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Day on Torts

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Prejudgment interest included in “all damages” language in uninsured motorist insurance policy.

  Where plaintiff’s uninsured motorist insurance policy stated that it covered “all damages” and prejudgment interest was not listed as a specific exception to coverage, the Court of Appeals ruled that the policy language was “sufficiently broad to include prejudgment interest.” In Lewis v. State Farm, No. W2019-01493-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct.…

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Non-compliant HIPAA Authorization Leads to Dismissal of Tennessee Malpractice Case

Where a Tennessee HCLA plaintiff sent a HIPAA authorization that failed to allow the defendants to obtain records from each other, the trial court’s finding that plaintiff did not comply with the statutory requirements and that the suit was thus time-barred was affirmed. In Dial v. Klemis, No. W2019-02115-COA-R3-CV (Tenn.…

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Summary judgment affirmed where plaintiff knew about leak before she slipped.

Where a residential tenant and property owner both knew about a leak which formed a puddle of water that caused plaintiff to slip, defendants property owner and property manager were not liable for plaintiff’s injuries and summary judgment was affirmed. In Richardson v. H & J Properties, LLC, No. W2019-02082-COA-R3-CV…

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Defamation claimed barred by ecclesiastical abstention doctrine

Where plaintiff’s tort claims against the church and church elders where he was previously pastor were all connected to the church’s termination of plaintiff as pastor and his resistance to that termination, the claims were barred by the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. In Maize v. Friendship Community Church, Inc., No. E2019-00183-COA-R3-CV…

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Jury finding that plaintiff was 60% at fault for car accident affirmed.

  Where plaintiff and defendant gave differing versions of a car accident, the photographs of the vehicles could be interpreted to support defendant’s version of events, and the jury appeared to credit defendant by finding plaintiff 60% at fault, the Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s verdict and the trial…

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No misrepresentation based on acreage where accurate plat was public record.

Where the correct acreage of a piece of real property was contained on a publicly recorded plat, plaintiffs could not maintain a cause of action for misrepresentation or concealment based on the seller or realtor stating that the property was larger than it actually was. In Archer v. The Home…

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Sanctions based on HCLA Certificate of Good Faith Denied

Where defendant pharmacists alleged comparative fault against a doctor and filed a certificate of good faith that complied with all the necessary requirements of the statute, the trial court’s decision to deny sanctions based on the allegation that the “certificate of good faith was supported by the written statement of…

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Pharmacist not qualified to give causation testimony in medically complex HCLA case.

Where plaintiff’s pharmacist expert was deemed incompetent to offer necessary causation testimony against the pharmacy defendants in an HCLA suit based on his inability to rule out possible causes of death in a complex medical case, summary judgment for those defendants was affirmed. In Kidd v. Dickerson, No. M2018-01133-COA-R3-CV (Tenn.…

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New trial affirmed where defendant shifted blame after failing to plead comparative fault.

Where the defendant in an HCLA case did not plead comparative fault, but during his testimony at trial stated that the reason he failed to take certain actions was because the nurses never notified him of the patient’s chest pain, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling…

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