The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Lincoln 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 Lincoln County court system.
The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Cocke 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 Cocke County court system.
Thinking about not filing a certificate of good faith in a health care liability action in Tennessee? Read this opinion to learn the potential issues when one raises the “common knowledge” exception to the general rule requiring experts in such cases and the “extraordinary cause” required to avoid dismissal if you don’t file a certificate of good faith.
In Ruff v. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, No. M2022-01414-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 25, 2024), plaintiff filed a health care liability suit based on his previous eye surgery. Plaintiff alleged that the two surgeons failed to properly position his left eye back in its socket, causing his eye to bulge.
Although plaintiff complied with the HCLA pre-suit notice requirements, he failed to file a certificate of good faith with his complaint. Defendant moved to dismiss, which the trial court granted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Where a premises liability defendant failed to file an answer and first participated in the case seven years after it was commenced, denial of his motion to set aside the default judgment was affirmed.
In Crutcher v. Ellis, No. M2023-00283-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 4, 2024), plaintiff was shot at point-blank range in a nightclub. Plaintiff filed this premises liability case against several defendants in 2015, but the only defendant at issue in this appeal was the owner and operator of the nightclub.
Defendant failed to respond to the complaint, and plaintiff obtained a default judgment. Defendant made no appearance whatsoever in the case until February 2022, when he appeared at the hearing on plaintiff’s motion to set a date to determine damages. The damages hearing was set for August 2, 2022. Defendant filed a motion for continuance the day before that hearing, which was denied.
A premises liability plaintiff must have evidence that a dangerous condition existed and that defendant had notice (actual or constructive) of the condition to survive summary judgment.
In Farmer v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, No. W2023-00468-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 29, 2024), plaintiff slipped and fell while getting a shopping cart in defendant store. Plaintiff wore sandals, and she asserted that “her slip-on sandal caught on a floor mat.”
Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff could not prove her case. In its statement of undisputed material facts, defendant asserted that plaintiff believed the edge of the mat was not flat, but that plaintiff did not see the mat until after her fall. Plaintiff did not dispute these assertions. Plaintiff admitted that she did not know if anyone from defendant store did anything to the mat or knew about the alleged dangerous condition of the mat before her fall. She also admitted that she did not know how long the alleged dangerous condition had existed.
The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Dyer 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 Dyer County court system.
Poor pleading of conversion in a case involving trust required dismissal of conversion claim. Particularity in pleading is required for such claims.
In Stalnaker v. Cupp, No. M2023-00404-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 18, 2024), plaintiff was the sole beneficiary of a residual trust, and plaintiff and defendant were co-trustees. A related surviving spouse trust existed, and when the surviving spouse passed away, defendant was the executor of her estate and her sole beneficiary.
Three years after the surviving spouse’s estate was closed, plaintiff had a stroke that left him impaired for several years. When he regained his mental faculties, he requested an accounting of the residual trust from defendant, but defendant did not respond to the request. Plaintiff eventually filed suit in California, which was dismissed, then later filed this suit in Tennessee. The trial court dismissed plaintiff’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty and conversion, and the Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal.
The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Campbell 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 Campbell County court system.
The following graphs demonstrate the resolution of personal injury, wrongful death, and other tort cases in Cheatham 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 Cheatham County court system.
Where a child’s booster seat was only dangerous because it was used in conjunction with an aftermarket seat belt extender, the booster seat manufacturer had no duty to warn purchasers of that potential danger under Tennessee products liability law.
In Woodruff v. Ford Motor Company, No. E2023-00488-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 28, 2024), plaintiff’s husband was killed and her children were severely injured in a car accident. At the time of the accident, her husband was driving a Nissan vehicle. Her son sat in the back seat in a booster seat manufactured by defendant. Because the car had recessed seat belt receivers, the husband had added a seat belt extender to the back seat belt and used it on the seat belt securing the son in the booster seat. The seat belt extender was not manufactured by the same company as the booster seat and had no affiliation with the booster seat.
After the accident, plaintiff filed this products liability case against several manufacturers and sellers. (See this post for a separate opinion in this case affirming summary judgment for Ford Motor Company as the manufacturer of the seat belt extender). Relevant to this opinion, the trial court granted summary judgment to defendant booster seat manufacturer, finding that defendant had no duty to warn about a seat belt extender that it did not manufacture or sell. The Court of Appeals affirmed this ruling.
