Day on Torts

August 21, 2024

Law Firm Seeks to Enforce Arbitration Agreement in Legal Malpractice Case

Apparently, at least in Georgia, Morgan & Morgan requires is clients to sign a fee agreements wherein the client waives the right to a jury trial in the event the client brings a claim against the firm for legal malpractice. Instead, the client must pursue any claim via arbitration.

Apparently, this is the operative language:

[A]ny and all disputes between me and the Firm arising out of this Agreement, The Firm’s relationship with me or The Firm’s performance of any past, current or future legal services, whether those services are subject of this particular engagement letter or otherwise, will be resolved through a binding arbitration proceeding to be conducted under the auspices of the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association in Georgia. The disputes subject to binding arbitration will include without limitation, disputes regarding attorneys’ fees, or costs and those alleging negligence, malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud or any claim based upon a statute . . . .

August 20, 2024

Obion County Tort Case Statistics and Outcomes – July 1, 2017- June 30, 2023

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

The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Obion County, Tennessee during the last six fiscal years ending June 30, 2023.

BirdDog Law shares this information for every county in Tennessee. Click on BirdDog’s County Pages, go to the county of choice, and click on Court Statistics.

Click on the link for more information on the Obion County court system.

August 16, 2024

Jury verdict for defendant in legal malpractice case affirmed.

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

In a legal malpractice case where one of plaintiffs’ own experts admitted that the law regarding a certain type of tax liability was unsettled at the time defendant attorneys advised plaintiffs, the jury verdict for defendant was upheld.

In Estate of Hawk v. Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel P.C., No. E2022-01420-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 31, 2024), plaintiffs filed a legal malpractice claim against defendants related to certain tax advice. In 2003, defendants advised plaintiffs during a transaction related to the sale of the assets of two bowling alleys. A company called MidCoast Investments expressed interest in purchasing the assets, and it claimed to have a way to save plaintiffs from being liable for certain taxes related to the transfer.

In a letter to plaintiffs, defendants stated that MidCoast appeared to be legitimate and that it had conducted many similar transactions. This letter suggested obtaining financial information in order to negotiate a letter of intent.

August 15, 2024

Claiborne County Tort Case Statistics and Outcomes – July 1, 2017- June 30, 2023

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

The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Claiborne County, Tennessee during the last six fiscal years ending June 30, 2023.

BirdDog Law shares this information for every county in Tennessee. Click on BirdDog’s County Pages, go to the county of choice, and click on Court Statistics.

Click on the link for more information on the Claiborne County court system.

August 13, 2024

Henry County Tort Case Statistics and Outcomes – July 1, 2017- June 30, 2023

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

The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Henry County, Tennessee during the last six fiscal years ending June 30, 2023.

BirdDog Law shares this information for every county in Tennessee. Click on BirdDog’s County Pages, go to the county of choice, and click on Court Statistics.

Click on the link for more information on the Henry County court system.

August 8, 2024

Rhea County Tort Case Statistics and Outcomes – July 1, 2017- June 30, 2023

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

The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Rhea County, Tennessee during the last six fiscal years ending June 30, 2023.

BirdDog Law shares this information for every county in Tennessee. Click on BirdDog’s County Pages, go to the county of choice, and click on Court Statistics.

Click on the link for more information on the Rhea County court system.

August 7, 2024

Malicious prosecution liability affirmed; Defendant supplied false or misleading information

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

Civil liability for malicious continuation of prosecution can be based on a defendant “procur[ing] the continuation of a criminal prosecution by knowingly feeding the prosecutor false or misleading information[.]”

In Cole v. Skin RN Aesthetics, LLC, No. M2022-01555-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 22, 2024), plaintiff worked at defendant med spa. The med spa owner, Ms. Taylor, alleged that items disappeared after plaintiff began working. One day, Ms. Taylor noticed that two vials of botox were missing, so she checked plaintiff’s purse. The purse contained the two vials of Botox plus wipes, syringes, and saline. The purse also held a loaded handgun.

Ms. Taylor called the police, and plaintiff was arrested and changed with theft. At her criminal trial, plaintiff was acquitted.

August 6, 2024

Weakley County Tort Case Statistics and Outcomes – July 1, 2017- June 30, 2023

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

The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Weakley County, Tennessee during the last six fiscal years ending June 30, 2023.

BirdDog Law shares this information for every county in Tennessee. Click on BirdDog’s County Pages, go to the county of choice, and click on Court Statistics.

Click on the link for more information on the Weakley County court system.

August 5, 2024

Legal malpractice claim time-barred.

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

Plaintiff’s legal malpractice claim accrued when he received the order stating that some of his claims in a previous case were dismissed with prejudice.

In Abdou v. Clark, No. M2023-01461-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 3, 2024), plaintiff hired defendants to represent him in a lawsuit against several individuals. During the course of that litigation, plaintiff grew unhappy with defendants’ actions on his behalf. Plaintiff terminated defendants as his attorneys in July 2022, and he filed this pro se legal malpractice claim in February 2023. The trial court dismissed the legal malpractice action based on the statute of limitations, and the Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal.

In its opinion, the Court of Appeals reviewed multiple allegations on which plaintiff’s legal malpractice claim was based. First, it affirmed dismissal of plaintiff’s claim that defendants violated a Rule of Professional Conduct, noting that the Rules of Professional Conduct do not provide a basis for civil liability.

August 2, 2024

TPPA dismissal appropriate in defamation case involving Google reviews

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

A real estate professional who served as HOA president and who assisted with the development of a residential community qualified as a limited public figure for purposes of a google review about changes to the development.

In Charles v. McQueen, No. M2021-00878-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. July 3, 2024), plaintiff worked as a local real estate professional. The company developing Durham Farms, a planned community, hired plaintiff to assist with the community development. In addition to working for Durham Farms, plaintiff served as the HOA president at Durham Farms and ran homeowners’ meetings.

Defendant purchased a home in Durham Farms in 2017. In the following years, Durham Farms changed several features of its community. Lot size requirements were reduced in 2019, then in 2020 Durham Farms announced plans to add over 160 rental-only units. After this announcement, controversy grew as homeowners opposed the new plans. As part of the opposition effort, several Durham Farms residents left google reviews on the developer’s page. Defendant wrote a google review expressing her frustration with the “bait and switch” tactics and the “multiple changes to our development.” Defendant’s review was the only one that used plaintiff’s name, as it stated: “Bill Charles, especially, uses misleading tactics to lure in home buyers only to deceive them.”