Court of Appeals Says Savings Statute Trumps Statute of Repose

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has held that the savings statute trumps the products liability statute of repose.

In  Maino v. The Southern Company, Inc., d/b/a The Southern Company, et al., W2007-00225-COA-R9-CV  (Tenn. Ct. App. NOv. 19, 2007) the Western Section of the Court of Appeals held that a products liability case brought  under the savings statute was permitted to proceed even though the statute of repose expired during the savings period.

The Court said that "[p]ermitting a plaintiff to refile an action that originally was filed within the statute of limitations and ten-year statute of repose, non-suited, and refiled within the one-year period  permitted by the savings statute does not frustrate the legislative intent of achieving a degree of  predictability for the purposes of setting product liability insurance premiums. Unlike mental incompetency, the extension of time under the savings statute is neither unpredictable nor without limitation. Additionally, no surprise or hardship is worked on a defendant or its insurance carrier where actual notice of an asserted claim is had within the statutory period. On the other hand, the purpose and spirit of the longstanding savings statute is realized."

Read the opinion here.

Have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving.