Where “application of the operation-of-law exception would bar a vicarious liability claim that is timely filed within the [HCLA’s] extended statute of limitations solely because the statute of limitations had expired for any claims against the principal’s agents, the exception must give way to the [HCLA].” In two nearly identical…
The Tennessee General Assembly has modified Tenn. Code Ann. Section 20-1-119 to make it clear that the plaintiff gets the benefits of the statute even if the fault allegations against a nonparty are made by a uninsured/underinsured motorist insurer. The new legislation, Public Chapter No. 294, states as follows: Section…
Have you checked out my newest blog? Practical Procedure is a blog about, well, practical procedure and evidence issues for trial lawyers. I have several sources for the issues I discuss on the blog. First, if I see something in a new Tennessee Court of Appeals or Supreme Court opinion…
Where plaintiff was in a car accident when she was four years old, and her parents filed a personal injury suit purporting to represent her once she turned 18, the trial court properly granted summary judgment based on the statute of limitations. The parents, who were not attorneys, could not…
Where plaintiff originally filed a health care liability suit under the GTLA against multiple defendants, but before any responsive pleading was filed plaintiff filed an amended complaint naming only the physician as a defendant, a subsequent notice and order of voluntary dismissal entered as to the defendants not named in…
Where a GTLA case involves both governmental and non-governmental defendants and a party demands a jury trial, the entire case is to be heard by the jury. In Vandyke v. Cheek, No. M2022-00938-COA-R10-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 3, 2023), plaintiff filed suit after a car accident caused in part by…
Where the trial court took judicial notice of items from the court case underlying a tort action for invasion of privacy, abuse of process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, it did not convert the motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment and dismissal of the claims based…
Where plaintiffs’ appellate brief failed to include appropriate citations to the record and failed to “even address the revised judgment from which they appealed,” summary judgment for defendants on claims of intentional and/or negligent misrepresentation was affirmed in a memorandum opinion. In Smith v. Walker, No. W2022-00748-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App.…
Don’t forget to check out my newest blog, Practical Procedure and Evidence. The blog addresses procedural issues at the trial and appellate level and the law of evidence. I write about issues that are of interest to lawyers working in the trenches of civil trial law. The law of procedure…
In an HCLA case discovery dispute, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiff’s testifying experts’ “notes, drafts, and communications with counsel” were discoverable under the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and that plaintiff had waived any claim that the requested items were privileged. In Starnes v. Akinlaja, No. E2021-01308-COA-R10-CV…