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

I have a DePuy hip implant that has been recalled.  What is my deadline for taking legal action?

Under Tennessee law you have one year from the date you knew or should have known that your hip problems were related to a problem with the implant itself.  For people who are currently symptom-free it is safe to assume that the one year started on the day you received the recall letter.  If you did not receive a letter you should assume that the one-year period for action started on the date you first heard about the recall on the news (or otherwise) and knew that it applied to the hip implant that you had inserted.

If you had hip problems before the recall the exact legal deadline will depend on what you knew about the nature of the problem and when you knew it.  An experienced product liability lawyer will help you ascertain the date but immediate action is suggested.

Tennessee law will almost certainly apply if your hip was implanted in Tennessee, although it is possible that the law of another state will apply depending on the circumstances.

I suggest you contact an experienced products liability lawyer as soon as possible.   We have filed five of these cases to date and are investigating others.

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 I have a personal injury case going to try in Cookeville, TN next month.  How many jurors need to vote for me for me to win?

You will probably have a 12-person jury.  That is the typical number of jurors in a civil jury trial in Tennessee.  You and your opponent may agree to a lesser number of jurors, but you will almost certainly have 12 jurors (and one or more alternate jurors) hear the case.

All twelve jurors must vote for you for you to win the case.  Some states permit a lesser number (10 of 12, 9 of 12) but in Tennessee the jury verdict must be unanimous unless the parties to the lawsuit agree on that the verdict may be something other than a unanimous verdict.  For obvious reasons, the defense will rarely agree to such a proposal.

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I was in a car wreck about 6 months ago.  The other driver admitted fault.  My medical bills are about $25,000.   I have been released by my doctor.  My lost wages are $2000.   How quickly will my case settle?

At the outset you need to understand that your case may not settle at all.  In Tennessee the insurance company does not have a duty to settle your case and in fact does not even owe you a duty to fairly evaluate your case.    It can settle a case, or not settle a case, on whatever schedule it wants to put in place.

However,  if the insurance company wants to settle the case it needs to have information from your lawyer.  At an absolute minimum, the company needs the accident report, your medical records and bills, perhaps some of your previous medical records, proof of lost wages from your employer, and an understanding of how the injuries have impacted your life.  To the extent you claim a permanent injury, future medical expenses, future loss of earning capacity, or other damages, the insurance company will need proof of that.

Lawyers communicate this information by way of a settlement demand.   All of the relevant information is gathered and the important information is highlighted in a letter.  In our office we attempt to gather all of this information before your are released from your doctor (except the final office note) and have a demand package ready to go to the insurance company within thirty days of when medical treatment is complete.  Lack of cooperation from one of the providers of information will affect our ability to get the demand package out on time.

Insurance companies always ask for more time to evaluate the demand package.  Then, the negotiations start and those can last several weeks even if everyone agrees that the case should be settled.

So, the short answer to your question is there are too many variables to say if your case will be settled and how quickly it will be settled.   It is fair to say that a case cannot settle if your attorney does not promptly gather and exchange information with the insurance company.  This is yet another reason to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer who will aggressively pursue your rights.

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Our house caught on fire and three members of my family got burned.  The fire department said that the cause of the fire was a kerosene stove we were using to supplement the heat from the furnace because it was really cold outside.   Do we have any rights against the manufacturer of the kerosene stove? 

Perhaps.   It is essential that you contact a lawyer who has experience in products liability cases as soon as possible.  It the meantime, preserve whatever is left of the heater and do not allow any further damage to the premises or start the repair / clean-up process.

You will need the stove itself so that you can determine what went wrong with it (if anything).  You need to preserve the scene until an expert can confirm that fire department's opinion of the cause of the fire.  The fire department might be correct on the cause of the fire, but if the department does not have a lot of expertise in cause and origin of fires their opinion may be questioned.

To0 determine what must be proved in win a products liability claim, review the Law Offices of John Day, P.C.'s Legal Guide titled "Understanding Product Liability Claims in Tennessee."

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I ate a local restaurant last night and about three hours later I began developing severe nausea, bad stomach cramps and diarrhea.   I was up all night.  I don't feel any better this morning.  I think I may have food poisoning.  What do I do?

It is possible that you simple case of the flu, and if you have recently come into contact with others in your family or at work who have that condition that may be the explanation for your problems.  It is also possible that you have some other medical condition that is causing these problems.

Then again, you may have food poisoning.  It is estimated  that 76 million foodborne illness cases occur in the United States every year after eating foods contaminated with such pathogens as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Campylobacter, Shigella, Norovirus, and Listeria.  Each year approximately 325,000 people are hospitalized with a diagnosis of food poisoning, and some 5,000 die.  

You should contact your doctor and carefully explain all of your symptoms and indicate what you ate the night before and where you ate it.  You or a family member should also call the restaurant, explain the nature of your problem, tell them what you ate and when you ate it, and ask if anyone else has reported being sick.  You should also ask your doctor to do a test on a stool sample to determine if any bacteria are present that can cause a food-borne illness.

If you suspect food poisoning as the cause of the problem, or if the doctor tells you that it is, you should contact your local health department and report that problem.  The health department should immediately inspect the restaurant.  This will reduce the likelihood that additional  people will suffer  the same problems you developed.

If you develop food poisoning and you incur any more than minor medical bills, loss of injury, or any type of ongoing injury, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to investigate the case and determine if you have a claim.  

We have handled several of these cases over the years and also would share this advice with you.  If you brought a "doggie bag" from the restaurant save it in the refrigerator and give it to your lawyer.  If the food that made you sick was from a can, bottle or box, save the remaining contents.  Do not alter them in any way.  These items could be important evidence in your case.

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