Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

My newest article, “Gender-Affirming Care Creates Tort Liability,” as published in the Tennessee Bar Journal.

One thing you can do to become a great trial lawyer is to listen to great trial lawyers speak about the profession. The American College of Trial Lawyers has a podcast that does just that.  The podcast will be starting its sixth season this summer, but there are over 20…

Where plaintiff alleged that her son’s body was buried in the wrong place within a cemetery and brought several claims, including negligent mishandling of a dead human body, against defendant funeral home, summary judgment for the funeral home was affirmed based on the finding that the funeral home “had no…

I strongly encourage you to add “Trial Tested” to your list of podcasts. “Trial Tested” is a podcast sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers.  It “presents enlightening discussions about life and law through interviews with prominent trial lawyers and significant figures in the world of trial law.”  The…

As 2022 comes to a close, here is a brief summary of the cases pending before the Tennessee Supreme Court. There are twenty civil cases pending before the Court.  The “oldest” pending cases (calculated from the date of oral argument) are Gardner and Ultsch – both cases were argued April 6, 2022.  Review…

When appealing a trial court’s order dismissing or refusing to dismiss a case under the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA), the appeal “must be filed within thirty days of the entry of that order.” In Laferney v. Livesay, No. E2021-00812-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 14199150 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 25, 2022), plaintiff…

When calculating post-judgment interest, the statutory rate in effect when the judgment is entered applies for the entire time period between entry of the judgment and its payment. In Coffey v. Coffey, No. E2021-00433-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 1085039 (Tenn. Ct. App. April 11, 2022), plaintiff had won a large judgment against…

A new decision of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Southern Steel & Concrete, Inc. v. Southern Steel & Construction, Inc.,  No. W2020-00475-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 14, 2022), summarizes Tennessee’s law on alter ego issues. Here is some key language from the opinion (all of the language in bold is quoted…

Where plaintiff gave her husband permission to sign her name to an indemnity agreement in conjunction with obtaining insurance bonds, and plaintiff’s husband had the opportunity to read the indemnity agreement and discover its contents, summary judgment on plaintiff’s negligent misrepresentation claim against the insurance agent who allegedly stated that…

Where a company had properly rejected uninsured motorist coverage for its fleet of vehicles in 2002, and the company submitted standard information for its 2011 policy renewal, the 2002 rejection remained in effect and uninsured motorist coverage was not part of the company’s automobile insurance policy. In Hughes v. The…