Where an HCLA plaintiff provided incomplete HIPAA authorizations with his pre-suit notice, the trial court should have granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. In Elmore v. Mills, No. E2023-01064-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 31, 2025), the plaintiff filed an HCLA suit against multiple defendants based on decedent’s death, who aspirated…
Where a premises liability plaintiff had no proof that a bench outside defendant restaurant was dangerous or defective, summary judgment for the defendant was affirmed. In Ellis v. Snookums Steakhouse, LLC, No. W2024-01165-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 11, 2025), the plaintiff ate at defendant restaurant before walking outside. When the…
Where the defendant posted false information about a previous plea agreement involving the plaintiff on Facebook, a $75,000 verdict for the plaintiff was affirmed. In Austin v. Plese, No. E2024-00586-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 11, 2025), the plaintiff and the defendant were neighbors. During a disagreement, the defendant posted on…
Because the plaintiff’s damages resulted from her wrongful arrests, the gravamen of her complaint was malicious prosecution. In Jacobi v. VendEngine Inc., No. M2023-01459-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2025), the defendant operated a messaging system for inmates. When a person sent a message through this system, he or she…
Where an HCLA plaintiff added a claim for wrongful death to her health care liability action after her husband passed away, but she failed to file a certificate of good faith with her amended complaint, dismissal was affirmed. In Allen v. Dehner, No. M2023-01750-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2025),…
Where an HCLA plaintiff failed to provide deposition dates for her expert witness by the deadline listed in the scheduling order, but she filed a motion to revise the scheduling order on the day of the deposition deadline, exclusion of the plaintiff’s expert was too harsh a sanction and was…
A legal malpractice claim filed eighteen months after the Court of Appeals affirmed the underlying conviction was time-barred. In Lee v. Richardson, No. M2024-01130-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 21, 2025), the Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a pro se legal malpractice complaint based on the statute of limitations. The…
A doctor’s experience in an emergency room did not make him competent to testify under the HCLA about the post-surgical care the plaintiff received. In Hurley v. Pickens, No. E2023-01610-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 4, 2025), the plaintiff filed a health care liability claim based on the care he received…
In a negligence case, a brief reference to the lottery during opening statements and an unintentional mention of employment benefits that paid partial wages during the plaintiff’s time off work were not enough to require overturning the jury verdict for defendant. In Campbell v. T.C. Restaurant Group, LLC, No. M2024-00362-COA-R3-CV…
Because the HIPAA authorizations included with a health care liability plaintiff’s pre-suit notice included limiting language, the authorizations did not comply with the HCLA and thus plaintiff’s medical malpractice claims were dismissed. In Curtis v. Sharp, No. E2023-01583-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 29, 2025), the plaintiff sent pre-suit notice of…