This summer the Tennessee Supreme Court offered guidance on what a trial court must do when granting or denying a motion for summary judgment under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04. Despite the longstanding practice of many courts to have a prevailing party draft and submit a proposed order,…
The case of Jernigan v. Hunter, No. M2013-01860-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 30, 2014) begins in January 2006, when John Jernigan was stabbed and beaten to death by two men, a father and son, inside a Nashville strip club. Father pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in his criminal proceeding, and…
From the American Association for Justice: The New England Journal of Medicine published a new study on the effects of tort reform on emergency room department treatments. The researchers examined Medicare emergency room fee-for-service claims data from 1997-2011 in Texas, Georgia and South Carolina, all of which changed their emergency…
Here are the verdicts collected by the October, 2014 Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter: Health Care Liability – epidural steroid injection with back injury – June 27, 2014 – defense verdict in state court in Davidson County Abuse of Process – photographer arrested – August 22, 2014 – defense verdict in…
In Bilbrey v. Parks, No. E2013-02808-COA-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 29, 2014), a negligence case arising from a car accident, the Court of Appeals recently addressed two evidentiary issues. Plaintiff, her aunt, and her boyfriend were in plaintiff’s car when it ran out of gas. The car was pushed onto…
The Belmont Law Review published an article I wrote about the made-whole doctrine in its inaugural issue. Here is a description of the article. This Article proposes the adoption of the “Modified Made-Whole Doctrine Proposal." Part I begins by explaining the roots of the law of subrogation rights and its…
The recent opinion in Byrge v. Campfield, et al., No. E2013-01223-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 8, 2014) serves as a good reminder of Tennessee defamation law involving a public figure. In October 2008, Stacey Campfield, then a Republican State Representative for Tennessee’s 18th District, posted on his political blog an…
The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently issued an important decision regarding the interplay between the savings statute and tolling agreements. The facts of Circle C Const., LLC v. Hilson, M2013-02330-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. App. Jul. 29, 2014), are a bit convoluted but critical to understanding the case. Plaintiff had a judgment entered against…
Tthis is a premise liability case arising from the collapse of a bench in a handicap shower at the defendant’s hotel. Upon checking into their handicap room at the Holiday Inn Express, the Parkers noticed the bench in the handicap shower appeared to be loose. The brackets were pulled away…
The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion dealing with a circumstance when service of process was designed “unclaimed” by the U.S. Postal Service. In Goodman v. Ocunmola, No. E2014-00045-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 4, 2014), wife sued husband for divorce and served husband with a summons and complaint…