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Articles Posted in Civil Procedure

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Summary judgment vacated where trial court order failed to give reasons for decision

  Where the trial court did not provide sufficient reasoning in support of its dismissal of plaintiffs’ various HCLA and informed consent claims, summary judgment for defendants was vacated. In Boyd v. Gibson, No. W2020-01305-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 95167 (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 10, 2022), plaintiff had been treated by defendant…

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Denial of motion to name correct defendant affirmed due to delay and lack of diligence

Where plaintiff named the wrong defendant in a Tennessee premises liability suit, was informed that the named defendant did not own the property three weeks after the complaint was filed, but failed to take any corrective action for more than four months when she filed a “Motion to Correct Misnomer”…

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Collection of Case Law on the Issue of Whether a Civil Trial Should be Conducted Virtually

The parties in Djeneba Sidibe et al. v. Sutter Health, Case No. 3:12-cv-04854-LB, a civil antitrust case in federal court in San Francisco, are in a dispute over whether a case ready for trial should be tried virtually.  Plaintiff seeks an immediate virtual trial.  Defendant opposes it. The joint submission…

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Practice Before the Tennessee Claims Commission

The Tennessee Claims Commission hears and adjudicates claims alleging that personal injury or wrongful death was caused by the acts or omissions of employees of the State of Tennessee.  The Commission also hears worker’s compensation claims asserted by State employees and breach of contract claims when the State is a…

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Cancellation rule should have applied to defendant’s contradictory testimony.

Where an insured driver stated under oath that he was driving another person’s truck in his capacity as a mechanic to test the vehicle, but then after a declaratory judgment action was filed by his insurance company he testified that he was driving the truck on a personal errand, the…

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Discretionary costs award to defendants affirmed.

Where the jury returned a verdict for defendants and the trial court awarded defendants certain discretionary costs, the judgment was affirmed because plaintiff had not properly raised several of his arguments in the trial court and “the trial court did not abuse its discretion on the remaining issues.” In Murphy…

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Plaintiff should have been allowed to revise voluntary dismissal where dismissal was not a final order.

Where plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the governmental entity that employed defendant doctor, then defendant doctor asserted in his answer that the employer was a necessary party under the GTLA, the trial court should have granted plaintiff’s motion to revise the order granting voluntary dismissal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure…

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Defendant doctor can be compelled to testify regarding standard of care of co-defendant nurse he supervises; Minor on Tenncare Has Right to Sue for Medical Expenses

Where defendant doctor was the supervising physician for defendant nurse midwife, the Court of Appeals ruled that he could be compelled to testify regarding his “expert opinion about the care and treatment provided by” the nurse.  And, perhaps more importantly, the court also ruled that a minor on TennCare has…

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Summary judgment reversed where tombstone fell and injured plaintiff.

Where plaintiff responded to a summary judgment motion by “offering proof of the cause of her injuries” from which a “rational trier of fact” could find in her favor, summary judgment should not have been granted. In Davis v. Keith Monuments, No. E2020-00792-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 29, 2021), plaintiff…

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