Tennessee Injury Law Center : Lawyers for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death : Serving Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville

 My husband recently lost his vision because of a error by a doctor.  What are his legal rights?

Your husband will have to prove that the doctor who treated him failed to follow acceptable professional practice in the community where the doctor practiced and that the failure caused the loss of his vision.

The proof will require the testimony of a doctor, typically one in the same specialty as the doctor who made the error, that your husband's doctor made an error.   A doctor will also have to testify that the error caused the loss of sight.

If it is determined that your husband has a valid case, the law permits the recovery of certain types of damages.  Those damages are described in our Legal Guide section.

Depending on the age of your husband and other factors, other experts may be needed.  A vocational expert may be required to testify as to the loss of job options for your husband.  An economist may be necessary to quantify the loss of income.  A life care planner may be necessary to describe the additional medical and other costs your family will incur as a result of your husband's blindness.

As you can see, there is a lot of work necessary to prove such a case.  You will need the assistance of an experienced Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer to help you.

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I was fishing at Tims Ford lake and a ski boat came around a corner and hit my small boat.   I was thrown into the water and received a compound fracture to my leg and a bad cut.  The leg became infected.  The other boater was drunk?  What are my rights?

Tennessee has laws that govern the operation of boats and it is just as illegal to operate a boat under the influence of alcohol as it is to operate a vehicle under the influence.

Thus, you have a claim against the boater who ran into you just as you would if you have been hit by a drunk driver on Hwy 50 between Lynchburg and Winchester.

What damages can you recover?  Read our Legal Guide to learn the answer to this question.

Please remember that under Tennessee law you only have one year from the date of your accident to bring a claim against the at-fault boater.

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My lawyer missed the deadline for filing my lawsuit.  What are my rights?

You may well have a case against your lawyer.  To prove that case, you have to prove that the lawyer should have filed the case on time and, if he or she had done so, you would have prevailed in the case.

So, you really have two separate cases.  First, you have to prove the lawyer's error.  Second, you have to prove that you would have won the underlying case and the the amount of damages you would have won.  If your original case had no merit, your case against the lawyer will not be successful.  Why?  Because the lawyer's failure to file your case on time did not cause you any damage - you would have lost the case anywhere.

The law has deadlines for filing claims against lawyers.  You should consult a lawyer as soon as possible to see if your claim has merit.

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I was hurt in a car wreck.  It was not my fault.  My neighbor doesn't think I need a lawyer because I did not get hurt.  Is she right? 

If you weren't hurt you probably do not lead a lawyer to assist you unless you have difficulty getting the other driver's insurance company paying for the damage to your case.  Usually, property damage claims can be worked out without legal advice.

If you had been injured in the wreck, you may well have needed the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer.  Our firm  does not charge for an initial consultation with a potential client.

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Do I have to repay my automobile insurance company if they pay my medical bills from my medical payments coverage and I recover a settlement from the at-fault driver? 

Probably.  Most automobile insurance policies that have medical payments coverage require that you re-pay them if you make a recovery from the at-fault driver.  Under certain circumstances you can force the company to reduce the amount of the re-payment.  Your lawyer can help you with this issue.

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I was hurt in a car accident.  I do not have health insurance.  I heard that my auto insurer might pay some of my medical bills under what is known as "medical payments coverage."   What is that?

Many car insurance policies have medical payments coverage.  This insurance coverage pays your medical bills if you are involved in an incident covered under the terms of the policy.  There is a limit on the coverage provided, often $10,000 but it may be much higher.  

If you have this coverage you should definitely use it to get the medical care you need without paying the medical bills out-of-pocket.

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I have filed a lawsuit concerning my Depuy ASR hip implant and it is part of the MDL.  How soon will additional action be required from me?

I mentioned in an earlier post  that the court overseeing the cases for defective Depuy ASR hip implants issued an order requiring claimants to file forms describing when the patient received the implant and providing some medical records from the patient’s treatment. Originally, the judge set a deadline for all claimants to file the form at the same time, but the judge recently changed the order.

