This case involves the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Act and the application of the three-year statute of repose. On December 19, 1999, Jessie Bentley suffered severe injuries during labor and delivery by the defendant medical providers. Suit was not filed until February 1, 2013 and the defendants all immediately moved for…
The Tennessee Court of appeals recently affirmed a jury’s defense verdict in a rear-end car crash case in Hicks v. Prahl, No. E2013-00285-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. March 25, 2014). Plaintiff was driving on an entrance ramp trying to merge onto a highway when, according to her testimony, she slowed down…
The Tennessee General Assembly has passed, and the Governor has signed, legislation adding nurse practitioners to the list of people who are ordinarily exempt from subpoena to trial. Nurse practitioners are still subject to being subpoenaed to give a deposition. Here are the other people who are exempt from…
The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently held that a General Sessions plaintiff cannot skip the procedure for filing unserved process to avoid letting the statute of limitations run. Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-15-902 requires a plaintiff in General Sessions court to return process within 60 days of issuance. § 16-15-902 does…
This is yet another Tennessee medical malpractice (health care liability) notice case and the issue is whether strict compliance is required for T.C.A. § 29-26-121 (a)(3) and (4), which requires an affidavit from the party mailing the notice. The underlying procedural facts were not in dispute: plaintiff fully and strictly complied…
Memphis, Tennessee medical malpractice cases always seem to have a more than their fair share of twists and turns. This health care liability case has more twists and turns than the Cherohala Skyway TN 165 / NC143 from Tellico Plains to Robbinsville ( a great road for our motorcycling friends). During…
In Nardone v. Cartwright, et al., No. E2013-00522-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. March 17, 2014), Plaintiff sued his previous employer for slander (spoken defamation) and libel (written defamation). The case arose after Plaintiff quit his job and was told that he would not receive his final paycheck until he turned in…
A defendant’s failure to seek appropriate relief when filing a motion to dismiss deprived the Tennessee Court of Appeals of jurisdiction to hear the dispute. Plaintiff was a family owned limited partnership that held a rare collection of William Eggleston photography. The family partnership contracted with Defendant Christie’s Inc., the…
Health care liability attorneys for defendants want the right to have private meetings with the doctors of patients who sue health care providers. Not just with the doctors who were sued, but also the other doctors who treated the patient over the years. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled years ago…
A plaintiff’s verdict in a slip-and-fall case against the county school board was recently overturned by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Traylor v. Shelby County Board of Education, No. W2013-00836-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 27, 2014). Plaintiff was a sophomore at Bolton High School in Shelby County when he…