I am involved in a truck accident case in Tennessee state court . How many jurors must agree to a given result? Unless the parties to the lawsuit agree otherwise, twelve jurors will decide the case and all twelve must find in favor of the plaintiff (the person bringing the…
I have a personal injury case that was just settled. I agreed to pay a contingent fee and the lawyer’s out of pocket expenses. One of the expenses is a first class airline ticket from Nashville to Atlanta for a deposition – at the cost of $1500! Can the lawyer…
I was hurt in a car wreck and need to hire a Tennessee personal injury attorney. I came across this thing called AVVO. They have a rating system for lawyers. Should the AVVO rating system have any impact on who I hire as my lawyer? It should have some…
I was hurt in a wreck with a tractor-trailer and have missed six weeks of work. It looks like it I will miss another six weeks of work and I am starting to hurt for money. The truck driver was clearly at fault. Will the trucking company’s insurance company…
I was looking on the Internet for a personal injury lawyer and I see some lawyers say that they are members of the "American Association for Justice." What does that mean? The American Association for Justice is a voluntary, national bar association that is made up of lawyers who…
I was in a car wreck and spent four days in the hospital because of the injuries I received. I also will need several months of physical therapy. When I got out of the hospital I updated my status on my Facebook page. A friend of mine e-mailed me and…
I have heard about a movie called "Hot Coffee" and that it discusses that crazy case where the woman spilled coffee on herself and got a bunch of money from McDonald’s. Who made a movie about that? Susan Saladoff did. Susan is a lawyer from Oregon who felt inspired to…
I was in court recently and the judge asked a man he called the "bailiff" to hand a witness a piece of paper. What is a bailiff? A bailiff is a court employee who provides security for the judge and helps the judge maintain order in the courtroom. He or…
I was hurt in a boating accident. I talked to a lawyer and he sent me a proposed contingency fee agreement. The agreement says that I have to pay the expenses he incurs in prosecuting my case and that interest accrues on the expense money. Is that normal? It is…
I was hurt in a car wreck in Tennessee. The other driver was also from Tennessee. How much time do I have to file a lawsuit? You have one year from the date of the wreck to file a lawsuit. Failure to file suit within the one year period will…