Now, all claimants who are already in the combined Depuy cases have one deadline to file the completed form– July 5, 2011. Any claimants who file their lawsuits after June 2, 2011have thirty days from the date they file the lawsuit to file the information form.

We are helping our clients that the required information so that the forms can be filed in a timely fashion.  If you have not filed suit concerning your Depuy ASR hip implant or if you filed suit without the assistance of a lawyer, we will be be happy discuss representing you in this litigation.  We have no charge for an initial consultation.

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I was supposed to have an operation on my right ankle.  When I woke up I discovered that they operated on my left ankle.   Now, I have to wait to recover from the operation to the wrong ankle before they will operate on the ankle they should have operated on (the right ankle).  To top it off, I have a hospital-acquired infection in the left ankle and am receiving antibiotics via an IV.  Do I have a case?

Yes.  There is no excuse for wrong-site surgery.  The doctor may blame other operating room staff, and they may blame the doctor, but at the end of the day every person working in the operating room has a responsibility to know what ankle they are operating on.   The only exception to this rule is in you are asked, before receiving any type of sedative, to mark what ankle you are having surgery on and you mark the wrong ankle.  Then the wrong-site surgery may be considered partially your fault.

Tragically, this is a growing problem.  According to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, wrong-site surgery occurs 40 times a week in U.S. hospitals and clinics.  This estimate s based on voluntary reporting - one-half of the states do not require reporting.  Minnesota had 48 cases last year and Pennsylvania has averaged 64 cases for the past few years.

So, yes, you do have a case.  You should contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to assist you.

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I was hurt in a car wreck.,  My doctor prescribed physical therapy.  I am supposed to go three days per week.   The physical therapist is 60 miles away and I simply cannot afford the gas to go back and forth three days per week.  If I don't go to physical therapy will it hurt my case?

It might hurt your case.  If you don't go to physical therapy as prescribed the insurance adjuster and the lawyer for the insurance company will assume that you were not really injured or that you did not do everything you should have done to minimize the impact of the injuries on your life.

More importantly, the failure to get therapy may actually impact your recovery.

Thus, I recommend that you make every effort to go to physical therapy, even if it means cutting back on some other items that would ordinarily be part of your budget.  The physical therapy is important for your health, and your case.

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I live in a neighborhood where one person has a backyard portable pool that is a couple feet deep.  However, there are lots of little kids in the neighborhood - one of them is mine.  There is no fence around the yard where the pool is located.  I am worried sick about a kid falling in the pool and drowning, but when I spoke to the property owner about it he said "if you keep an eye on your kids nothing will happen."  What can I do about this?

Recent news articles have demonstrated the risk of such pools, reporting that one child drowns every five days in portable pools.  However, unless local zoning rules or homeowner association rules require that the pool be fenced, there is no way you can force your neighbor to fence in the pool or keep it drained when it is not being actively supervised by an adult.

The law requires that the property owner exercises reasonable care for the safety of those who come on his property.  In my view, the pool creates what is known as an "attractive nuisance,"  meaning that it is an instrument of danger that the owner knows that children will want to play in.  This puts the property owner at high risk of being sued if a child is injured or dies in his pool.

All you can do (absent a zoning or home owner's rule) is do your best to keep a eye on your kids.  As soon as they are an appropriate age get them swimming lessons. And, hope and pray that your neighbor will have the good sense to either drain the pool when it is not being used under adult supervision or place a fence around it.

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 My husband was killed in a wreck with a tractor trailer.  It was not his fault.  What is the minimum amount of money I can recover for his death in a lawsuit?

There is no minimum.  The amount of damages that can be recovered depends on a multitude of factors.  You can get some idea of the relevant factors by reading our legal guide, "Understanding Wrongful Death Cases in Tennessee."

Remember that under Tennessee law a wrongful death case must be filed in court within one year of the time your husband received injuries that resulted in his later death.  

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My lawyer settled my personal injury case.  He said that he put the check for $60,000 in his trust account and that I would get my share in 10 days.  Ten days later I received a check for $38,500 - the amount I was supposed to receive.  However, I deposited the check from my lawyer's trust account in my checking account and just found out it bounced.  What should I do? 

