Articles Tagged with comparative negligence

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a plaintiff who lost a medical malpractice case in federal court was not estopped from pursing a case against a State-employed doctor even though the federal court jury assigned no fault to the doctor, a non-party in the federal court action.

An excerpt:

We have determined that the proceeding in federal court did not provide Ms. Mullins with a full and fair opportunity to litigate her medical negligence claims against Dr. Mejia. It is undisputed that Ms. Mullins could not, as a matter of law, recover monetary damages from either Dr. Mejia or the State in the federal proceedings. Common sense also dictates that it would have been foolhardy for Ms. Mullins to press her claim that Dr. Mejia had been negligent in the federal proceeding because doing so would have diluted the strength of her claims against the remaining defendants and would have profited her little in later proceedings against Dr. Mejia. [Footnotes omitted.]

Do you have a question about comparative fault law in Tennessee?  Or the interaction between comparative fault law and civil procedure?  If so, you may wish to consult Tennessee Law of Comparative Fault.

Donald Capparella and I wrote the original edition of the book, and John Wood joined us for the second and third editions.    Unfortunately, West Publishing does very little to let Tennessee lawyers know that the book exists.Here is a listing of the book’s chapters:

  1. Comparative Fault in Tennessee Before McIntryre
  2. The McIntyre Decision
  3. Transitional Cases
  4. Joint and Several Liability
  5. Assignment of Fault
  6. Causation and Comparative Fault
  7. Assumption of Risk
  8. Premises Liability
  9. Products Liability
  10. Effect of Comparative Fault on Common Law Tort Doctrines
  11. Settlement Issues
  12. Civil Procedure Considerations
  13. Persons Under Disabilities
  14. Loss of Consortium and Services Claims
  15. Wrongful Death

The book is available here for $118.15 (no shipping charge).  West Publishing says the book is sold in hardcover – that is incorrect.  It is a softcover book.

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