Tennessee Injury Law Center

June 4, 2010

Professional Basketball Career Lost Because of Wreck

My son was hurt in a wreck with a big truck. He had a severe injury to his knee and is missing the basketball season. He is the best player on his sixth grade team. I worry that he will never be able to play professional basketball. Can he receive damages for the loss of income from a professional basketball salary and endorsements?

Questions like this are quite frequent. Tennessee law says that damages must be reasonably certain and not speculative. Damages need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but the damages sought must be reasonably likely to occur because of the defendant’s negligence.

It would be very difficult to prove that a sixth grader would have played professional basketball. It is possible – almost all professional basketball ball players played basketball in sixth grade and, if I had to guess, most of them were better-than-average players in sixth grade.

June 3, 2010

Do I Have to Be Released By My Doctor Before I Try My Personal Injury Case?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Why do I have to get released from medical care before my case can go to trial?

There is no law that says you must. However, most lawyers would agree that in cases where there is an injury that is likely to completely heal or one that will reach a certain stable level within a reasonable period of time it makes sense to not have a trial until the doctor says you have reached “maximum medical recovery.”

This is necessary because a jury must be able to determine whether it is likely you are going to have permanent injuries and whether those injuries will affect your income. Also, it is important that the jury have a handle on your medical bills, and it you are still actively seeking treatment it will be difficult to get a grasp on the amount of the bills you will incur.

June 2, 2010

Why Does My Opponent Get To See My Tax Records?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

I am a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit. Why does my opponent get to see my tax records?

If you are claiming you lost income as a result of the injuries you received in the incident that gave rise to the lawsuit, the defendant has a right to determine if you lost the income you say you lost. One way of determining that is looking at your income tax records.

However, the fact that tax records may reveal whether you lost income that does not mean that your entire tax return can be seen by the defendant. Tax returns contain lots of information other than income, and that information has nothing to do with whether you lost income.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will determine whether it is appropriate to release your entire tax return to the defendant or whether only some portions of it (such as your W-2, which is a statement of income from your employer) is appropriate.

May 29, 2010

How to Persuade My Kids to Stop Texting While Driving?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.

May 27, 2010

Average Verdicts in Tennessee Car Accident Cases

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.

May 26, 2010

Why Do Judges Whisper to Lawyers?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.”

May 25, 2010

Rights of Sex Abuse Victims

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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 19^th 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 19^th 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.

May 25, 2010

Horrible Injuries. Not Enough Insurance. Now What?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.

May 24, 2010

Injury From Car Wreck Hurts Business

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.

May 21, 2010

Physical Therapy is a Pain

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

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.