This should not happen.  Lawyer trust accounts are accounts that are kept separate from a lawyer's operating account - the account he or she uses for rent, payroll,etc.  Trust accounts are a "parking place" for client money.  There should never be a bounced check on that account because the account is holding client funds that have already "cleared" the bank  - and client funds can only be used for client purposes.

Thus, you need your attorney to explain exactly how this happened.  If you do not get an immediate, satisfactory answer,  call the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility immediately.

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I was hurt in a car wreck in Tennessee.  How do I find the best lawyer to represent me in my case?

We have written a guide that provides an extensive list of factors that you should consider when deciding what lawyer to hire for your  personal injury case.   We believe that you will find it very helpful in finding a lawyer who help you get the best result for your case.

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I  have a Depuy hip implant that is part of the recall.  I understand that the cases are part of an "MDL" and that those cases are being litigated?  What does MDL mean?  What is going on in the Depuy hip cases?

An MDL is set up when a significant number of cases are filed in federal court and the judicial system determines that judicial economy would be best-served if the cases are consolidated before one judge for pre-trial purposes.  In the cases involving the Depuy hip implants, the federal courts decided that consolidation of the cases was appropriate and that the cases should be sent to one judge in Ohio.

MDL cases are usually handled differently from a typical case. The judge who oversees the combined cases creates new rules and systems to more efficiently handle the number of related lawsuits. One way that judges streamline the process is to create unique rules for the parties to exchange information and documents.

The judge overseeing the cases against DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson for their DePuy ASR hips has ordered the lawyers who have filed claims to prepare Plaintiff Preliminary Disclosure Forms for each of the patients that the lawyer represents. These forms are designed to give DePuy some information about the implants that each patient received, including the equivalent of a model number and serial number for each hip (called a product code and a lot code when dealing with hip implants). The form also provides information about any bloodwork, x-rays, MRIs, or other tests to determine if the patient’s hip is failing.

We are representing dozens of patients who received recalled DePuy ASR hip implants, and currently working to prepare the Plaintiff Preliminary Disclosure Forms for them. If you received a notice that your hip implant has been recalled, or are concerned that it might have been recalled without you receiving notice, please contact us and we will be happy to determine whether you have a case that should be filed in court.

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 I live in a small town in East Tennessee.  I just had an addition put on my house.  The building inspector from my town came and approved the work done on the house, including the electrical work.  Two days later the entire house burned.  The cause of the fire was improper wiring work on the new addition.  Can I sue the building inspector for failing to discover the bad wiring job?

No.  Under Tennessee law a local government cannot be sued for negligent inspection.  Thus, even if you could show that the building inspector did a bad job, neither the inspector nor his employer can be sued.

You may have a claim against the electrical contractor and perhaps even the general contractor.  An experienced trial lawyer can help you investigate this claim and determine what rights, if any, you have.

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 I was hurt in a car wreck.  My back and leg were injuried.  I don't need surgery right now but who knows what will happen 10 years from now.  Can I settle my case for my medical bills, my lost wages, and my pain and suffering and an agreement that the at-fault driver will pay my future medical bills if I have any?

You can try, but in 30 years as a lawyer I have never seen the argument work.  If the at-fault driver's insurance company believes that its driver is at fault and they want to settle the case, they want to settle all personal injury-related claims at one time.   (They will usually settle property damage claims seperately.)   They will not agree to leave open the issue of future medical expenses.

Thus, if a doctor says you will probably need a future surgery because of the injuries you sustained in the wreck, the cost of that surgery and related damages can be part of settlement negotiations.  If the doctor says that future surgery is possible, then the amount of the possible surgery cannot be included.  If there is a trial, the court will allow testimony only on whether a future surgery is probable and, if a doctor says it is, then the court will allow presentation of evidence on the cost of the surgery and related damages.

I hasten to add that worker's compensation cases are different and, in those cases, it is very common that the employer bears the responsibility of paying future medical bills related to the injury even after a settlement or trial.  Be sure to ask your worker's compensation lawyer what responsibility the employer will have for your future medical bills before you accept any settlement proposal.

