Where defendant in a negligence and premises liability case filed a motion for summary judgment just three days after filing her answer, and the trial court denied plaintiff’s motion for additional time to conduct discovery and granted summary judgment to defendant, that ruling was vacated on appeal. In Graves v.…
Where defendants filed a motion to dismiss under the TPPA and plaintiff thereafter filed a voluntary dismissal of one of the defendants, but the trial court denied the voluntary dismissal, defendants did not have the right to automatically appeal the voluntary dismissal denial under the TPPA, as the TPPA…
My other blog is Practical Procedure and Evidence. This is where I share new case law and practical tips on using the rules of procedure and evidence in your Tennessee law practice. By way of example, today’s post addresses the issue of whether a plaintiff who is facing a motion…
According to the Tennessee Supreme Court, where an HCLA defendant did not assert in his answer that a non-party physician was the cause-in-fact of plaintiff’s injuries, the trial court did not err by excluding evidence supporting that allegation at trial, even when the defendant did not seek to prove that…
A disabled person’s conservator had the authority to enter into a consent agreement releasing the person’s HCLA claims against a doctor without approval from the probate court. In Hamilton v. Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hospitals, No. W2022-00054-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 16, 2023), plaintiff filed an HCLA suit as conservator on…
Plaintiff’s argument that defendant was equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense based on vague statements by defendant’s insurance carrier adjuster that a limitations defense would not be raised and that there was no rush in providing releases was rejected. In Barrett v. Garton, No. M2022-01064-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct.…
My other blog, Practical Procedure and Evidence, has an updated post discussing the law of damages for frivolous appeal. The post includes citations to cases where damages for frivolous appeal appeal have been granted and denied in the last four months. Writing a brief on appeal? Save yourself at least…
Where defendant moved for a directed verdict after the close of plaintiff’s proof but failed to renew the motion at the close of all proof, and did not file a post-trial motion seeking a new trial, defendant waived review of the denial of the motion for directed verdict as well…
Where “application of the operation-of-law exception would bar a vicarious liability claim that is timely filed within the [HCLA’s] extended statute of limitations solely because the statute of limitations had expired for any claims against the principal’s agents, the exception must give way to the [HCLA].” In two nearly identical…
The Tennessee General Assembly has modified Tenn. Code Ann. Section 20-1-119 to make it clear that the plaintiff gets the benefits of the statute even if the fault allegations against a nonparty are made by a uninsured/underinsured motorist insurer. The new legislation, Public Chapter No. 294, states as follows: Section…