Tennessee Injury Law Center

July 19, 2011

Will My Criminal Record Come Back to Haunt Me in My Personal Injury Trial?

I have a tractor-trailer wreck case that goes to trial in about six weeks. I am afraid that the jury will learn that I served two years in prison on a burglary charge about 15 years ago. I feel like I paid my debt to society and I don’t want my mistake of many years ago held against me now. Will the jury be told about my crime?

No, assuming that you told the truth about it in this litigation any time you were asked about it.

During the discovery process it is common to ask an opponent about past criminal charges and convictions. These questions must be answered truthfully. Proof of a prior felony conviction ordinarily is not admissible at trial in Tennessee if the conviction is more than ten years old., but it is permissible to ask about "old" convictions and charges during the discovery phase of the case.

July 19, 2011

How Many Jurors Must Agree in a Truck Accident Case?

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

I am involved in a truck accident case in Tennessee state court . How many jurors must agree to a given result?

Unless the parties to the lawsuit agree otherwise, twelve jurors will decide the case and all twelve must find in favor of the plaintiff (the person bringing the lawsuit) or the defendant (the person or entity that has been sued.) If less than twelve people agree on the outcome, the judge will declare a mistrial and the case will have to be tried again.

July 18, 2011

Lawyer Wants to Charge Me For First Class Airfare!

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

I have a personal injury case that was just settled. I agreed to pay a contingent fee and the lawyer’s out of pocket expenses. One of the expenses is a first class airline ticket from Nashville to Atlanta for a deposition – at the cost of $1500! Can the lawyer charge me for that expense?

You should contest the charge, but at the end of the day what will happen will depend on the exact language of the contract, your persistence, and the lawyer’s conscious.

There is nothing legally wrong with the contract providing that the lawyer gets to fly first class at your expense. If that is what you agreed to do then you are legally on the hook.

July 16, 2011

Do AVVO Ratings Mean Anything When I Am Trying to Select A Tennessee Personal Injury Lawyer?

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

I was hurt in a car wreck and need to hire a Tennessee personal injury attorney. I came across this thing called AVVO. They have a rating system for lawyers. Should the AVVO rating system have any impact on who I hire as my lawyer?

It should have some influence, but not necessarily in the way that you think.

AVVO is about 2 years old. It claims to have established a brief profile for every lawyer. A lawyer "claims" his or her own profile and adds data. AVVO then establishes a rating for the lawyer based on certain criteria it developed. A lawyer does have to pay to appear on the site, although some lawyers pay to have ads placed on the site. However, the basic placement (like mine, shown here) is free. The lawyers listed to the right of my profile paid to be appear on the page, although they too have a free profile.

July 15, 2011

Will the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Pay My Lost Wages?

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

I was hurt in a wreck with a tractor-trailer and have missed six weeks of work. It looks like it I will miss another six weeks of work and I am starting to hurt for money. The truck driver was clearly at fault. Will the trucking company’s insurance company pay me now for my lost wages?

Almost certainly they will not. These insurance companies usually require that all medical bills, lost wages claims, and other claims for damages be presented at one time and then they try to make a global settlement.

Why wait? To put financial pressure on you and your family. You see, they want you and your family to feel financial pressure so that you will settle for less than the fair value of your claim.

July 14, 2011

What Does It Mean When A Lawyer Says She Is A Member of the American Association for Justice?

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

I was looking on the Internet for a personal injury lawyer and I see some lawyers say that they are members of the "American Association for Justice." What does that mean?

The American Association for Justice is a voluntary, national bar association that is made up of lawyers who tend to represent persons who were hurt in car wrecks, hurt by defective problems, or hurt by poor medical care. The state affiliate of the national group is the Tennessee Association for Justice. Like the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and various other "associations," ,ere membership in these organizations tells consumers virtually nothing about a lawyer’s competence – all one needs to join these organizations is a law license and the money to pay the dues.

However, active membership in a bar association tends to indicate that the lawyer is interested in advancement of his or her profession. This is a relevant factor to be weighed by consumers because it indicates a passion for the law. A lawyer who has been active in bar associations will list those activities on his or her website. Those that do not list activities probably have not been active and are probably just dues-paying members.

July 12, 2011

Car Wrecks and Facebook

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

I was in a car wreck and spent four days in the hospital because of the injuries I received. I also will need several months of physical therapy. When I got out of the hospital I updated my status on my Facebook page. A friend of mine e-mailed me and said I should be careful about what I post on Facebook about the car accident and my recovery. Is she right?

Yes, but not just because you had a car accident. What you say on social media is there to stay. Forever. People who read it will make certain judgments about you based on what you said on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media outlets. Thus, one should always use good judgment when utilizing social media.

This is also true after you have been in an accident of any type. Your adversary will read your social media page. Your adversary will look at your photographs and videos. Your adversary will be looking for inconsistent statements or other documentation that indicates that your injuries are different than you claim or affect you differently than you maintain in a lawsuit. The inconsistency may be minor, but your adversary will try to make it look like a lie.

July 11, 2011

What is This Movie Called “Hot Coffee” All About?

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

I have heard about a movie called "Hot Coffee" and that it discusses that crazy case where the woman spilled coffee on herself and got a bunch of money from McDonald’s. Who made a movie about that?

Susan Saladoff did. Susan is a lawyer from Oregon who felt inspired to tell the real story about what happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end.

Susan explains that

July 8, 2011

What is a Bailiff?

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

I was in court recently and the judge asked a man he called the "bailiff" to hand a witness a piece of paper. What is a bailiff?

A bailiff is a court employee who provides security for the judge and helps the judge maintain order in the courtroom. He or she also may hand papers from a lawyer to a witness or from a witness to the jury.

The bailiff is also the person usually entrusted with the job of escorting the jury from the courtroom to the jury deliberation room and for passing questions from the jury to the judge.

July 7, 2011

Attorney Wants To Charge Me Interest!

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

I was hurt in a boating accident. I talked to a lawyer and he sent me a proposed contingency fee agreement. The agreement says that I have to pay the expenses he incurs in prosecuting my case and that interest accrues on the expense money. Is that normal?

It is normal for an attorney handling a contingency fee case to ask the client to re-pay the attorney for the money spent on case expenses out of any settlement achieved in the case. It is not normal, however, for an attorney to charge interest on the expense money they advance for case expenses, although it seems like more and more attorneys are doing it.

The lawyers who charge interest may have a contract with a private company that charges them interest on case expenses, and then the attorney passes the interest that he or she pays while the case is pending onto you as their client. The interest rate may be very high – much higher than the “prime rate.” The lawyer does not profit from this practice, but simply passes the cost of the interest on to you. Sometimes there are additional fees associated with this service that are passed on to you.