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I was hurt in a car wreck about a year ago.  I hired a lawyer and signed an agreement to pay him on a contingent fee.  Now, he wants me to sign a new agreement.  What should I do?

Is there a difference in the terms of the agreement?   Is the difference material?  

Technically speaking, your lawyer must complete the job he was hired to do under the terms of the original agreement.  However, sometimes circumstances can change and it your lawyer may seek to re-negotiate the agreement.  Whether you should agree depends on the circumstances.

For instance, you should rarely agree to give your lawyer a greater contingency fee that he originally agreed to accept.  I say "rarely" because it is possible that there are circumstances that would justify a change in the fee agreement, but those are very rare.

If you are uncomfortable with changing the agreement, seek the advice of another lawyer.  The charge for such advice will be minimal, and it may save you lots of time and money in the long run.

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I have heard about people seeking "policy limits" in car wreck cases.    What does that mean?

"Policy limits" refers to the sum total of liability insurance policy dollars that are applicable to a given case.

So, if a person has $300,000 of insurance on their car and they cause a wreck that injures someone else, a policy limits demand by the injured party is a demand that the insurance company pay $300,000 to settle the case.

The mere fact that there is $300,000 of insurance does not mean that the insurance company must pay that amount, regardless of injury.  Rather, it is the most the insurance company can pay - it is the "policy limit."

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 I am involved in a car accident  case in Tennessee state court .  How many jurors must agree to a given result?

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I have a personal injury case in Tennessee.  My doctor has to give a deposition in my case and my lawyer just told me that the doctor charges $1500 per hour for a deposition.  What is going on?  I have already paid this doctor over $15,000 to care for me and now he wants to charge $1500 per hour to talk about it!!! 

Unfortunately, this is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem.  A doctor is permitted to charge for their time when  asked to give a deposition involving care which he or she gave to a patient who is involved in a lawsuit.  The charge must be "reasonable."

So, the question is $1500 per hour "reasonable?"   Part of it depends on how much the doctor ordinarily charges for his time.  In a 2000 hour year a charge of $1500 per hour results in revenue of $3,000,000 per year.  

The lawyer for the patient has a different job here.  The lawyer does not want to offend the doctor who hopefully will testify favorably for his patient, but the lawyer hates to spent so much money to get this testimony.  

A wish I had a better answer to this question.  It is truly unfortunate that this is an issue.

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My truck wreck case is coming to trial before a Nashville, Tennessee jury soon. There will be a 12-person jury.  Must they all agree on the result?

Yes, unless the lawyers agree otherwise, all 12 jurors must reach an agreement on the result in the case.

In some states, the law permits jurors to reach a result based on the votes of a "super majority" of the jurors.  For example, some states allow 9 jurors to agree or 10 to agree on one result and the other 3 or 2 jurors can reach a different result.   That is not true in Tennessee - all 12 must agree.

If all the jurors do not agree, the judge declares a "mistrial."   When that happens, the case must be re-tried. 

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The police accident report says that I was not at fault in my wreck and that the other driver was at fault.  Can I used the police report as evidence at a trial to prove the wreck was not my fault?

Not in Tennessee state court.  A rule of evidence specifically excludes police accident reports from the types of public records that can be admitted into evidence at trial to show how an accident occurred.

Why?  Because unless the officer actually saw the accident the police report is only the officer's opinion about what happened.  That opinion may be based on solely on whether the officer believes one person or the other and may have little value in determining what actually happened.  

A police officer who see a wreck can be asked to testify about what he or she saw.  He or she can also be asked about what the people involved in the lawsuit said after the wreck and about measurements taken at the scene of the wreck.   But the police report cannot be introduced into evidence absent extraordinary circumstances, whether the officer is there or not.

This does not mean that a police report has no value.  A police report can go a long way in persuading an insurance adjuster that his or her insured is "at fault" in a wreck.  Conversely, a report that does not fault the insured will greatly hamper one's ability to settle the case with the insurance company for that insured.  

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