Tennessee Injury Law Center

May 16, 2013

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

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?

May 12, 2013

Civil Liability for Stalking in Tennessee — Lawsuits and Damages

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

Stalking is willful conduct involving repeated harassment of someone that causes them to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed or molested. Not only is the conduct a crime in Tennessee, but it also can rise to a civil lawsuit and a damage award if it results in the victim suffering serious or severe emotional distress.

A theory of liability that stalking victims can use to pursue a civil claim for money damages against the stalker is either intentional infliction of emotional distress or negligent infliction of emotional distress. In a claim for intentional claim for emotional distress the victim must prove that the stalker intentionally or recklessly engaged in outrageous conduct that caused the victim serious or severe emotional injury. In negligent infliction of emotional distress claims the victims must prove that the stalker negligently engaged in conduct that caused serious or severe emotional injury.

In the conduct was intentional or reckless, no medical evidence is necessary to prove serious or severe emotional injury, although the presence of medical evidence will strengthen the case. If the conduct by the stalker was merely negligent medical evidence of serious or severe emotional injury is required.

May 9, 2013

What Does It Mean When a Jury is “Deadlocked?”

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

A jury is considered "deadlocked" when it is unable to reach an unanimous decision. In Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death trials a jury of twelve people sits in judgment of the case and all twelve must agree on all issues. When they fail to do so they are "deadlocked."

A judge faced with a deadlocked jury has two choices. First, the judge can send the jury home, declare a mistrial, and order the parties to another trial. This is an expensive option, both for the parties to the lawsuit and the justice system, because of the money that will be spent on the new trial.

The other option is for the judge to give what is known as a "dynamite" or "Allen" charge. A dynamite or Allen charge is a jury instruction that strongly encourages each juror to reconsider his or her views and work toward compromise. It tells jurors that a new trial will be very costly to the parties and that the jurors should work harder to solve their differences.

May 8, 2013

I Need a Tennessee Car Accident Lawyer. Do I Need to Pay You A Fee to Meet With Me?

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

No. At the Law Offices of John Day, P.C. we do not charge a fee to meet with any potential client who wants to discuss a potential car accident, truck accident or other personal injury claim with us. We will meet with you or a member of your family in our office, your home or even the hospital, depending on the circumstances.

Why do we not charge for an initial meeting? There are two reasons. First, we understand that most people who meet with us about a potential injury claim are already facing a bunch of bills arising from the event that requires them to see a lawyer. Our potential clients are facing medical bills, time lost from work, and other financial stresses, and the last thing they need to spend money on is an hour meeting with a lawyer.

Second, when you meet with us to see if we are the right lawyer for you we are meeting with you and making sure that you are a client that we believe we can help. From time to time, people come to us with cases that we believe simply lack merit and we simply cannot help those people other than to tell them the problems we see with their case. Other people come to us with legal problems that do not justify the cost of litigation. So, we feel it is only fair that we do not impose any sort of a charge for an initial meeting with a personal injury client because both of us are trying to figure out whether there is a good "fit" between us.

May 7, 2013

How Many People Sit on A Jury In A Tennessee Personal Injury Case?

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

Tennessee law requires juries of twelve citizens in injury trials and in all other types of civil and criminal jury trials. Rarely, the lawyers in the case will agree that the case can be decided by less than twelve people, but a very, very high percentage of jury trials in Tennessee are decided by twelve jurors. A judge cannot require that a case is decided by less than twelve jurors.

Depending on the anticipated length and complexity of the trial, a judge may also have one or more alternate jurors hear the case. An alternate juror will replace one of the twelve jurors who have been designated to hear the case if one of those jurors becomes ill or for some other reason cannot continue serving as a juror in the case. If none of the group of twelve jurors is required to leave jury service for any reason the alternate jurors are dismissed from the case immediately before the jury begins to deliberate a verdict in the case. No more than twelve jurors are permitted to decide the case.

In Tennessee a jury’s verdict must be unanimous. In other words, all twelve jurors must agree on the result. If the jurors are unable to reach an unanimous agreement, a mistrial is declared and the case must be tried to another jury at a later date.

