in a Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases."  Thus, you obviously had trust in this lawyer’s ability and judgment when you hired him or her.  Therefore, you have an obligation to listen to and carefully consider your lawyer’s advice. You are not required to take the lawyer’s advice, but you should listen carefully to the advice and the potential impact to your case if you do not take the advice.

I was hurt in a car wreck and have filed a lawsuit.  I am scared to death about going to trial.  Will there be a trial or will my case be settled?

Now days, most cases do not go to trial. 

These statistics will give you an idea of how many cases are actually tried. In the one-year period ending June 30, 2009, there were about 11,000 lawsuits filed involving all types of personal injury and wrongful death in the state of Tennessee. (Many other cases were settled before a lawsuit was even filed; those numbers are not publicly available.) However, there were only 260 jury trials and 348 non-jury trials in personal injury and wrongful death cases during that same period. These statistics are about the same from year to year, and thus it is fair to say that only about 5% percent of personal injury and wrongful death cases in which lawsuits are filed actually go to trial.

I have a jury trial in state court in Nashville in a couple weeks in my car wreck case.   Do I have to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees or other costs if the jury rules against me?

Ordinarily, a person who loses a jury trial in personal injury or wrongful death case in state court in Tennessee does not have to pay the winning party’s attorney’s fees.  However, the losing party may have to pay certain costs incurred by the winning party, such as costs for expert witnesses to give depositions and appear at trial, costs charged court reporters, etc.  These costs are known as "discretionary costs" because a trial judge has the discretion to order that the loser pay some or all of certain costs incurred by loser.   Your lawyer should be able to estimate what those costs would be.  

The only time you would have to pay the winning party’s attorney’s fees after a loss in a personal injury or wrongful death case  is if the trial judge determined that your lawsuit was "frivolous."   The mere fact that a case is lost does not mean it is frivolous.   You should ask your lawyer whether there is any risk that your case could be determined frivolous by the trial judge, but my experience is that it would be very uncommon for a judge to declare that a car wreck claim or defense was "frivolous."  The only exceptions I can think would arise in situations where it was determined that a person faked (not just exaggerated, but truly faked) an injury, encouraged or paid others to give patently false testimony in support of the case, and other situations that are extremely rare.

I am getting ready to sue someone over a car wreck.  My lawyer says that she is going to file a "complaint."  What is that?

A lawsuit is initiated by the filing of a “complaint.”  A complaint identifies the persons or entities being sued.   It includes a short and plain statement of the pertinent facts, outlines the legal claims, and states the types of damages that resulted from the negligence of another person. The person who files a lawsuit is called a “plaintiff.”

The complaint is delivered to the person who is sued (the "defendant") with a court order to respond to the lawsuit (a "summons").  In Tennessee, a complaint must be responded to by a defendant within thirty days after it was received by the defendant.