For more than a century, Tennessee courts have recognized that a tortfeasor “must accept the person as he finds him” and have allowed injured parties to recover all damages proximately caused by tortfeasors. This means that injured victims of negligence are allowed to recover damages for aggravation of pre-existing…
The Tennessee Bar Association has published the most recent edition of the Tennessee Bar Journal, which includes my latest article "Protecting Yourself From Statutes of Repose." The article discusses the impact of statutes of repose on tort recoveries in cases involving comparative fault and gives tips to lawyers on…
Do you need to file (or oppose) a motion to amend or a motion to intervene in Tennessee state court? If so, start your research with this new case from the Eastern Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The appeal arises from the sale of residential real estate. Plaintiff…
The Rhode Island Supreme Court has held that a 17-year old young man could not rely on the attractive nuisance doctrine to impose liability on the State of Rhode Island. The plaintiff and some friends entered a closed mental health facility that was locked and marked "No Trespass." Along the…
When someone is harmed by another person who dies before a lawsuit is filed, the injured party can still bring a claim for damages based on the wrongdoer’s conduct as long as certain steps are closely followed in Tennessee’s survival statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-103. When the wrongdoer…
Successfully bringing suit in Tennessee for an injury or death allegedly caused by the acts or omissions of a governmental employee is more difficult than a claim against a private citizen or business. Consider, for example, the case of Lynch v. Loudon Cnty., No. E2013-00454-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 17,…
Who should pick up the tab for costs incurred in responding to a subpoena to a non-party under Rule 45 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure? This case arises from a probate matter. Five years after the decedent’s estate had been closed for the second time, it was reopened again…
Tennessee courts recognize a claim for intentional interference with business relations, but this multi-year dispute did not end well for the claimant. In Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, No. 2011-01699-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 21, 2013),the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a plaintiff doctor’s claim for intentional…
Remittiturs are court-ordered reductions in a jury verdict because the trial judge thought that the jury awarded too much money in compensatory or punitive damages. They are a common sense, common law "tort reform" measure, designed to permit a judge who actually heard the evidence (or, in rare cases, the judges…
Lawyers in Tennessee see more and more arbitration clauses in contracts and thus more and more people trying to avoid these provisions by arguing that the provision was waived or invalid because the contract requiring arbitration was a contract of adhesion. In Skelton v. Freese Construction Company, Inc. the Tennessee Court of…