Personal Injury Law

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Expert Witnesses - Admissibility of Testimony

Posted on April 01, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 26.2     Admissibility of Testimony The Case: Brown v...

Senator Overbey Defends the Legal Profession

Posted on March 30, 2011
When Senator Campfield slammed lawyers on March 29, 2011 in a Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Doug Overbey let it be known that he did not appreciate the unkind words of his fellow Republican. See the debate on SB 0127 here.  Debate on the bill starts at 2:04:44...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Expert Witnesses - Adequacy of Expert Witness Disclosures

Posted on March 30, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 26.1     Adequacy of Expert Witness Disclosures  The Case: Walls v...

Tennessee Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Important Case Concerning Expert Witnesses

Posted on March 29, 2011
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on May 11, 2011 in Holder v. Westgate Resorts, Ltd.,  E2009-01312-SC-R11-C (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010). Here is the summary of the opinion prepared by the Court of Appeals: Plaintiff sustained personal injuries resulting from a fall on defendant's premises and brought this action for damages, which resulted in a jury verdict in favor of plaintiff for damages against defendant...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Sale of Gasoline to Intoxicated Motorist

Posted on March 25, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.8     Sale of Gasoline to Intoxicated Motorist The Case: West v...

Re-Payment of Health Insurance Plans Covered by ERISA

Posted on March 24, 2011
On a weekly, if not daily, basis, plaintiff's personal injury lawyers have to deal with subrogation interests.  Many of those subrogation claims involve the law of ERISA.   This opinion out of the Illinois Court of Appeals addresses the issue of disputes over the amount of money to be re-paid to the holder of the subrogation interest...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Helpless or Inattentive Plaintiffs

Posted on March 23, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.7     Helpless or Inattentive Plaintiffs  The Case: Downs ex rel...

Court of Appeals Modifies Herpes Verdict

Posted on March 22, 2011
Thomas Redmon gave the plaintiff herpes.  He knew that he had the disease for over 25 years before he had sexual relations with the plaintiff.  He knew that there was some risk in transmitting the disease even if he was lesion-free.  He did not tell plaintiff that he had the disease before their first several sexual interactions, but later told her that he had the disease...

Lawyer In Fee Dispute Should Have Sued Client, Not Former Co-Counsel

Posted on March 21, 2011
Lawyer A is hired to bring a personal injury case on behalf of an injured person.   With the consent of the injured person, Lawyer A associates Lawyer B.   The contract between A and B includes a fee split arrangement.  Injured person consents to fee split and the contract...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Duty of Teachers and Schools

Posted on March 18, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.6     Duty of Teachers and Schools The Case: Mason v...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Duty of Railroad to Maintain Visibility at Crossings

Posted on March 16, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.5     Duty of Railroad to Maintain Visibility at Crossings The Case: Martin v...

Pigeon Poop Expert

Posted on March 15, 2011
A plaintiff in a slip and fall case in New York was permitted to testify as an expert on pigeon droppings. The plaintiff in Stewart v. New York City Tr. Auth.  2011 NY Slip Op 01593  (NY 1st App. Div. Mar. 3, 2011) slipped and fell on pigeon poop at a subway station...

Anti-Tort Reform Article

Posted on March 10, 2011
is an article by Larry Beinhart explaining how  and why Corporate America seeks to limit access to our courts by pushing so-called "tort reform" legislation. Here A sample:  Big business hates lawsuits. They hate being made accountable...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Duty Arising Because of Special Relationship

Posted on March 09, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.3     Duty Arising Because of Special Relationship The Case:  Biscan v...

Truck Driver Has A Duty Not To Park Along Roadside

Posted on March 08, 2011
The California Supreme Court has ruled that a truck driver may be held liable for parking his vehicle along a freeway to have a snack where regulations permitted only emergency parking. The entire opinion has a fascinating discussion of the law of duty, but the following gives you a flavor for the balance of the opinion: If stopping 16 feet from the traffic lanes exempts a driver from the duty of care, does the same hold for parking six feet from the lane?  Six inches?  If we are to create immunity for a truck driver stopping for a few minutes to have a snack, should we also do so for one who decides to sleep for hours by the roadside rather than pay for a motel room?  Would the categorical exemption Ralphs seeks still apply if a tractor-trailer driver parked an inch from the traffic lanes, on the outside of a curve, leaving the rig there all night without lights?  To ask these questions is to see why a categorical exemption is not appropriate...

