Tennessee Injury Law Center

May 24, 2013

What is a “Structured Settlement” in Tennessee Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation?

A structured settlement is an agreement reached between a plaintiff (the person who files a lawsuit) and the insurance company for the defendant (the person or company that is sued) to pay a personal injury or wrongful death settlement to the plaintiff over time rather than paying the money in a lump sum.

Such settlements can be structured to pay out the money over any period of time, from a year to a lifetime. The payments can be a combination of monthly payments and "bonus" payments every five years. There is virtually no limit as to how payments can be structured; the financial and other needs of the individual determine how a structured settlement will work.

Every structured settlement includes the payment of interest, and this interest is tax-free assuming that the appropriate rules are followed.

May 23, 2013

Number of Dog Bite Claims Stays About the Same in United States

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

A recent report on the financial consequences of dog bites shows that there were 16,459 dog bite claims in the United States in 2012, a number actually less than the it was ten years earlier, when there were 16.919 claims. No specific information was provided about the number of dog bite claims in Tennessee.

The data comes from the Insurance Information Institute("III"), a company that gathers and shares data about all sorts of insurance claims. According to the III, he average cost per claim was $29,752.

State Farm, a major insurance company that sells homeowner’s insurance (the type of liability insurance that is typically available to victims of dog bites) paid 3,670 dog bite claims in 2012. The total amount of money paid by State Farm on those claims was $108,000,000. Thus, State Farm’s average cost per claim was quite close to the national average of all claims.

May 23, 2013

Abuse or Exploitation of the Disabled in Tennessee

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

The abuse (sexual or physical or mental) or exploitation of a disabled adult in Tennessee can give rise to a right of the disabled person to seek damages.

Under Tennessee law, a disabled adult is one who meets one of the following criteria:

(A) Has some impairment of body or mind that makes the person unfit to work at any substantially remunerative employment;

May 23, 2013

Do Tennessee Doctors Have Malpractice Insurance?

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

In Tennessee the vast, vast majority of physicians have medical malpractice insurance. The medical malpractice insurance company not only hires a lawyer to defend the doctor in the event a medical malpractice (now called health care liability) lawsuit is filed in court but also pays money toward any settlement or judgment in the case. The amount that the company will pay is an amount up to the insurance policy limits actually purchased by the doctor or the company the doctor works for. The company also employs a team of professionals who evaluate claims and supervise the litigation process.

In fact, in over 30 years of representing patients in medical malpractice claims against doctors and other health care providers, I have never come across a single doctor in Tennessee who did not have professional liability insurance. There are states, such as Florida, where there appears to be a significant number of uninsured doctors, but that is not an issue in Tennessee.

One reason for this is that doctors own the largest physician professional liability insurance company in the state and, in essence, sell insurance to themselves. A large number of the doctors who do not work for educational centers (like Vanderbilt) or as employees of hospitals purchase professional liability insurance coverage from this company, State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company. Insurance rates for doctors are less than they were twenty years ago (after adjusting for inflation).

May 22, 2013

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Claims – What Must Be Proved?

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

A Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer must prove the following things to prove a medical malpractice (now called a health care liability) case in Tennessee:

1. The standard of care for the health care provider. For example, if the claim is that a family doctor failed to timely diagnose an infection, the patient’s lawyer must prove what a family doctor should do when presented with the information available to the doctor at the time of the alleged failure to diagnose the infection. The standard of care must be proved by another doctor of the same or similar specialty, and that doctor must practice medicine in Tennessee or a state adjoining Tennessee.

2. The failure of the health care provider to follow the standard of care. Thus, using the same example, the patient’s lawyer must demonstrate that the doctor did not comply with the standard of care, that is, that the doctor either did something the doctor should not have done or failed to do something the doctor should have done.

May 20, 2013

Charges for Medical Records Used in Tennessee Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases

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

Unlike Kentucky, Tennessee does not have a law that permits each patient to have a free copy of his or her medical record from a health care provider. Tennessee law permits health care providers to charge for each and every copy of a medical record.

It is important to have a copy of certain medical records to evaluate every personal injury and wrongful death claim, including car and truck accident cases and each and other cases. The number of providers from whom records must be obtained depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. Some cases require us to obtain medical records from only one or tow health care providers. Other cases require us to obtain records from ten or more health care providers. The cost of obtaining records can be as little as $75 to well over $1000.

Our firm pays for the cost of acquiring the medical records for our clients. Even the event the case is successful, our fee agreement with our client provides that our client reimburses us for the out-of-pocket expenses we incur in the case, including the cost of obtaining medical records.

May 19, 2013

What Does It Cost to Issue a Subpoena?

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

A subpoena is a court order requiring a person to appear in court to give testimony, produce documents or things, or both.

Subpoenas are issued by the clerk of the court in which the case is pending. In Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, there is a $6.00 fee to issue a subpoena. if the witness lives in Davidson County and the lawsuit is pending in Davidson County, the Davidson County Sheriff’s office will serve the subpoena for $9.00.

Different charges apply if the witness must be served in a different county. The Clerk of Court will answer questions about the charges in such cases.

May 18, 2013

Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee Personal Injury Jury Trial Results for January, 2013

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

Here are the results for personal injury and wrongful death jury trials in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee for January, 201.

Automobile Case: $339,163 for the Plaintiff

Automobile Case: $143,451 plus $7500 for the Plaintiff

May 18, 2013

Sexual Abuse of Children in Tennessee Churches

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

As difficult as it is to believe, children continue to be molested in Tennessee churches. Those who sexually abuse children put themselves in environments where children are present, and one place where many Tennessee children are routinely present is in church-sponsored child care centers, Sunday school classes and schools, and church camps and other church-related activities.

Responsible churches have a method a screening people who seek to work (as employees or volunteers) with children and have effective mechanisms in place to identify those who engage in suspicious behavior. Responsible churches also have mechanisms in place to promptly investigate allegations of inappropriate activity and report such persons as required by law. Prompt, accurate reporting prevents future acts of abuse.

The failure of churches to take responsible steps to protect children from predators can result in legal liability for the church. Our Tennessee sex abuse lawyers first became involved in this type of case over a decade ago, and as recently as this month (May 2013) we have been employed to investigate another church-related claim.

May 16, 2013

Will the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company Have to Pay My Future Medical Bills?

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

Under Tennessee injury law, a person who causes harm to another is responsible for the reasonable medical costs incurred by the injured party to diagnosis and treat injuries that were caused in the incident and to pay the present day value of future medical expenses likely to be incurred in the future as a result of injuries caused in the incident.

However, the at-fault driver’s insurance company is only responsible for future medical expenses that are more likely than not to occur in the future, not those that might occur. Thus, your ability to recover future medical expenses for injuries that arise out of car or truck accident is dependent on medical testimony that, more likely than not, an injury that happened in the accident will require medical treatment in the future.

The following example will help in understanding the law. Assume you are hurt in a Tennessee truck accident and suffer a fractured hip. You undergo hip surgery and physical therapy. Your total medical bills are $60,000. The insurance company wants to settle your case, but you and your lawyer are concerned about the risk of future surgery because your doctor has told you that you might have to have hip replacement surgery in the future. Hip replacement surgery is expensive, and you want to have the at-fault driver’s insurance company pay for the surgery if it occurs. How can you make that happen?