Tennessee Injury Law Center

June 3, 2011

Can A Doctor Charge $1500 for a Deposition?

I have a personal injury case in Tennessee. My doctor has to give a deposition in my case and my lawyer just told me that the doctor charges $1500 per hour for a deposition. What is going on? I have already paid this doctor over $15,000 to care for me and now he wants to charge $1500 per hour to talk about it!!!

Unfortunately, this is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem. A doctor is permitted to charge for their time when asked to give a deposition involving care which he or she gave to a patient who is involved in a lawsuit. The charge must be "reasonable."

So, the question is $1500 per hour "reasonable?" Part of it depends on how much the doctor ordinarily charges for his time. In a 2000 hour year a charge of $1500 per hour results in revenue of $3,000,000 per year.

June 2, 2011

Number of Jurors Who Must Agree to Result in Tennessee Personal Injury Trials

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

My truck wreck case is coming to trial before a Nashville, Tennessee jury soon. There will be a 12-person jury. Must they all agree on the result?

Yes, unless the lawyers agree otherwise, all 12 jurors must reach an agreement on the result in the case.

In some states, the law permits jurors to reach a result based on the votes of a "super majority" of the jurors. For example, some states allow 9 jurors to agree or 10 to agree on one result and the other 3 or 2 jurors can reach a different result. That is not true in Tennessee – all 12 must agree.

June 1, 2011

Use of Police Report As Evidence

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

The police accident report says that I was not at fault in my wreck and that the other driver was at fault. Can I used the police report as evidence at a trial to prove the wreck was not my fault?

Not in Tennessee state court. A rule of evidence specifically excludes police accident reports from the types of public records that can be admitted into evidence at trial to show how an accident occurred.

Why? Because unless the officer actually saw the accident the police report is only the officer’s opinion about what happened. That opinion may be based on solely on whether the officer believes one person or the other and may have little value in determining what actually happened.

May 31, 2011

Damages for High School Student Injured in Wreck

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

My daughter, a high school student, was run off the road by a tractor trailer. She was badly hurt and had to miss a semester of school. It looks like she will have permanent injuries as a result of the wreck. What damages can she recover?

At the outset, let me remind you that no damages can be recovered unless you can prove that the truck driver negligently caused your injury. The case you describe can be difficult, particularly if there was no impact between your vehicle and the truck and if there are no witnesses to the event. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you determine the likelihood of success of your case.

Now, back to your question. In a personal injury cases arising from accidents with trucks, you can recover monetary damages for past and future medical bills incurred because of the injuries, past and future physical pain and suffering, past and future mental or emotional pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, disability, lost capacity for the enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.

May 30, 2011

How Can I Find Out How Much Insurance The Other Driver Has?

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

I was in a car wreck several months ago. The other driver’s insurance company called me and asked me some questions. I then asked him how much insurance his driver had, but he refused to tell me. He said that in Tennessee I could not find out how much insurance the other driver had, even if I filed a lawsuit. Is that true?

Yes. Tennessee is the only state in the nation that does not require an insurance company to disclose the amount of liability insurance in place for an accident. This is a result of a powerful lobbying effort in the Legislature, led by Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company.

Sometimes an insurance company will voluntarily disclose the amount of coverage it has. However, in the ordinary situation, the only way you can discover how much insurance the other driver has is to win a lawsuit and start the process to collect the money you are due.

May 27, 2011

Why Won’t the Police Issue a Ticket to the At-Fault Driver?

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

My car was hit at a local intersection. The guy that hit me ran the red light – and admitted that he did so – but he police officer didn’t even give him a ticket! Why not? I have called the officer four times to ask why but she won’t return my call.

Police officers have discretion about when they write a ticket, and sometimes they simply choose not to do so. I must confess that I don’t always understand why tickets are issued in some cases and not in others,but the fact of the matter is that police officers do not issue tickets in many automobile wreck cases when they would have the perfect right to do so.

The fact that no ticket was written will almost certainly not hurt your case, especially if the police report indicates that the other driver admitted fault. A statement by a police officer in a police report that the other driver admitted fault will carry a lot of weight with his insurance company as it decides whether or not to promptly resolve the claim.

May 26, 2011

Statement to Insurance Adjuster for the At-Fault Driver?

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

I was in a car wreck last week. I spent five days in the hospital and am now recovering at home. I am getting a couple calls a day from the insurance adjuster for the driver that hit me. The message he left for me is that he wants to take a statement from me about how the wreck happened. Should I talk to him and give him a statement?

We do not recommend that our clients give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company. There are several exceptions to this general rule, but even then we do not permit our clients to give a statement without adequate preparation for the interview.

We do not prepare our clients by telling them what to say or encouraging them to lie. In fact, just the opposite is true: we encourage our clients to tell the truth about the circumstances giving rise to the wreck, the nature and extent of their injuries, and everything else. Preparation is necessary because insurance adjusters are trained in asking questions, and may ask questions in such a way that the unprepared witness will make mistakes. These statements are almost always tape-recorded and can be used against the person in court.

May 25, 2011

The Person Who Caused the Wreck Died. How Does That Affect My Rights?

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

I was hurt in a head-on automobile accident. The driver that crossed the centerline and hit me died in the wreck. Do I have legal rights against him even if he is dead?

Yes. Although you can’t sue someone who is dead, you can sue his estate. If an estate is not opened for him, you (through your lawyer) can petition the court to have an estate opened so that you can sue it and collect the monies you are entitled to recover.

The fact that the person who hit you died does not relieve his insurance company of the obligation to defend the case and pay the monies to you that you are entitled to receive under the law (up to the liability insurance policy limits). To the extent that the value of your case exceeds the amount of insurance available, you will also have a claim against the assets of the deceased driver.

May 25, 2011

Can My Lawyer Put My Settlement Check in His Trust Account?

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

My case just settled. I went to my lawyer’s office today, and signed the check and a release of all claims. My lawyer then said that he needed to put the check in his trust account and I could have my money in about 10 days. Can he do that?

Your lawyer is doing exactly what he should do. Lawyers maintain trust accounts to hold client funds. Your lawyer was required to deposit that check into his trust account and not disburse any funds until the check was paid by the issuing party’s bank.

Some checks take as long as ten business days to clear. Believe it or not, last year I had a settlement check issued by a defendant bounce. Thus, if I would have paid the money to my client without ensuring the check had been paid by the issuing bank I would have been giving my client money that belonged to another client. That would create a big problem, both for my clients and for me.

May 24, 2011

My Lawyer Messed Up And Did Not File Lawsuit on Time!

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

I was hurt in a car wreck in Lebanon, Tennessee last year. I hired a lawyer two months after the wreck. He called me last week, and told me he forgot to file my lawsuit on time. He said he filed it late and hopes that the other side won’t say anything but that if they figure it out my case will be dismissed. What do I do now?

Your lawyer did the right thing by telling you that he made an error. The failure to file a lawsuit within the one year period required by Tennessee law is legal negligence absent extraordinary circumstances not apparent from your question.

You need to hire a different lawyer to help you evaluate your case and, if necessary and appropriate, assert a claim against the lawyer. To prove your case, you will need to prove that the lawyer committed malpractice by not filing the case on time. You will also need to prove that more likely than not you would have won the underlying case (the care wreck case). Lawyers refer to this second case as "the case within the case."