Personal Injury Law

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Damages - Collateral Source Rule

Posted on December 03, 2010
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. § 23.3      Collateral Source Rule The Case: Fye v...

Drugs and Drivers

Posted on December 01, 2010
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported  that post-mortem testing has demonstrated an increase in the level of drug involvement among fatally injured drivers over a five-year period from 2005 to 2009. According to data compiled by NHTSA, 63 percent of the 21,798 drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2009 were tested for drugs...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Damages - Benefit of the Bargain Rule

Posted on December 01, 2010
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. § 23.2     Benefit of the Bargain Rule The Case: Haynes v...

NY Times: "Study Finds No Progress in Safety at Hospitals"

Posted on November 29, 2010
The November 25, 2010 New York Times has reported on a study that has found that no progress has been made at improving patient safety in hospitals. The study is reported in last week's New England Journal of Medicine.  It was conducted from 2002 to 2007 in 10 North Carolina hospitals, found that harm to patients was common and that the number of incidents did not decrease over time...

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Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Damages - Aggravation of a Pre-Existing Condition

Posted on November 26, 2010
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. § 23.1     Aggravation of a Pre-existing Condition The Case: Haws v...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Conversion - Generally

Posted on November 24, 2010
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. § 21.1     Generally The Case: H & M Enterprises, Inc...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Conspiracy - Conspiracy Is Not a Cause of Action

Posted on November 19, 2010
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. § 19.2     Conspiracy Is Not A Cause of Action   The Case: Foster Business Park, LLC...

Thoughts on Mediation

Posted on November 18, 2010
Mediation is an important part of personal injury and wrongful death litigation.  Indeed, my only significant quarrel with mediation is that defendants often refuse to engage in any settlement negotiations in significant cases without a formal mediation...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Conspiracy - Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine

Posted on November 17, 2010
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. § 19.3     Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine The Case:  Trau-Med of America, Inc...

AAJ Seminar on Changes to Medicare Subrogation Reporting Rules

Posted on November 17, 2010
AAJ Education's Breaking News in Medicare Secondary Payer Requirements: Moratorium on Reporting Teleseminar, November 23, will give you the breaking news and latest on Medicare Secondary Payer reporting requirements, the Bradley v. Sebelius 11th Circuit decision, what the moratorium means, and what happens next...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Conspiracy - Generally

Posted on November 16, 2010
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. § 19.1     Generally The Case: Brown v. Birman Managed Care, 42 S...

Preparing for Oral Arguments in the Appellate Courts

Posted on November 15, 2010
 Jay O'Keeffe has a written a great post called "10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before My First Oral Argument."  An excerpt: 3. Anticipate hard questions. As soon as I start working on an appeal, I create a document called "Tough Questions...

Medicare Reporting Rules Temporarily Abated

Posted on November 15, 2010
Hot off the press this morning from AAJ: As all of you are aware, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) implementation of the Section 111 reporting requirements of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP) for liability settlements and the penalties associated with improper lien resolution has created turmoil and delay for anyone trying to reach a settlement in any liability case...

Justice Programs Seminar in Nashville on November 18 and 19

Posted on November 13, 2010
Our Justice Programs seminar series will be held on Nov. 18 and 19 in Nashville.  Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley, and I also will present the two-day programs in Memphis (Dec. 9 and 10) and and Knoxville (Dec...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Statistics - Successful Claims Against Physicans

Posted on November 12, 2010
The United States Department of Health and Human Services maintains a databank of individuals who have had medical malpractice settlements or judgments  The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Integrity Data Bank (HIPDB) are information clearinghouses created by Congress to improve health care quality and reduce health care fraud and abuse in the U...

State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company's Profits Explode

Posted on November 11, 2010
Yesterday  I reported that SVMIC, the bedpan mutual that insures the vast majority of Tennessee doctors,  reduced its rates by 23.1% .  I also reported that  the company declared a $20,000,000 dividend.  The net effect of the dividend means that policyholders with a history of no paid claims will receive another 8% reduction (or so) in rates effective May 15, 2010...

