Tennessee Injury Law Center

February 20, 2013

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

Many clients over the last 30 years have asked me this question, and the answer to the question is "no."

If the at-fault driver’s insurance company believes that its driver is at fault and they want to settle the case, they want to settle all personal injury-related claims at one time. (They will usually settle property damage claims separately.) They will not agree to leave open the issue of future medical expenses.

Thus, if a medical doctor says you will probably need a future medical treatment because of the injuries you sustained in the wreck, the cost of that medical treatment and related damages can be part of settlement negotiations. If the doctor says that future medical treatment is possible, then the amount of the possible medical treatment cannot be included.

February 19, 2013

Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, Tennessee Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Statistics – 2011-12

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

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released information about Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death cases filed in Murfreesboro and Rutherford, Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012.

Here is the data;

Total personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in court: – 432
Total personal injury and wrongful death cases resolved in court – 566
Total number of cases going to trial – 23
Total number of jury trials – 9
Total number of non-jury trials – 14
Total number of cases in which damages were awarded 6 (26.0%)
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $1 and $99,999 – 6
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $100,000 and $999,99 – 0
Total number of cases where damages awarded exceeded $1,000,000 – 0
Total damages awarded in all cases – $209,662
Average damages awarded – $34,944

The judges in Rutherford County are doing a good job of managing their dockets, as evidenced by the fact that more cases are being resolved than are actually being filed. In the 2010-2011 year, 479 cases were filed but only 436 were resolved. The number of trials also dropped from a year earlier- in 2010-11 there were 20 trials (9 of which were jury trials).

February 18, 2013

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuit Statistics for Williamson County, Tennessee – 2011-12

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

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released information about Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death cases filed and resolved in Williamson County, Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012.

Here is the data;

Total personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in court: – 264
Total personal injury and wrongful death cases resolved in court – 240
Total number of cases going to trial – 3
Total number of jury trials – 3
Total number of non-jury trials – 0
Total number of cases in which damages were awarded 1 (33.3%)
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $1 and $99,999 – 1
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $100,000 and $999,999 – 0
Total number of cases where damages awarded exceeded $1,000,000 – 0
Total damages awarded in all cases – $2,000
Average damages awarded – $2,000

Shocked? Can’t believe that there aren’t more cases and more trials in Williamson County, a county of $185,000? These numbers are not that unusual – Nashville and Davidson County have more filings (1382) and more trials (69) but remember that it has more interstate highways and other roads (and thus more traffic and more wrecks) and much more other economic activity that can rise to personal injury and wrongful death claims.

February 17, 2013

Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Statistics for 2011-12

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

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released information about Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death cases filed in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012.

Here is the data;

Total personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in court: – 1,382
Total personal injury and wrongful death cases resolved in court – 1,455
Total number of cases going to trial – 69
Total number of jury trials – 47
Total number of non-jury trials – 22
Total number of cases in which damages were awarded 35 (50.7%)
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $1 and $99,999 – 26
Total number of cases where damages awarded was between $100,000 and $999,999 – 6
Total number of cases where damages awarded exceeded $1,000,000 – 3
Total damages awarded in all cases – $9,031,623
Average damages awarded – $258,046

There a couple things of note about these numbers. First, you are probably surprised that there are so few cases actually going to trial – only 69 in a year or less than 6 per month. This is not only true in Nashville but across the state – the number of jury trials (and the number of lawsuits filed) has continued to decline.

February 8, 2013

I Just Got Sued in an Automobile Accident Case. Now What?

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

If you received a summons and complaint (the documents which initiate a civil lawsuit in Tennessee) you need to immediately notify your insurance company that you have been sued. If you have already reported the claim, the insurance company will already have told you to whom you should send the papers. If you have not reported the claim, call your insurance agent and tell them that you have been sued. The agent will tell you what to do with the papers.

Your insurance company will hire you a lawyer who will defend you. If you don’t hear from the lawyer within 20 days of the time you contact the insurance company, call the insurance company (or agent) again and let them know you have not heard from the lawyer.

To understand more about the litigation process, read our Legal Guide called "Understanding the Steps in the Civil Litigation Process."

