Where plaintiff alleged that defendant attorney fraudulently charged a higher hourly rate than what was agreed upon, the trial court should have engaged in a three-factor analysis to determine whether the written fee agreement could be used to defeat the fraud claim. In Vazeen v. Sir, No. M2019-01395-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct.…
Today we follow up on our previous post about the number of civil trials in Tennessee and we concentrate on the number of trials in Tennessee personal injury, wrongful death and other tort cases. (Health care liability trials are excluded from these numbers.) In the fiscal year ending June 30,…
The number of trials in Tennessee state court appears to have declined again in 2020. What follows is the number of jury and non-jury trials in Tennessee state courts for the indicated fiscal years (July 1 – June 30): Year Chancery …
Tennessee Justice Programs has released it Fall 2020 on-demand video seminar CLE programs. Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley, and I started Justice Programs almost 20 years ago. The seminar program is designed for civil trial practitioners who are interested in…
The American Bar Association has adopted a paper describing best practices for third-party litigation funding. The paper does “not take a position on a number of litigation funding issues – for example, whether litigation funding should be permitted, as a matter of law or legal ethics, in any particular jurisdiction…
When determining the amount of attorneys’ fees to award in a post-settlement attorney fee dispute, the trial court should have considered the relevant facts and factors contained in Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.5(a). In Cordova v. Nashville Ready Mix, Inc., No. M2018-02002-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 19, 2020), the…
The coronavirus has impacted the service of summons and complaints as many sheriff’s departments make the effort to reduce human contact. Indeed, the coronavirus is having not only a short-term impact on the civil justice system but will have a long-term impact as well. Today we discuss an alternative to…
Sometimes companies that do business or cause harm in Tennessee have not registered to do business in Tennessee or have not appointed a registered agent in the state. If you want to sue them in a civil action (but not a worker’s compensation action), on whom to you serve the…
Today we follow up on our previous post about the number of civil trials in Tennessee and we concentrate on the number of trials in Tennessee personal injury, wrongful death and other tort cases. (Health care liability trials are excluded from these numbers.) In the fiscal year ending June 30,…
I have been compiling the Tennessee tort reform statutes, and the court decisions interpreting them, for a decade. I recently released another edition of my book, Compendium on Tort Reform Statutes and Related Case Law, 2008-2019. The book contain 549 pages of information helpful to tort lawyers. The best use…