In Nickels v. Metropolitan Govt. of Nashville and Davidson County, No. M2015-01938-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 28, 2016), the Court of Appeals went through a thorough analysis of Tennessee’s Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA) as it related to a claim regarding the malfunction of a sewer and stormwater system. Though…
Judge Thomas Brothers of Nashville has declared Tenn. Code Ann. Section 29-26 -121(f)(1) and (2) unconstitutional. Memorandum Order – Judge Brothers The code section allows defense lawyers in Tennessee health care liability actions virtually unfettered ex parte communications with the plaintiff’s non-party health care providers. The code section was…
Justice Programs will present its annual seminar program in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis in a few weeks. Former Justice Penny White and former Judge Joe Riley and I started this seminar over a decade ago. Famed mediator Howard Vogel joins us as a participant this year. I will be…
Lawyer Paul Newton of Gulfport, Mississippi filed a lawsuit against Popeye’s for not supplying him with a knife in his take-out chicken bag. He says the lack of a knife (he did receive a spork) caused him to use his teeth to tear the chicken from the bone when he…
In Glasgow v. K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., No. E2015-01653-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 31, 2016), the Court of Appeals affirmed a jury award in the full amount of compensatory damages sought by a Tennessee premises liability plaintiff. While using the restroom in a grocery store, plaintiff lost his balance while…
In Hurley v. Pickens, No. E2015-02089-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 29, 2016), the Court of Appeals once again held that a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case can take a voluntary nonsuit without prejudice while a motion to dismiss based on an insufficient certificate of good faith is pending. This…
Justice Programs will present its annual seminar program in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis in a few weeks. Former Justice Penny White and former Judge Joe Riley and I started this seminar over a decade ago. Famed mediator Howard Vogel joins us as a participant this year. I will be…
In Clark v. Werther, No. M2014-00844-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 27, 2016), the Tennessee Court of Appeals held that nothing about the Health Care Liability Act (HCLA) certificate of good faith requirement prohibited a plaintiff from taking a TRCP Rule 41 voluntary nonsuit while a motion to dismiss was pending.…
In Peters-Asbury v. Knoxville Area Transit, Inc., No. E2015-01816-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 8, 2016), the Court of Appeals overturned a bench trial negligence verdict. Plaintiff was a student at the University of Tennessee with limited mobility due to a previous knee injury. For students with disabilities, UT provided transportation…
In Fowler v. City of Memphis, No. W2015-01637-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 11, 2016), the Court of Appeals analyzed a case falling under the GTLA, ultimately holding that while plaintiff appeared to be making a premises liability claim, the case actually fell under a different provision of the Act. Plaintiff…