Medical Malpractice Insurer Slashes Rates

Posted on November 10, 2010
In recent days I have shared several posts (here, here, here, and here) concerning the substantial reduction in the number of medical malpractice cases filed in Tennessee since the enactment of the law that mandates pre-suit notice and filing of a certificate of good faith...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings - Part 4

Posted on November 09, 2010
This is Part 4 of my report on medical malpractice filings in Tennessee for 2010.  (Here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) Today, I examine the county where I live, Williamson County.     Williamson County, Tennessee is on the southern border of Davidson County, which is the home of our state capital, Nashville...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings - Part 3

Posted on November 08, 2010
 This is Part 3 of my report on medical malpractice case filings in Tennessee.  (Click to read Part 1and Part 2.)  Here are the case filings for some of the larger counties in the state for the year ended September 30, 2010:   County                                                           Shelby                         88                                    Davidson                    67      Knox                           27    Hamilton                    17         Rutherford                 11         Montgomery                4       Washington                 9       Sullivan                       10          Maury                           4          Sumner                        8         Anderson                    7            Wilson                          2          Dickson                       1           As of the end of October, 2010, 55 counties had no medical malpractice cases filed in the 12 months preceding September 30, 2010 and seventeen counties only had 1 medical malpractice case filed in the period...

Justice Programs Seminar - Johnson City - This Week

Posted on November 07, 2010
 Our Justice Programs seminar series will be held on Nov. 11 and 12 in Johnson City.  Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley, and I also will present the two-day programs in Memphis (Dec...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Contribution - Actions Against the State of Tennessee

Posted on November 06, 2010
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. § 18.2     Actions Against the State of Tennessee The Case: Northland Ins...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings 2010 - Part 2

Posted on November 05, 2010
Yesterday I wrote about the decrease in the number of medical malpractice case filings since the new law requiring pre-suit notice and a certificate of good faith went into effect October 1,2008.    As I mentioned, the total number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed for the one-year period ending September 30, 2010 was 313...

Justice Programs Seminar 2011

Posted on November 04, 2010
Our Justice Programs seminar series will be held on Nov. 11 and 12 in Johnson City.  Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley, and I also will present the two-day programs in Memphis (Dec...

Iqual and Twombly Impact Pleading Standards Under FRCP Rule 8

Posted on November 04, 2010
FDCC Quarterly,  a publication of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, has published an article on the impact of the relatively recent decisions of United States Supreme Court in Iqual and Twombly.   This is how the authors summarize the holdings of the two decisions:   Together, Iqbal and Twombly held that, to comply with the pleading requirements of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must allege well-pleaded factual allegations (and not legal conclusions or bare recitations of the elements of a cause of action) that if presumed true 'plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings 2010 - Part 1

Posted on November 04, 2010
The preliminary numbers are in for 2010 and demonstrate that the statute providing for the giving of notice and filing a certificate of good faith has dramatically decreased the number of medical malpractice filings in Tennessee.  The new law came in to effect on October 1, 2008 and was modified effective July 1, 2009...

Leading Tennessee Tort Cases - Contribution - Generally

Posted on November 03, 2010
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. § 18.1     Generally The Case: General Electric Co...

Duty of Rental Car Companies to Check Driving Record of Renters

Posted on November 02, 2010
Does a rental car company have the duty to check the driving record of potential customers before renting them a car?  Does the fact that the records are available electronically have any impact on whether a duty exists? The California Court of Appeals recently considered these issues and re-affirmed an earlier ruling  that   (a) a car rental agency is "not negligent for entrusting a car to a person lawfully qualified and apparently fit to rent and drive it'  and (b) "an agency has no duty to ask questions to investigate the driving record of the customer, and that the agency may rely on presentation of a valid driver?s license as sufficient evidence of fitness to drive, absent a legislative declaration to the contrary...

Lawsuits Arising From Participation in Athletic Activities

Posted on November 01, 2010
What does tort law tell us about liability for injuries arising during sporting events and, in particular, contact sports?  The recent case of Feld v. Borkowski gives us the answer, at least from the standpoint of the Iowa Supreme Court. Plaintiff and defendant were playing intramural softball ...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Filings 2010 - Part 1

Posted on October 31, 2010
The preliminary numbers are in for 2010 and demonstrate that the statute providing for the giving of notice and filing a certificate of good faith has dramatically decreased the number of medical malpractice filings in Tennessee.  The new law came in to effect on October 1, 2008 and was modified effective July 1, 2009...

Tennessee Medical Malpractice Case Filings 2010 - Part 4

Posted on October 31, 2010
This is Part 4 of my report on medical malpractice filings in Tennessee for 2010.  (Here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) Today, I examine the county where I live, Williamson County.     Williamson County, Tennessee is on the southern border of Davidson County, which is the home of our state capital, Nashville...

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