May 6, 2013

Does The At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company Have to Pay for A Rental Car While My Car Is Being Fixed?

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

Technically speaking, the automobile insurance company for the driver who caused your accident and damaged your car or truck does not have the responsibility to pay for a rental vehicle while your vehicle is being repaired. However, as a practical matter, many insurance companies will pay for the cost of a rental car for a reasonable period of time while a vehicle is being repaired.

Why do these insurance companies pay for a rental car when the law doesn’t require them to do so? Because the law requires the insurance company to pay damages for "loss of use" while the vehicle is out of service. The time that the vehicle is being evaluated for repairs and being repaired must be a reasonable period of time.

It is difficult to determine the value of "loss of use" but one good way to avoid future litigation over the meaning the phrase and the damages that must be paid is to supply a replacement vehicle for the use of the person whose vehicle was damaged in the wreck. Thus, insurance companies who believe that their insured driver was at fault will frequently give the claimant the right to rent a replacement vehicle.

May 4, 2013

Hit and Run Accidents in Tennessee

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

If you are involved in a Tennessee hit and run accident you may still be able to recover damages for the injuries you sustained in the accident. How? Your uninsured motorist insurance coverage on your vehicle protects you from hit and run drivers.

To prove an uninsured motorist claim in a hit and run case, you have to prove that t(a) here was actual physical contact between your vehicle and the hit and run driver; (b) the driver that hit you was negligent; (c) you reported the accident to a law enforcement agency within a reasonable period of time; (d) you were not negligent in failing to learn the identity of the hit and run driver or the owner of that driver’s vehicle; and (e) the nature and extent of your injuries caused in the accident.

Different rules apply if the there was no physical contact between your vehicle and the other vehicle that you say caused the accident.

May 3, 2013

What Is A Certificate of Good Faith in a Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case?

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

Tennessee law requires that certificate of good faith be filed with the Court at the time a medical malpractice (now called a health care liability) lawsuit is filed.

The certificate of good faith form is found on the website of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. The form requires the signer to certify that he or she has consulted with and has a signed statement from one or more experts who say that the case has merit.

The failure to file the form with the lawsuit will result in dismissal of the case.

May 2, 2013

The Need To Give Formal Notice Before Filing A Medical Malpractice Claim

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

Tennessee law requires that formal notice of medical malpractice (now called health care liability) claims must be given before a lawsuit can be filed.

Notice must be given before the one-year statute of limitations (the typical deadline for filing suit in medical malpractice cases) expires. The notice must include certain information and must be given or send in a way required by statute to each health care provider who is going to be sued. Failure to give the right information or to send or deliver the notice in the way required by law will result in a dismissal of any later lawsuit against that health care provider.

(To be 100% accurate, the failure to give notice will result in dismissal of any later case against the health care provider. The Tennessee Supreme Court has not yet decided the impact of the failure to give notice precisely as called for in the statute. However, you should assume that notice must strictly follow the dictates of the statute until the Tennessee Supreme Court decides this issue.)

May 1, 2013

Why Can’t I Sue the Insurance Company of the Person Who Caused My Car Accident?

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

If you are injured in a Tennessee car accident, truck accident or any other type of event, you do not have the right to file suit against the insurance company of the person or company that caused the injury. Instead, if you want to recover damages for what happened you must file suit against the person or company that caused the injury.

Why? Because, like most states, Tennessee does not permit what is called a "direct action" against the insurance company for the person or company that caused the accident. In fact, under Tennessee law, the judge and jury are never even told that the person or company that you filed a lawsuit against has insurance.

What the Legislature is afraid of is that if a jury knows that the person who is being sued has insurance to pay for some or all of the loss the jury might award damages regardless of fault. This is clearly a myth – most jurors rightly assume that the person being sued has insurance and there are plenty of court cases that result in no money or a very low amount being awarded to the injured party. Nevertheless, we continue to hide the fact of insurance coverage from jurors.