Tennessee Injury Law Center

November 25, 2012

“The Insurance Adjuster Was So Nice In The Beginning”

We have a significant number of people who contact us several months after a Tennessee automobile wreck, after most of the physical evidence is gone and poor decisions have been made about pursing appropriate health care. When we ask why the person waited so long to contact us, the response is usually something like "the insurance adjuster was just so nice in the beginning."

Well, sure.

The job of the insurance adjuster is to resolve an insurance claim as quickly and inexpensively as possible. It just makes good sense – and good business – for the adjuster to be polite and indeed downright friendly. Why? Because you as the claimant are more likely to cooperate with the adjuster and give the adjuster the information he or she needs if the adjuster is friendly. The insurance company doesn’t want you to cut off communication and seek a lawyer, and the best way keep you from doing so is to be nice.

November 21, 2012

Payment of Litigation Expenses in Tennessee Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The litigation of certain types of personal injury and wrongful death cases, particularly medical malpractice, products liability, and tractor-truck cases, can be very expensive. Most Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death lawyers are willing to work on a contingent fee, but there must be money available to finance the other expenses of litigation (court reporters, expert witnesses, demonstrative aids and exhibits, etc,)

A personal injury lawyer who accepts those cases for consumers must have the financial ability to advance money for those expenses because most consumers are unable to do so. Some lawyers are very under-capitalized, i.e., they lack the ability to adequately finance a case to completion. The lack of financial resources can affect the outcome of the case, because the lack of financial resources can impact the quality of expert witnesses the lawyer employs to assist in the case, the number of expert witnesses, the number of depositions that are taken (court reporters are paid to transcribe depositions, and they are expensive), the quality of demonstrative exhibits at trial, etc.

So how does a consumer evaluate this factor? It is very difficult. Most lawyers will not turn over their balance sheets to prove to you that they have the financial resources to finance the case. One way a client can gain information about this issue is by determining if the lawyer is asking the client to borrow money or pay interest on the money the lawyer borrows to finance case expenses. This indicates one of two things: either the lawyer lacks the ability to finance the case, or the lawyer has the ability to do so but is shifting the cost of financing case expenses to the client (which increases the total cost of hiring that lawyer and increases the lawyer’s profit).

November 20, 2012

Does Your Personal Injury Lawyer Have Malpractice Insurance?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. recommends that you never hire a lawyer, much less a personal injury lawyer, that does not have insurance to protect you in case the lawyer makes a mistake that causes you harm.

There is no law that requires that a Tennessee personal injury lawyer (or any other type of lawyer in Tennessee) have malpractice insurance coverage. Some lawyers try to save money and not purchase insurance that would protect their clients from loss in the event of a lawyer error.

This is plain stupid and puts you as a client at risk. Lawyers, like everyone else, can make mistakes. Most of those mistakes can be corrected without causing harm to a client, but it is possible that an error cannot be corrected and will result in harm to a client. A responsible lawyer knows that such errors can occur and protects a client from financial loss through the purchase of malpractice insurance.

November 19, 2012

John Day Selected to Top 100 Lawyer List by Super Lawyers

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

John Day of the Law Offices of John Day, P.C. has been named to the Tennessee Super Lawyers list as one of the top attorneys in Tennessee for 2013, No more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers.

In addition, John was again named to the Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi in the 2013 Super Lawyers publication.

We are also proud to announce that two of the firm’s other lawyers, Brandon Bass and Laura Baker, were named to Super Lawyer’s Rising Star List.

November 17, 2012

Why Should I Seek Medical Treatment Promptly if I Am Hurt in A Tennessee Automobile or Truck Accident?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As lawyers who have represented people in Tennessee truck and car accidents for over thirty years, we cannot over-emphasize the need to seek prompt medical attention for injuries received in auto and truck accidents.

Here is the problem: if you delay seeking medical attention, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will argue that you were not hurt, that your injuries were not serious, or that your complaints are related to something other than the motor vehicle accident.

