Tennessee Injury Law Center

June 11, 2012

Why Do Some Tennessee Personal Injury Lawyers Charge Interest on Case Expenses?

The preparation and trial of a personal injury case requires the expenditure of time and money. Typically, personal injury lawyers work on a contingent fee, meaning that they do not get paid for their work unless they are successful.

The expenditure of money for case expenses is handled differently by different lawyers. Some lawyers make the client pay for medical records and deposition costs as they are incurred. This is relatively rare, but occurs. They do this because (a) they lack the money to advance the expenses for the client and / or (b) they lack confidence in the likelihood of success of the case and do not want to put their own money at risk. You should make every effort to find a lawyer to take your case who will not charge you for these expenses as they are incurred.

Other lawyers pay all of the case expenses as they are incurred and then deduct those expenses from the monetary recovery obtained in the case. In the event that the case is unsuccessful, these lawyers will either ask the client to re-pay the expenses or will waive expense reimbursement.

June 10, 2012

How Much Is My Case Worth?

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

Most, but not all, prospective personal injury clients what to know the value of their case when we meet them for an initial interview. This is almost always an impossible question to answer. Let me explain why

Tennessee law of damages in personal injury and in wrongful death cases includes several different factors that must be considered in evaluating a case. (Please see our Legal Guides for a discussion of Tennessee wrongful death damages and Tennessee personal injury damages.) At the time of our first meeting with a potential client, we will lack information about certain of the elements of damages that will permit us to make an informed judgment about the value of a case.

Let me give an example. Assume that a client has a torn rotator cuff and is scheduled for surgery. It is impossible to do a fair evaluation of that case until after the surgery and the physical therapy that will inevitably follow. Why? Because (a) the cost of the surgery and physical therapy is not known; (b) it is unknown whether there will be complications during or after the surgery (for example, a hospital-acquired infection) that will impact your medical expenses and recovery time; (c) your lost wages are not known; and (d) it is not known whether you will have any future limitations in the shoulder, which in turn impacts a claim for future medical bills, future loss of earning capacity, pain,suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.

June 9, 2012

Jury Trials In Nashville, Tennessee Circuit Court in April 2012

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

Here are the results for civil jury trials that occurred in the Circuit Court for Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee in April, 2012.

The phrase "civil jury trials" includes jury trials in all cases except criminal cases. The statistics do not include jury trials that may have taken place in the Chancery Court for Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Personal injury and wrongful death trials rarely take place in Chancery Court.

There were 8 civil jury trials in Davidson County in April, 2012.

June 5, 2012

Middle Tennessee Motorcyclists and the Driveway Threat

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

One of the biggest risks presented to motorcyclists riding the beautiful roadways of Middle Tennessee are driveways.

Driveways present risks of several types to motorcyclists. The most obvious risk is that a car, truck, tractor or other vehicle will pull out onto the road and put the motorcyclist in danger, resulting either in a direct impact, forcing the motorcyclist in the other lane of traffic and the danger in that lane, or causing the motorcyclist to lay the bike down to avoid an accident.

The other risk is less obvious, but any person who has ever road a motorcycle knows exactly what I talking about: gravel on the roadway that washed off a gravel driveway or was pulled off the driveway by driveway traffic.

June 4, 2012

Medical Transport Accidents in Tennessee

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

The use of medical transportation vehicles is growing in Middle Tennessee. The elderly, people who live in poverty, and the disabled rely on medical transportation companies to take them to doctor’s appointments, physical therapy appointments, and other medical offices for various treatments and tests.

Many of these people need special care getting in and out of the vehicle. Those in wheelchairs need to be carefully and completely secured before the transport vehicle is moved. And, the drivers of these vehicles need to take special care to protect the riders, the majority of whom are in a fragile state of health.

Our law firm’s website has more information to assist those injured while a passenger in a medical transport vehicle.

May 30, 2012

Insurer Payments in Dog Bite Cases Increase

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

Insurance companies saw a 12% increase in costs related to dog bite claims in 2011, with the cost of an average claim increasing to almost $30,000.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the largest writer of homeowners insurance in the U.S., paid out more than $109 million as a result of its nearly 3,800 dog bite claims in 2011. Dog bites accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2011, costing the homeowner’s insurance industry nearly $479 million.

