My daughter refuses to stop texting while she is driving. I know it is unsafe, but she won’t stop. What do I do?
I was listening to the Kim Komando show recently and she identified some great software packages for cell phones that could prevent a teenager (or anyone else) from receiving or sending texts or call while a vehicle was moving. .
The life you save could be your daughter’s.
I got hurt in a car wreck. What is the average jury verdict in car wreck cases in Tennessee?
I can give you that number, but it is meaningless.
Why do I say that? Assume there were just two car wreck verdicts in Tennessee in 2009. One was a case where the person who filed suit had no treatment in the emergency room, $3000 in chiropractic treatment, and a history of prior neck and back pain. Assume that the verdict in that case was $3500.
Why do lawyers and the judge whisper between one another during a trial up by the judge’s bench?
Usually, they are discussing whether certain testimony or other evidence should be heard or seen by the jury. The law of evidence governs what jurors should hear and see during a trial. When the lawyers are trying to introduce evidence before a jury or keep the jury from hearing it the discussions of the evidence will often reveal what the evidence is. If the law says that the jury shouldn’t hear or see that evidence then it would be foolish to have the jury hear the discussion about the evidence. This type of conference is called a “side bar.”
Sometimes, the judge will ask the jury to leave the courtroom during these discussions. This is called a “jury-out hearing.”
I was sexually abused for five years by my step-father, staring when I was 5 years old. I am 18 years old now. Can I sue him for what he did to me?
Yes. Under Tennessee law sexual abuse is the tort of battery and the tort of outrageous conduct. However, you must file suit before your 19th birthday if you want to seek damages for what happened when you were under the age of 18. The failure to file suit by your 19th birthday will likely result in a loss of rights for all that happened before you turned 18. Talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer to gain an understanding of whether there are any exceptions in the law that may give you more time to take legal action.
We have represented people who have been victims of sexual abuse. The cases are very sad, but we have found professional satisfaction helping our clients and imposing financial responsibility on the perpetrators of these horrible crimes. One challenging factor in these cases is collecting money from the perpetrator – homeowner’s insurance will not cover this type of act. However, we have been successful identifying assets from which to obtain a settlement in this type of case.
I live in Tennessee and was badly hurt in a car wreck in Tennessee. My medical bills for the injuries received in the wreck exceed $100,000. The driver who caused the wreck only has $25,000 in liability insurance and I have the same amount in uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage. What are my rights?
You have the right to go to trial, prove the fault of the driver who caused the wreck, prove the nature and extent of your damages, and let a judge or jury decide the value of your case. If the value of the case exceeds the amount of insurance that the at-fault driver has (and it would under the facts you have stated above) you can attempt to collect the extra amount from the driver who caused the wreck.
Under Tennessee law, you will not be able to collect to collect any monies from you uninsured / underinsured motorist carrier because the amount of insurance the at-fault driver is equal to your UM / UIM coverage. The law of some states would permit you to collect money from your own insurance company under these circumstances, but not if the UM / UIM policy was issued in Tennessee.
I was injured in a car wreck – it wasn’t my fault. I own my own business and I have missed a lot of work. Am I going to be able to recover damages for the impact of the wreck on my business?
One of the biggest challenges of a personal injury lawyer is representing self-employed people in personal injury cases. It can be very difficult to prove the loss of income of self-employed people, but the task is made easier by having a long history of earnings, good records of receipts and expenses, and injuries that are significant enough that a jury (or insurance adjuster) can clearly understand how the injuries impact the business.
Other than these basic statements, whether the loss can be shown will depend on the facts of each case. An experienced personal injury lawyer will give you guidance on how to document your losses as best you can.
I got hurt in an accident and my doctor said I should go to physical therapy. The therapist is 20 miles away and it is very inconvenient to go to therapy. Plus, it doesn’t seem to do any good. Will it hurt my case if I just stop going?
First, let me suggest you set the thoughts about your legal case aside for a moment. Your doctor prescribed physical therapy because he or she thought it would help you. It might not. But it might. The daily or even weekly progress you see in physical therapy might be small, but you still need to go to physical therapy because you want to do what you can to reach a full recovery.
Going to physical therapy may not help your case, but not going as the doctor asked you to do will probably hurt your case. Insurance adjusters and jurors may conclude that you may not have been having the problems you say you were having (or are having) if you followed your doctor’s advice. If you have to go before a jury in your case the jury will be told that it is your responsibility to minimize your damages.
A neighbor fell off my porch the other day and he had to be taken to the doctor with a broken arm. Can I be held responsible for this?
Only if it is determined that you did not keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for him and other guests on your property. Therefore, it is important to understand how he came to fall of the porch. Did the railing break? Was it rotten? Did he fall over the rail? Was he sitting on the rail? Was there no rail there at all? Did local building codes require a rail? And so on.
There are all sorts of questions that must be asked to determine whether you can be held responsible for what happened.
I was arrested for underage drinking when I was in high school 10 years ago. I was put on probation for a year. Now I got hurt in an car accident and the other driver’s lawyer wants to know if I have ever been arrested. Do I have to tell the truth about it – it happened so long ago? Is it going to come out in court that I was arrested?
Don’t worry about it. In a lawsuit your opponent gets to ask you questions about your background. The area of questions that can be asked during the "discovery" period in a lawsuit is very broad, much broader than questions that will be permitted in court at trial. So, your opponent can ask about prior arrests and you should tell the truth about what happened.
Will it come out in court? It almost certainly will not if you tell the truth about what happened. If you lie and your opponent finds out about it, what happened will probably come out in court, not because of what happened 10 years ago but the fact that you lied about it when asked in the lawsuit.
My personal injury case just settled and I have $45,000 after paying my medical bills and my lawyers. I have never had this much money in my life. What do I do with it?
You are not seeking legal advice here – this is financial advice. However, many of our clients have asked this question over the years and I will share some general thoughts.
First, you should set aside some money for what many people call an “emergency fund.” The emergency fund should be three or, even better, six months of the money that you need to operate your household. It should be kept in a savings account or a money market account and should only be used for emergencies – an unexpected car repair or medical bill or to meet normal expenses if you lose your job. You will gain an unbelievable peace of mind by having this amount of money in the bank.
