Articles Posted in Litigation Process

I work in a small plant in Middle Tennessee.  I hurt my back at work.  What are my rights? 

If you got hurt while you were working you have a right to have your medical care paid for by your employer.  The employer or its worker’s compensation insurance company has a list of doctors that you are permitted to see at the employer’s expense.

To the extent that the injury causes you to miss work you have the right to be paid (at a discounted amount and after a waiting period) money for your lost wages.  If you have a permanent injury that causes a disability you have a right to payment for a permanent disability.

I was hurt in a car wreck and I think I have a really good case.  I think I should get $1,000,000 – it seems like people get that much and more and they aren’t hurt as bad as I am.  Will I get $1,000,000 in my case?

There is no way that I can answer that without having a whole lot more information that you have shared to date.  

Million dollar verdicts are rarer than you might think.  When they occur, they tend to hit the newspaper, but the statistics tell us they are quite rare in Tennessee.

Will my case actually go to trial?  I have a car wreck case and my lawyer says it will probably settle.

Statistically speaking , your case is very likely to be settled.  Well over 95% of cases are settled, especially car wreck cases.  

Cases settle because the litigation process includes an exchange of information that will permit each side to evaluate the other side’s case.  

I was hurt in a car accident that wasn’t my fault.  I filed a lawsuit with the help of a lawyer.  We have a trial in two weeks.  I was offered some money but I don’t think it is enough.  My lawyer thinks it is and he has advised me to settle the case.  Can I make him go to trial and get more money?

Yes, you can reject the settlement and say that you want a trial.  However,  just because you go to trial you will not necessary get more money and your lawyer will not be able to promise you that you will get more.  In fact, it is always possible that you could get less.

I obviously don’t know whether the amount of money you have been offered is a fair amount or not.  I do know if you hirer the right lawyer, that is, if you did the work necessary to identify the right lawyer to handle your case, you should have confidence in his or her judgment about what is in your best interest.  You have the right to reject that lawyer’s advice, just like you have the right to reject the advice of a doctor or any other professional, but when you do so you are substituting your judgment as a person unexperienced in the legal process for that of someone who is experienced in the process.

 I have a medical malpractice case.  There are two doctors and a hospital that have been sued.  My lawyer says the case won’t be tried for two years.  Why is that?  How much work is involved?

It doesn’t surprise me that it would take two years to get your case to trial in Tennessee and, depending on where you live in the state, that may be a relatively quick amount of time to get to trial.

Your question requires much more information to give a more accurate answer, but let me say this generally.  The main factors that affect how quickly a case gets to trial are the diligence, expertise, and experience of the lawyers involved, the number of parties to the case (more parties = more lawyers = more scheduling difficulties), the nature of the dispute (more complicated = more time), the ability of the trial judge to control the lawyers,  the amount of cases pending before the trial judge (more cases increases the time to get to trial because more cases are contributing for the same trial dates), and whether the county where the case is pending is urban or rural (in rural areas judges sit in multiple counties and may hold trials in a small county only  a couple times per year).

My deposition was taken today and it lasted all day.  There was a court reporter and a videographer there.  How much does it cost to have a deposition recorded by the two of them?

In my experience in Tennessee, court reporters have several types of charges.  The main charges are the per diem charge, which is the charge for showing up, using billed in full-day or half-day increments, and a per-page charge, which is the cost of each page of transcript.  There are two types of per page charges, one for the "original" transcript on and one for each copy.  The person taking the deposition pays for the original and the per diem.  The person whose deposition is taken pays for the copy.

Videographers typically charge a base fee plus and hourly charge to the person taking the deposition.  The person whose deposition was taken pays for a disc containing the deposition.

I have a truck wreck case pending in Tennessee and the trucking company has subpoenaed my doctor for a deposition.  Can they do that?

Yes, if the doctor gave you treatment for injuries that arose out of the accident he or she can be required to give testimony about their treatment for those injuries.  That deposition can be taken by your lawyer or the trucking company’s lawyer.  Your lawyer (and you) have the right to be present at the deposition.

If the doctor gave you treatment for a unrelated condition, the question is more difficult to answer.  If your lawyer believes that the inquiry into treatment by this provider is wholly unrelated to the wreck and an invasion of your privacy, he or she can ask the court to stop the deposition.  The court will let the deposition proceed if it determines that doctor has information that is admissible at trial or is likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

I have a personal injury lawsuit.  My lawyer sent the driver who caused the wreck interrogatories.   We just got back the answers and some of those answers are bald-faced lies. Why does he get to lie?  How can we make him tell the truth? 

Interrogatories are written questions sent from one party in a lawsuit to an opposing party about issues related to the lawsuit.  For example, in a lawsuit arising from a motor vehicle collision, each driver may send interrogatories to the other ask for driving histories, including whether the opposing driver has ever received a driving citation. The party responding to interrogatories must sign a statement swearing or affirming that the responses to the interrogatories are true.

If a person does not tell the truth in response to an interrogatory, the untruth will hurt that person at trial.  The degree of harm a person does to his case when he does not tell the truth depends on many factors.  For instance, was the untruth intentional or just careless?  Was the untruth about a relatively minor thing or a major thing?   Is there a single untruth or are there multiple untruths?  When confronted with the untruth, did the person admit it or deny it?   There are other factors as well, but you get the point:  the circumstances control how much harm a mistake or lie in answers to interrogatories (or in oral testimony at a deposition or trial for that matter) will hurt one’s case or help the opponent’s case.