For all insurance companies, the number of claims rose 3.3 percent from 15,770 in 2010 to 16,292 in 2011. However, there were fewer claims in 2011 than there were in 2003.

May 29, 2012

Time Limit for Filing Cerebral Palsy Claim in Tennessee

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

Under Tennessee law, the parents of a child born with cerebral palsy or other birth injury have one year from the date of birth of the child to take appropriate legal action against the responsible parties to seek recovery for medical expenses and loss of services arising from the injury to the child. The child has three years from the date of the birth to bring the claim.

There are a couple of circumstances under which the parents can have more time to bring their claim. First, more time is granted if the parents did not discover and reasonably could not have discovered that the child was injured as a result of malpractice. This legal doctrine, known as the "discovery rule," is an extremely complicated rule of law and no parent should assume that he or she has more than one year from the date of the birth of the child to bring suit unless a competent lawyer with knowledge of all of the facts advises the parent that he or she has additional time. Under no circumstances (except one described below) does the parent have more than three years from the date of the birth of the child to bring a lawsuit.

The exception to the three-year rule for the parents and the child arises if the health care providers "fraudulently conceal" the existence of a claim. Once again, this is an extremely complicated area of the law and no person should assume that it applies to his or her case unless a competent lawyer with knowledge of all of the facts advises the parent that he or she can use the law of "fraudulent concealment" to have additional time to bring a claim for their child’s birth injury.

May 29, 2012

Who Is Entitled to The Money Recovered in a Tennessee Wrongful Death Case?

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

Many people do not understand what happens to damages collected in a successful Tennessee wrongful death lawsuit. In fact, last week I received a call from a lawyer indicating that he settled a wrongful death case and did not know how to distribute the proceeds of the settlement.

The law is relatively straight-forward. The decedent’s will does not control who gets the money recovered in a wrongful death lawsuit. Instead, Tennessee law provides that the monies are distributed according to the law of intestate succession, that is, the money is distributed as if the person died without a will.

So, if a person dies with with no spouse and no children, his or her parents are entitled to the recovery of the wrongful death proceeds. If the person leaves only a surviving spouse, the parents are excluded and the spouse gets 100% of the money.

May 24, 2012

Why Do I Need Medical Payments Coverage on My Automobile Insurance Policy?

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

As a Tennessee car accident attorney, I am often asked why it is necessary to have medical payments coverage as part of an automobile insurance policy, especially if the car owner also has health insurance.

Frankly, it is possible that your medical payments ("med pay") coverage will do you little good if you are injured in a car wreck and also have health insurance. However, med pay coverage can be used to pay deductibles, co-pays, and items not covered by health insurance. If you have a health insurance plan that exposes you to minimal deductibles and co-pays and you can comfortably meet those expenses on your monthly income or with your savings, med pay coverage may not be a good investment.

However, my experience has been that many people do not have a financial reserve for these bills and, to the extent that they have a financial reserve it disappears quickly if the injury results in loss of income. Thus, med pay can provide a financial cushion and can avoid the all-too-common situation where medical bills from car accidents are sent to collection agencies.

May 23, 2012

Why is My Past Medical History Important in My Personal Injury Lawsuit?

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

As Tennessee personal injury lawyers, we spend of time listening to our clients explain about injuries they received in car wrecks, truck accidents, and lots of other situations. One frequent question we are asked is whether the insurance company defending the case will be able to explore the client’s medical history.

A person’s medical history is important in any case in which he or she is claiming to have suffered a physical or psychological injury as a result of someone else’s negligent or intentional act. The medical history establishes the baseline of the person’s physical or psychological well being before the injury. Tennessee law requires medical evidence to show that a negligent act caused an injury, so a medical history can establish the lack of any prior problem that our client complains was caused in a car wreck or other event.

Tennessee law provides that you may not recover damages for physical and mental suffering from prior medical problems or medical care to treat those pre-existing problems. However, when a preexisting condition is made worse y the wrongful act of another person byou can recover damages for the worsening of the condition. Your medical history will be important to proving this claim – your lawyer will have to show what the condition was before you were injured and, with the assistance of testimony from a doctor, how the injury made that condition worse.