There is a tendency for good people NOT to seek medical attention promptly, out of fear that they will be deemed whiners. This thought process, while admirable, actually works against a person when they later try to resolve a personal injury claim.

November 15, 2012

How Is the Recovery of Money From A Tennessee Wrongful Death Lawsuit Distributed to Family Members?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The distribution of the monies received in a successful Tennessee wrongful death case is described in this post.

Funeral expenses are re-paid to the person who paid the funeral bills. (Note: the actual law on this issue is a little unclear, but this is what generally occurs.)

Medical expense monies generally must re-paid to the person or insurance company (or government entity) that paid the medical bills. (Once again, there are some who take a different position on this issue, depending on who paid the bills, but this is what generally occurs.)

November 13, 2012

Rules For Expert Witnesses in Medical Malpractice (Health Care Liability) Cases in Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

There are a unique set of rules applicable to Tennessee medical malpractice cases. (Note: the Tennessee Legislature has decreed that such cases must now be called "health care liability actions.)

In a health care liability action in Tennessee, both the liability of the health care provider and the link between the negligent action or omission ("causation") must be proved by one or more expert witnesses in the vast, vast majority of cases. The liability expert must 1) practice in a field of medicine that makes his or her testimony pertinent to the case; 2) practice in that field of medicine in Tennessee or a contiguous state in the year preceding the incident; and 3) be familiar with the regularly accepted level of medical practice in the community where the incident took place or a similar community.

The causation expert must also meet the geographic requirements mentioned above. However, this expert does not need to know the standard of care in the community where the incident occurred if his or his expert opinion is limited to causation issues.

October 29, 2012

I Lost My Personal Injury Case. Can I Appeal?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

If a plaintiff or a defendant loses a case in a Tennessee Circuit or Chancery Court and has a complaint about the way the trial was conducted or the end result of the trial or the judge’s ruling on post-trial motions, he or she can appeal.

In Tennessee, the first appeal is to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. An appeal to the Court of Appeals is an appeal as a matter of right. That is, you have the automatic right to this appeal and do not have to have permission of any court to appeal

The Court of Appeals does not hear from witnesses. Rather, it looks at the transcript of the testimony given in the trial court, reviews the exhibits, and determines whether there were any errors than mandate a different result than reached in the trial court. The Court of Appeals can affirm the result reached in the trial court, order a new trial, and sometimes it can outright dismiss a case won by a plaintiff in the trial court.

October 28, 2012

Why Does My Health Insurer Get Paid Out of My Personal Injury Settlement?

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

My lawyer just settled my personal injury case and now tells me I have to repay my health insurance company for paying my medical bills. I have paid health insurance premiums for 15 years and was never in the hospital one time before my wreck! Why do they have the right to get repaid?

Because the insurance policy you have almost certainly says that the company have the right to be repaid. That is part of the bargain you struck with the insurer – even though you never read your policy and no agent or representative of your employer mentioned it to you.

Depending on the type of health insurance you have there are several arguments that can be made to secure a reduction in the amount that must be paid back to the insurer. An experienced personal injury attorney will know this area of the law and will work with you to secure a reduction if possible.

October 16, 2012

Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: Deadlines for Taking Legal Action for Those Receiving Injections in Tennessee

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Those who have contracted fungal meningitis as a result of an epidural steroid injunction in Tennessee must file a lawsuit against the responsible parties within one year of the time they knew or reasonably should have known that they were injured by the contaminated steroid. ,

Because the "knew or reasonably should have known" language leaves room for interpretation, those harmed by the drug should work on the assumption that the one year deadline began to run on the date the injection that caused the infection unless a fungal meningitis lawyer familiar with all of the facts advises to the contrary.

This one-year deadline includes out-of-state residents who contracted the disease after receiving injections here, although different rules may apply depending on other facts. No state imposes a deadline shorter than Tennessee’s one-year deadline, and therefore this is a conservation assumption to use until a lawyer familiar with all of the facts can tell you if a different deadline applies to you.