Personal Injury Claims and Bankruptcy Petitions

Posted on March 07, 2011
What happens when a personal injury plaintiff files a bankruptcy petition?  What happens if that plaintiff fails to disclose in the bankruptcy petition that he has a personal injury claim that has not yet been filed?    How does a bankruptcy court discharge affect the plaintiff's rights to later file his personal injury claim? The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently addressed these issues in the case of Reynolds v...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Designated Driver

Posted on March 04, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.2     Designated Driver  The Case: Downs v...

Alabama Decision on Jury Selection Sends A Warning to All Trial Lawyers

Posted on March 03, 2011
     A recent opinion from the Alabama Supreme Court reminds us that  many things – even obscure things -  can cause a reversal of jury verdict.         In Ford Motor Co. v. Duckett, No...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Duty - Generally

Posted on March 02, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 25.1     Generally The Case: Burroughs v. Magee, 118 S...

The Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter Year in Review - 2010 Part 2

Posted on March 01, 2011
Yesterday I shared data on auto negligence cases from Shannon Ragland's Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter Year in Review 2010.  You can order your own copy of the publication here.  Here is some other data of interest: There were 33 medical malpractice  jury trials in the covered one-year period...

The Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter Year in Review - 2010

Posted on February 28, 2011
Shannon Ragland from Louisville, KY has a company called Jury Verdict Publications.  Shannon gathers jury verdict data in several states and  publishes a monthly report for each state.  He also publishes an annual review for each state, which includes all of the jury verdicts for the prior year and analyzes the data that he has gathered...

Why Is It That Tort Reformers Can't Shoot Straight With the Public?

Posted on February 28, 2011
  Experienced trial lawyers - heck, people with experience in life - know that when people have a valid point to make they don't have any reason to misrepresent facts. So when Justin Owen of Tennessee Center for Policy Research talks about the need for tort reform, you would think he would make an effort to state facts...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Defamation - Truth and Other Defenses

Posted on February 25, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 24.9     Truth and Other Defenses The Case:   Ali v...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Defamation - Publication

Posted on February 23, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 24.8     Publication  The Case: Sullivan v...

SCOTUS Allows Lawsuits Over Seat Belts

Posted on February 23, 2011
From Reuters:  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal regulations setting vehicle safety standards do not bar lawsuits seeking damages from automakers for installing lap-only seat belts. The unanimous ruling held that a California lawsuit against Mazda Motor Corp...

Arizona Court Holds That Medical Expense Claims Belong to Child and Parents

Posted on February 21, 2011
The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed prior law and held  that a claim for medical expenses arising out of a personal injury to a child may be asserted by the child or the parents, but not both. The case is Estate of Madison Alexis Desela v. Prescott Unified School District,  No...

Secret Memo Found in Hotel Bar

Posted on February 19, 2011
With the current effort to help health care providers avoid full responsibility for their actions gaining steam in our state legislature, it seems appropriate to re-print this post from five years ago, with slight modifications. I found this memo at an empty corner table in the bar in the basement of the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville, sitting on table next to an empty bottle of Opus and two wine glasses...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Defamation - Private Person v Public Figure

Posted on February 18, 2011
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases.  To order the book go here. § 24.7     Private Person vs. Public Figure The Case: Hibdon v...

Application of Comparative Fault to Economic Loss

Posted on February 17, 2011
The Missouri Supreme Court has determined that comparative fault principles should apply to cases where the loss suffered by the plaintiff is purely economic. In Children's Wish Foundation, International, Inc. v. Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C.,   No...

Governor's Tort Reform Bill Introduced

Posted on February 17, 2011
Governor Haslam (R-Tenn.) has introduced his tort reform bill which, among other things, imposes an arbitrary cap on  the damages a jury may award for pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium (in both personal injury cases and wrongful death cases)...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.