In Dry v. Steele, the Tennessee Court of Appeals grappled with a procedural nightmare, including three related lawsuits separate from the one actually on appeal – a medical malpractice case, an action for interference with service of process, and a malicious prosecution case. Putting aside the morass of ancillary issues, the…
Tennessee law of tort liability of local governments gives rise to some strange scenarios, but this one is odder than most. In Harp v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, No. M2012-02047-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 22, 2014), the defendant, Metro, appealed a judgment entered in favor of one…
This is a healthcare liability case with the central issues being (1) compliance with the notice provisions of the statute; and (2) the statute of limitations. Here is the procedural history in the trial court: September 25, 2009 – Decedent presented to the emergency room at Defendant Parkwest Hospital …
The number of jury trials in Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death cases continues to drop. For the year ended June 30, 2013, there were only 213 jury trials. Add to that another 225 non-jury trials for a 438 total tort trials. Shelby County (District 30) had 53 tort trials,…
A Florida appellate court has recently restricted largely unfettered discovery from the Facebook account of a personal injury plaintiff who was filing suit because of injuries to her minor son. She also asserted her own claim for loss of parental consortium. Root v. Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, 2014 WL 444005…
Tennessee personal injury and wrongful death filings are down again. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, there were only 9868 tort filings in Tennessee circuit courts. The total number of filings for the year ending June 30, 2012 was 9933 The 2013 number represents less than a 1%…
This case is an example of when it is best to leave well enough alone. Along the tortured path of this case, the parties switched positions i.e, plaintiff became defendant and vice versa. To keep it simple, I am going to refer to Ms. Allain by her last name and the two…
You file a motion in limine to exclude testimony of defendant’s expert witness. The motion is denied. Do you have to object to the testimony of the expert at the time he or she testifies to preserve the issue for appeal? Maybe. The Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled that a later…
It takes a lot of time and money to get a medical malpractice (now called health care liability) case to trial in Tennessee. Thus, when such cases do get to trial, it is essential that the lawyers and parties follow the orders of the court concerning evidentiary matters such…
There are many hurdles to successfully bringing a premises liability case in Tennessee, and often the most difficult of which is proving that the defendant had notice of the dangerous condition allegedly responsible for causing the plaintiff’s injuries. In Merrell v. City of Memphis, Tennessee, No. W2013-00948-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan.…