In Crutchfield v. State, No. M2015-01199-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 18, 2016), plaintiff sued the State for alleged negligence regarding a fire alarm in her college dorm room at Tennessee Technological University (TTU), a state university. While the claims commission found for plaintiff and awarded her damages, the Court of…
In 2007, the Tennessee legislature enacted Tenn. Code Ann. § 44-8-413, which addresses injuries caused by dogs. This statute draws a distinction between (1) injuries caused by a dog “running at large” and (2) injuries caused by a dog on its owner’s property. For the latter group, the statute provides…
A recent Court of Appeals case reminds plaintiffs’ attorneys of the importance of diligently reading any answer filed and working quickly to remedy problems related to the proper party being named and/or service of process. In Urban v. Nichols, No. E2014-00907-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 4, 2015), plaintiff filed a…
In a somewhat rare move, the Tennessee Court of Appeals recently overturned a trial court’s ruling for plaintiff in a negligence case. In Tenn. Farmers Mut. Ins. Co. a/s/o Couch v. Jackson Madison School System Bd. of Educ., No. W2014-02218-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 15, 2015), plaintiff was driving a…
In Hayes v. Coopertown’s Mastersweep, Inc., No. W2014-00783-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. April 17, 2015), plaintiffs brought a negligence claim based on the alleged negligent inspection of their fireplace. Two issues were addressed on appeal—whether defendant owed a duty of care to plaintiffs and whether this case fell under the four-year…
Under what circumstances can a franchisor be held vicariously liable for torts that occur on the premises of a franchisee? A relatively recent court opinion has an excellent discussion of the law in this area, addressing not only the law of the state where the cause of action arose (New Mexico) but…
The plaintiff in Akers v. McLemore Auction Co., LLC, No. M2012-02398-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 27, 2014) chose to hire an auction company to sell his real and personal property that the plaintiff valued at more than $350,000, but chose to go pro se in suing the auction company. That…
Interested in the circumstances under which a general contractor can be held liable for the acts of a sub-contractor? Here is my article on one aspect of the subject in the TBA Journal.
A recent opinion of the Tennessee Court of Appeals in case reminds us that a company’s internal policies, while not dispositive, are relevant to the standard of care for its employees. After a bench trial, the trial court found Defendant was not negligent, and the Court of Appeals reversed based…
The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary. Over the next few days I will share some data from the Report. We begin with medical malpractice cases. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, 429 medical malpractice cases were…