The Tennessee General Assembly has now placed arbitrary caps on damages in personal injury and wrongful death cases. And the House of Representatives just passed HR 5, which placed a caps on damages in medical malpractice cases. But how does the federal government value life when weighing regulatory burden? The…
Generally speaking, these are the rules for who may file a wrongful death lawsuit inTennessee: A lawsuit for the death of a husband can be filed by his wife, his executor or the administrator of his estate. A lawsuit for the death of a wife can be filed by her…
Two recent cases from the Alabama Supreme Court hold that a parent may bring a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a stillborn child that was incapable of life outside the womb. In Hamilton v. Scott, No. 1100192 (Ala. Feb. 17, 2012, Amy Hamilton alleged that several defendants negligently caused the…
The first law review article on the topic of "Wrongful death of children in foster care" has recently been published in the University of La Verne Law Review, 31(1), 25-44. The article is co-authored by Daniel Pollack, Professor, School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and a frequent expert witness in child welfare and foster care cases,…
When a person dies as a result of someone else’s negligence, Tennessee law permits only certain people to assert a claim to recover damages for the death. This article does not discuss who receives the damages awarded by settlement or judgment of the case, but only who has the right…
Dianne McLeod says a debt collector killed her husband Stanley. According to CNN, Ms. McLeod alleges that " her mortgage company, Green Tree Servicing, for the wrongful death of her husband. McLeod said she thinks he would be alive if not for the stress caused by Green Tree’s debt collectors.…
Economists in personal injury cases and wrongful death cases often consider work life expectancy tables in calculating future economic losses. As explained on this website, "[m]any laypersons (and some experts) assume that [worklife expectancy] is the number of years until the person turns 65, the historic age for full social security…
The Supreme Court of Vermont has held that the sibling of a decedent may maintain a wrongful death suit seeking damages for loss of companionship where the sibling is the "next of kin." The Vermont statute provides that in a wrongful death case the court jury may "give such damages…
This is a brief in response to a defendant’s motion in limine to exclude the expert witness testimony of an economist. The economist was disclosed in a wrongful death case arising out of the drowning of a three-year-old boy. The economist is expected to testify about the present value of…
It had to happen sooner or later. Neil allegedly died from medical negligence in New York. His partner, John, filed a wrongful death suit, alleging and proving that he and Neil had participated in a civil union in Vermont several years earlier and insisting that he could maintain a medical…