Miscellaneous

February 3, 2010

The Ref is a Jerk! Can I Sue?

My daughter was hurt in a soccer game because the ref refused to reign in a reckless player on the opposing team. Can I sue? My son is devastated because he was improperly called out on strikes by a blind umpire. Can I sue?

Setting aside the merits of these complaints, or the wisdom of pursing such a claim, Tennessee law gives a relatively high level of immunity to sports officials. Under T. C. A. Section 62-50-201, a “’sports official’ means any person who serves as referee, umpire, linesperson or in any similar capacity in supervising or administering a sports event and who is registered as a member of a local, state, regional or national organization that provides training and educational opportunities for sports officials."

Section 62-50-202 provides that "[a] sports official who administers or supervises a sports event at any level of competition is not liable to any person or entity in any civil action for damages to a player, participant or spectator as a result of the sports official’s act of commission or omission arising out of the sports official’s duties or activities."

January 29, 2010

Tennessee Adult Protection Act

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Tennessee Adult Protection Act, T. C. A. Sec. 71-6-101 et seq, creates civil action for compensatory and, as appropriate, punitive damages when "adults" covered by the act are victims of abuse or neglect, sexual abuse or exploitation and for theft of money or property whether by fraud, deceit, coercion or otherwise. Those covered by the Act fall within this definition of adult:

“Adult” means a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who because of mental or physical dysfunctioning or advanced age is unable to manage such person’s own resources, carry out the activities of daily living, or protect such person from neglect, hazardous or abusive situations without assistance from others and who has no available, willing, and responsibly able person for assistance and who may be in need of protective services; provided, however, that a person eighteen (18) years of age or older who is mentally impaired but still competent shall be deemed to be a person with mental dysfunction for the purposes of this chapter

The Act also permits recovery of attorneys’ fees in certain circumstances.

January 22, 2010

Tennessee Injury Claims Against Foster Parents

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As a Tennessee injury lawyer I receive calls from time to time from parents of children who have been injured by a foster parent. Indeed, several years ago our firm represented a parent of a pregnant teenager who was killed as a result of careless driving by her foster parent.

Can a person injured by the negligence of a foster parent sue the foster parent? Can the parents of a foster child sue the foster parent if the foster parent negligently causes the death of the foster child? In Tennessee, the answer is "no."

Under Tennessee law, a foster parent is deemed to be a state employee and is immune from a lawsuit for injuries or death caused by the negligence of the foster parent. Here is the provision from the Tennessee Code that defines "state employee" to include foster parents:

January 12, 2010

Lawyer Advertisement From Texas

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Check out this commercial.

I don’t think this type of advertising would impact the lawyer’s credibility before the average Texas jury. Do you?

January 9, 2010

Day on Torts: A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Work is underway on the third edition of Day on Torts: A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers. Laura Bishop and I have already identified over 30 new sections that need to be added to the book, as well as citations to well over 200 new cases.

If you have come across a topic that you believe should be included in the next edition please send me an email at jday@dayblair.com and we will find the leading case and add it to the book.

It is our hope to have the new book available in April of 2010. Hundreds of lawyers across Tennessee are using the earlier editions of the book and we believe that the new edition will be even more valuable to our fellow lawyers.

January 8, 2010

Great Blog Posts About Findlaw’s Blogs

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Some of you heard me rant about West Publishing Company during the recent Justice Programs seminar. Well, here are a couple great posts about West’s pollution of the blawgosphere.

The controversy arose when Findlaw launched "The New York Personal Injury Law Blog" years after a wonderful blog by the same name was started by Eric Turkewitz.

Here is an excerpt from The Legal Satryricon:

December 30, 2009

Tennessee AOC Releases 2008-09 Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released the 2008-09 Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary. The report includes information about court filings and dispositions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

Here is some of the important data included in the Report:

1. There were only 10,659 personal injury and wrongful death cases filed in 2008-09. The backlog of cases is neither increasing or decreasing – case dispositions were about the same as filings at 10,768.

December 20, 2009

Memphis Lawyer Bites Nose of Hair Stylist in Restroom of Memphis Bar

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Lawyer Mark Lambert , an attorney with the Cochran Firm in Memphis, has been sued by Greg Herbers, a Memphis hair stylist, over injuries Herbers says he received in an alteration with Lambert in the bathroom of a Memphis bar.

According to the story in the Commercial Appeal, Herbers

entered the restroom around 9 p.m. and noticed the one stall was occupied by two men "performing some activity other than going to the bathroom." Herbers said that when he told the men he needed to use the toilet, Lambert, who was standing at the urinal but appeared to know the men in the stall, became aggressive. Lambert allegedly approached Herbers in a "menacing" fashion and jumped on him, grabbing his head and clawing at his neck. Herbers said the next thing he felt was excruciating pain. He heard teeth crunch and noticed blood pouring from his left nostril.

December 8, 2009

Wal-Mart Wins Suicide Case in Illinois

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a case against Wal-Mart for selling bullets to a person without requiring her to present an identification card as required by Illinois law. Candice Johnson later used the bullets to commit suicide. Her husband filed suit, alleging that his wife did not have an identification card in her possession and Wal-Mart’s violation of the Illinois statute requiring proof of identification was the proximate cause of her death. He also alleged that she should not have been sold a gun because she had been a mental patient within the previous five years and thus should not have been sold a weapon. The opinion does not say whether Wal-Mart knew of her prior status as a mental patient.

Wal-mart argued that the act of suicide was a superceding cause and thus it was not responsible for the death. It also argued that the violation of Illinois law was not the cause of Ms. Johnson’s death.

The appellate court accepted Wal-Mart’s arguments, saying that under Illinois law suicide is ordinarily an unforeseeable event and thus causation was not present as a matter of law.

December 2, 2009

Does Ms. Tiger Woods Have A Tort Claim Against the Other Woman?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

More information continues to be leaked to the media about Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses, and news reports indicate that at least one of them has confirmed a long-lasting affair.

What does the law of torts say about this? Alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and reckless infliction of emotional distress immediately come to mind as potential claims that Ms.Nordegren could assert any woman who had a sexual relationship with her husband.

What is alienation of affections? In Tennessee, alienation of affections "is the willful and malicious interference with the marriage relation by a third party, without justification or excuse." Donnell v. Donnell, 220 Tenn. 169, 415 S.W.2d 127, 132 (1967). The cause of action was abolished by statute in Tennessee in 1989.