Tennessee Injury Law Center

April 30, 2013

Lawsuit Against Tennessee City for Bad Driving By City Employee

Tennessee law provides that when a city employee negligently causes a car or truck accident while they are working for the city the city is responsible for the harm caused. Thus, the a lawsuit can be filed against the city (not against the driver) and damages for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering and other losses can be recovered. Click on the link for more information on the types of damages that can be recovered in a Tennessee personal injury case. Click on the link for more information about wrongful death cases in Tennessee.

Tragically, the law limits the liability of any Tennessee city to $300,000 for any one person who is injured or killed as a result of the negligent driving by one of its employee’s while he or she is working for the city. Thus, even if your medical expenses are $500,000, the law will not permit you to recover more than $300,000 from the city whose employee caused the accident.

A lawsuit against the city must be filed within one year of the date of the accident causing an injury or death. Failure to file a lawsuit on time will result in the loss of your rights.

April 29, 2013

Deadline for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Tennessee

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

Tennessee law requires that a personal injury lawsuit be filed within one year of the date causing an accident. Failure to file a lawsuit on time against the person or company responsible for your injuries will result in a loss of your rights.

There are certain exceptions to the one year deadline for filing personal injury lawsuits, but you should not assume that any exception applies to you unless a competent lawyer familiar with all of the facts advises you that you have more than one year to file a lawsuit.

Do not wait until the last few days before the one-year deadline to file a lawsuit expires to hire a lawyer. Delay in seeking a lawyer means that valuable evidence may be lost and it is likely that mistakes have been made that effect the value of the case.

April 28, 2013

What Is A Deposition?

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

A deposition is an out-of-court sworn statement made during a lawsuit. Typically, the lawyer representing the opposing party to a lawsuit will take your deposition to understand information you have about the case. Witnesses to events giving rise to the case may also be asked to give a deposition.

A deposition usually takes place in a conference room at the offices of one of the lawyers that is involved in the case. A person called a "court reporter" is present to administer the oath and to record the testimony. It is possible that the deposition will be recorded by a videographer.

Under Tennessee law, a person who is involved in a lawsuit can be asked to provide information that is "reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence in the case." That means that if you file a lawsuit or are sued in a lawsuit you can be asked questions that directly involve the facts of the case and also questions that may lead to information that might find its way to evidence at trial.

April 27, 2013

What Is A Summary Judgment in a Tennessee Auto or Truck Accident Case?

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

A "summary judgment" is a decision by a judge that an automobile accident, truck accident, or other type of case should not go to a full trial before a jury. A judge can make a decision not to let a jury decide a case only if the judge determines that there is no dispute about the important facts of the case and that a reasonable jury could arrive at only one result in the case. If that is true, the judge will grant summary judgment (that is, a judgment before trial) to the person who he or she thinks should win the case before permitting a full trial on the case before a jury.

Sometimes a judge will grant a "partial summary judgment." Thus, the judge will determine that a car accident or truck accident was the sole fault of the defendant (the person or company sued in the case) but a jury must determine what damages were caused in the wreck and the monetary value of the damages.

Summary judgments are very rare in auto accident and truck accident cases. They are much more common in medical malpractice cases and in cases where people have been injured by defective or unreasonably dangerous products.

April 23, 2013

Jury Instructions in Tennessee Injury Cases

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

At the end of every Tennessee injury trial heard by jury the judge gives the jury instructions about the law applicable to the case. Some judges prepare their own instructions; other judges ask the lawyers involved in the case to prepare the instructions. Even if the judge does his or her own instructions the lawyers have the right to propose additional or alternative instructions to the judge, who reviews the proposed instructions and determines whether they will be included in the final set of jury instructions.

Jury instructions tell the jury the law applicable to the case. The jury uses the instructions to guide it in finding the facts. Jurors are the "judges" of the facts in a case, and then take those facts and apply it to the law given to them by the judge.

Sometimes judges make mistakes in jury instructions. If a judge makes a mistake, an appeal may result. A mistake in the jury instructions can result in a new trial if the appellate court determines that the mistake affected the outcome of the trial.

April 22, 2013

What Does An Expert Witness Do In a Tennessee Injury Case?

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

An expert witness is a person permitted by a judge to give opinions at trial. Most witnesses are usually only permitted to testify only about facts – what they saw or heard or otherwise have personal knowledge of. (There are certain exceptions to this rule.)

But experts have specialized knowledge, training or experience and thus have the right to give an opinion about some issue in a case. The judge determines whether a person who is offered to give expert testimony has the qualifications to be recognized as an expert, and the jury determines what weight to give to the expert’s testimony.

For example, in a Tennessee medical malpractice case expert testimony is almost always necessary to prove that the health care provider did not comply with the recognized standard of professional practice in the community where the patient was injured (or in similar communities) and that the injury (or death) occurred as a result of that error. The patient’s lawyer has the responsibility to locate and employ a qualified expert and the judge has the responsibility to ensure that the expert is qualified to give an opinion. The failure of a patient to have a proper expert in a medical malpractice case will almost always result in a loss of the case. (There are very rare exceptions to this rule. Only an experienced Tennessee medical malpractice attorney will understand exactly when it is possible to avoid the use of an expert witness on one or more issues in a medical malpractice case.)

April 21, 2013

Obtaining Medical Records in Tennessee Car and Truck Accident Cases – Why Does It Take So Long?

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

It is almost always necessary for an experienced Tennessee injury attorney to obtain an injured person’s medical records before a personal injury claim for a car or truck accident can be fully evaluated, Also, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will also want to see the records before authorizing a settlement of the claim.

Many personal injury clients get frustrated at the delay in obtaining medical records. It can often take a month or more to obtain medical records from doctors, hospitals, and physical therapists, and even more time from certain health care providers. There is no good excuse for these delays – virtually every provider charges for this service and the delays are extremely frustrating, both for the lawyer and the lawyer’s client.

The delays are caused because the health care providers don’t have enough staff on hand to meet the demand for records, and put record requests by attorneys for clients at the bottom of the stack. In other words, these health care providers give a higher preference for record-copying to other health care providers and insurance companies than they do lawyers.

April 20, 2013

Can A Personal Injury Lawyer Charge for Travel Expenses?

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

Most contingent fee contracts between Tennessee injury lawyers and their clients have a provision that provides that the lawyer is reimbursed for travel expenses. Such a clause in a contract is lawful, and will be enforced by a court.

However, if the contract does not have a clause that permits reimbursement for expenses, it would not be appropriate for the lawyer to charge his or her client for these expenses unless he or she gets your express approval, preferably in writing, to incur those expenses that will ultimately charged to the client.

Are there limits to the amount of expenses that a lawyer can charge? Yes, even if the fee contract does not put limits on the amount of travel charges that the lawyer can pass on to a client the law will require that only "reasonable" expenses can be incurred.

April 15, 2013

Deadline for Filing Automobile Accident Lawsuits in Tennessee

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

Tennessee law requires that lawsuits concerning injury claims that arise from automobile accidents must be filed in court no later than one year after the date of the accident. Thus, the case must be settled, or a lawsuit filed, or the injured person’s rights will be lost.

There are a couple of exceptions to this general rule, but you should not assume that any claim survives the one-year deadline unless a Tennessee automobile accident lawyer familiar with all of the facts tells you that you have more than one year to file suit.

You should not wait one year to seek the advice of a lawyer. Not only does a lawyer need some amount of time to file suit, but he or she must investigate the merits of the case. In addition, a delay in hiring lawyer means important evidence can be lost, memories can fade, and thus your case can be adversely affected. It is recommended that you seek an experienced accident attorney promptly after the accident so that you can fully understand your rights and begin to take the steps to protect those rights.

April 5, 2013

The At-Fault Driver Has No Insurance – Now What?

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

As a Nashville and Tennessee automobile accident attorney, one question that I am frequently asked is what happens when the person who causes the motor vehicle does not have any liability insurance. Here is the answer?

1. First, don’t assume that there is no liability insurance just because the driver did not have proof of insurance in his or her vehicle at the time of the accident. In Tennessee you are supposed to have proof of insurance present when you drive (most of us keep a card mailed to us by our insurer in the glove compartment of the vehicle) but some people forget to do so or do not replace an expired card with a new card. So, even if the police officer investigating the crash reports that the at-fault driver did not have proof of insurance, it is possible that the driver had liability insurance in place at the time of the crash.

2. It is possible that some other person (other than the driver of the car or the owner of the car) is responsible for the crash. For example, on several occasions we have discovered that an uninsured driver was running an errand for his employer at the time of the crash. Under Tennessee law, the employer is responsible for the crash if the employee was engaged in an activity that was furthering the employer’s business interest at the time of the crash. This is true even if the employee was using the employee’s personal vehicle. From time to time there are others who contributed to cause the crash, such as the bar who served too much alcohol to the at-fault driver, a defect in the roadway; an unsafe or defective vehicle, and in appropriate cases those options need to be investigated as well.