Where the jury apparently credited plaintiff’s expert and found that defendant engineering firm was liable for professional negligence related to a large park and marina project, the jury verdict for defendant was affirmed. In TMS Contracting, LLC v. SmithGroup JJR, Inc., No. M2020-01028-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 4112415 (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept.…
Day on Torts
Scaffolding rental company owed no duty to roofer where homeowner opted to install scaffolding himself.
Where a roofer was injured when he fell from a homeowner’s roof and bounced over the nearby scaffolding, but the homeowner had rented the scaffolding himself and chosen to erect it himself rather than paying the scaffolding company to install it, summary judgment for the scaffolding company on both the…
Finding of extraordinary cause to excuse HCLA noncompliance reversed.
Where the HIPAA authorizations sent with plaintiff’s HCLA pre-suit notice were noncompliant, and plaintiff’s attorney claimed that the noncompliance was due to a set of extremely stressful work and family circumstances but his affidavit did not explain how the noncompliant error was made or how the circumstances caused the error,…
Vegetation management contractor had no duty to remove tree located beyond scope of contract with electrical service.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that where a vegetation management company contracted by the county electric service was only contractually responsible for a maintaining a certain area, and the diseased tree that allegedly fell and caused a fire was outside that area, the vegetation management company “owed no…
Evidence of car accident occurring not enough to support negligence claim.
Where defendant driver stated that the accident that injured plaintiff passenger was due to her swerving to avoid a wild animal that unexpectedly entered the roadway, and plaintiff “presented no evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant,” summary judgment for defendant was affirmed by the Tennessee Court of…
Tennessee Court of Appeals: HCLA plaintiff should have been allowed to substitute expert.
Where an HCLA plaintiff’s expert refused to testify due to no fault of plaintiff or plaintiff’s counsel, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court should have allowed plaintiff to secure a substitute expert. In Blackburn v. McLean, No. M2021-00417-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 3225397 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 10,…
Defense Counsel Brags About Result in Medical Malpractice Trial – Judge Orders New Trial
The Los Angeles Times reports that a new trial has been ordered in an Orange County medical malpractice after the winning lawyer posted an online celebration video saying the case involved “a guy who was probably negligently killed but we kind of made it look like other people did it.” [The video…
USDC-MD TN Rules Presuit Notice and Certificate of Merit Statutes to Not Apply to TN HCLA Claims Filed in Federal Court
Judge Aleta Trauger has ruled that, given a recent decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals looking at Michigan law, “it is clear that the presuit notice requirement set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(a)(1) and the certificate of good faith requirement in Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-122(a) conflict with…
Williamson County, Tennessee Tort Trial Statistics
BirdDog Law is the leading resource center for Tennessee trial lawyers and paralegals. Among the free information included on the site is 95 databases, one for each county in Tennessee, which contain information about the court system in each county. In addition to information about court clerks, local rules, local…
Tennessee Supreme Court Agrees to Review Two Cases
The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to review two new cases, Commercial Painting Company Inc. v. The Weitz Company LLC, and Welch v. Oaktree Health and Rehabilitation Center LLC D/B/A Christian Care Centers of Memphis. Commercial Painting addresses the applicable of the economic loss doctrine in a construction project and an…