A mailman’s notation on a certified letter sent by the Secretary of State did not constitute proper service of process in a car accident case. In Lowe v. Harvey, No. E2024-01588-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 27, 2025), the plaintiff and defendant were in a car accident, and the defendant lived…
The Tennessee Products Liability Act (“TPLA”) does not apply extraterritorially, and therefore dismissal of a case where the plaintiffs’ injuries occurred in the Dominican Republic was affirmed. In Renel v. Drexel Chemical Company, No. W2023-01693-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 6, 2025), the plaintiffs worked in the sugar cane industry. The…
The defendant city was immune from suit under the Tennessee Recreational Use Statute for the plaintiff’s personal injuries incurred while he was playing golf on a city golf course. In Bates v. City of Chattanooga, No. E2024-00857-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 4, 2025), the plaintiff fell down steps while playing…
Where the trial court granted a TPPA motion to dismiss on two grounds, but the plaintiffs addressed only one of the grounds in their appeal, dismissal was affirmed. In Black v. Baldwin, No. M2024-00151-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 3, 2025), the defendant’s daughter moved in with the plaintiffs, causing issues…
An expert witness in an HCLA case who admittedly did not know any information about the hospital that administered treatment, including what services it offered or its size, and had never spoken to anyone who worked there or been there in person, did not satisfy the locality rule. In Bowen…
Summary judgment for a nuisance claim was affirmed where the plaintiffs failed to provide any evidence beyond their own affirmations that a nuisance existed. In Heatley v. Estate of Gaither, No. M2024-01097-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 29, 2025), the plaintiffs and the defendants lived on two plots of land that…
Where a trial court’s ruling that a plaintiff’s rotator cuff injury was not caused by a car accident was not supported by the evidence, the ruling was reversed. In Payne v. Shelby County, Tennessee, No. W2024-00641-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 23, 2025), the plaintiff was riding in the front of…
Where an HCLA plaintiff filed unsigned HIPAA authorizations with her complaint, but at least one defendant admitted that the HIPAA authorization it received was actually signed, dismissal was reversed. In Buckner v. Complete Wellness Chiropractic Center, No. E2024-00698-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 15, 2025), the plaintiff suffered long-term complications after…
When a trial court’s denial of a TPPA petition for dismissal had been appealed, and the Court of Appeals had remanded the case with instructions for the trial court to enter an order containing sufficient findings of fact and conclusions of law, the plaintiff was not entitled to voluntarily dismiss…
The special duty exception to GTLA immunity did not apply where the police department in question owed a duty to investigate a crime to the public at large, and the plaintiff could not use the reckless misconduct special duty exception because the GTLA does not remove immunity for recklessness. In…