February 7, 2013

Fatalities on Tennessee Roads in 2012

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

Deaths on Tennessee roads increased in 2012 over a year earlier. Here is some of the key statistics as gathered by the Tennessee Department of Safety:

Total fatalities – 1022, up 85 from 2011
Teen driver involved in death – 115
Senior driver involved in death – 190
Rural deaths – 542
Urban deaths – 480
Pedestrians – 67
Large Truck Involved – 102
Bus Involved – 8
Motorcyclists – 139
ATV rider – 10

Is this number of deaths an anomaly? Unfortunately, it appears that they are not. The death rate for January 2013 is 6 people higher than it was in January 2012.

Don’t become a statistic. Wear a seat belt. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t text and drive. Drive defensively. Stay within the speed limit, reducing your speed in when required by traffic or weather.

February 6, 2013

What Is “Medical Payments” Insurance Coverage in Tennessee?

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

Medical payments insurance coverage, typically called "med pay," is a type of insurance coverage that is often a part of automobile liability insurance policies in Tennessee. It pays medical bills that arise out of an automobile accident, even if the accident is your fault. Medical payments coverage is typically $5000 or $10,000, although I have seen coverage as high as $25,000.

Med pay coverage can help you meet deductible and co-pays on your health insurance policy.

Most automobile insurance policies give the insurance company the right of subrogation if med pay is paid. This means that you get hurt in a wreck caused by someone else’s negligence and collect med pay benefits, you have to re-pay your insurance company if you collect monies from the person who caused the wreck. There are some legal limitations on this right – please be sure to ask an experienced Tennessee automobile car accident lawyer about your rights.

February 5, 2013

How Much Does Uninsured Motorist Insurance Cost in Tennessee?

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

The price of uninsured motorist insurance is a bargain for Tennesseans, given that some 24% of drivers in Tennessee do not have any automobile liability insurance whatsoever.

What is automobile liability insurance? It is insurance that the owner of a car purchases to pay for losses caused by negligent operation of the vehicle.

Tennessee requires that each car have no less than $25,000 / $50,000 in liability insurance. That means that in the event of a personal injury or wrongful death to a person caused by the negligent operation of the vehicle by the driver the insurance company may be required to pay up to $25,000 to that person. If multiple people are harmed, the insurance company may be required to pay up to $50,000 in damages to all people who are harmed but no more than $25,000 per person.

February 4, 2013

How Long Will It Take To Get My Personal Injury Case to Trial in A Tennessee Federal Court?

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

One question asked by many people with Tennessee personal injury or Tennessee wrongful death cases is how long it will take to get their case to trial. There are lots of variables that impact the answer to that question, including whether the case is in Tennessee federal court or Tennessee state court and then in which federal or state court the case is pending. The complexity of the case also makes a material difference, as does the number of parties who bring suit or who are sued in the case.

The federal government recently released statistics about how long it gets a civil case to get to trial in federal court in Tennessee and the rest of the nation.

First of all, it is important to note that most cases do not ever get to trial – they are settled or otherwise resolved before trial. Here are the statistics for the average (median) time to get an average civil case resolved in Tennessee federal court:

February 2, 2013

Consumers Doing Legal Research on the Internet

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

The National Conference of State Legislators has a list of the laws of each state that addresses whether carbon monoxide detectors that will help prevent carbon monoxide poisoning are legally required by statute.

This list of laws should be a starting place, not an end point, for research. For example, the list does not include a new law in Tennessee that mandates the use of functioning carbon monoxide detectors in certain recreational vehicles. Likewise, it is possible that state regulations (not statutes) and local ordinances can require the use of carbon monoxide detectors in certain settings. More importantly, the fact that a statute or ordinance does not require carbon monoxide detectors does not mean that the duty to use reasonable care may not require them under the circumstances.

The NCSL’s website is just one example of the limitations of attempting to do legal research on the Internet. I encourage consumers to educate and thus empower themselves by any means, including Internet research, but if you have a true legal issue that will materially affect you please consult with a qualified lawyer.