JURIST

JUNE 3, 2023

Judge Thomas Parker, a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Friday ruled that Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) is unconstitutional. In his opinion, Parker ruled that the AEA violates First Amendment rights. Parker previously enjoined the AEA in April.

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Day on Torts

MARCH 4, 2023

In a unanimous decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court has held that the Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA) “removes immunity only for ordinary negligence,” not for gross negligence or recklessness. Hawkins County, Tennessee , No. The Court of Appeals reversed dismissal. In Lawson v. E2020-01529-SC-R11-CV (Tenn.

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Day on Torts

AUGUST 22, 2022

Where an HCLA plaintiff’s expert refused to testify due to no fault of plaintiff or plaintiff’s counsel, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court should have allowed plaintiff to secure a substitute expert. Sobel, but the trial court denied the motion. In Blackburn v. McLean , No.

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Day on Torts

JANUARY 15, 2022

The Tennessee Supreme Court reviews very few cases in a given year. In the year ending June 30, 2020 (the last period for which information is publicly available) the High Court was asked to accept review in 569 cases. In the same fiscal year, the Court issued opinions in 63 cases. Summary by the Court of Appeals: .

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The Crime Report

DECEMBER 6, 2021

A Tennessee appeals court has unanimously ruled Tim Gilbert, a Black man convicted of aggravated assault and other charges by an all-white jury should get a new trial, saying that prosecutors failed to rebut a claim made by defense lawyers that the room where the jury deliberated was prejudicial to the man, reports the New York Times.

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JURIST

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

In a 2-1 decision on Friday, the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request to revive a Tennessee law requiring a 48-hour waiting period before abortions while the court hears an appeal of the district court’s decision that ruled the law unconstitutional.

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Day on Torts

OCTOBER 31, 2022

When appealing a trial court’s order dismissing or refusing to dismiss a case under the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA), the appeal “must be filed within thirty days of the entry of that order.”. The libel defendants filed motions to dismiss pursuant to the TPPA, which the trial court granted on December 10, 2020.

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Day on Torts

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

The trial court applied the statutory non-economic damages cap to reduce the award to $1,529,777, which the Court of Appeals affirmed in a lengthy opinion. The Court pointed out that plaintiff had three lay witnesses and two expert witnesses testify as to causation. The Court of Appeals rejected both arguments.

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Day on Torts

OCTOBER 3, 2022

Where plaintiff real estate professional brought an action for defamation and false light based on an online review written by defendant, defendant moved to dismiss the action pursuant to the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA). This ruling was affirmed in part and reversed in part on appeal. In Charles v. McQueen , No.

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Day on Torts

OCTOBER 24, 2022

Where defendant physician was employed by a state university and received no personal gain from the clinical services she rendered at a hospital, and plaintiff had brought an HCLA action based on these hospital clinical services, summary judgment pursuant to defendant’s absolute immunity under the Tennessee Claims Commission Act was affirmed.

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Law 360

APRIL 19, 2024

Supreme Court's ruling that Title VII prohibits discriminatory job transfers left, how lower courts could decide how much transportation work can exempt workers from federal arbitration and a look at a workers' bid to unionize at a Volkswagen facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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Day on Torts

MAY 8, 2024

A finding of trespass requires a court to award nominal damages under Tennessee law. 12, 2024) (memorandum opinion), the Court of Appeals overturned a trial court’s refusal to award damages after a trespass finding. The trial court ruled that appellee trespassed but refused to award damages due to his “good faith.”

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Day on Torts

JULY 13, 2021

Where plaintiff only presented proof that his property was damaged during shipment but did not present any proof sufficient to allow the trial court to assess his damages, involuntary dismissal was affirmed. After plaintiff closed his proof, defendants moved for dismissal, which the trial court granted and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

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SCOTUSBlog

JUNE 10, 2021

Share A fractured Supreme Court on Thursday narrowed the scope of a key phrase in the Armed Career Criminal Act, ruling that crimes involving recklessness do not count as “violent felonies” for the purpose of triggering a key sentencing enhancement. The Supreme Court reversed that decision on Thursday. Charles Borden Jr.

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Day on Torts

JULY 23, 2021

Tinnin changed his testimony at trial and stated that he bought the car with the intention of flipping it, but the trial court did not credit this testimony. After a motion by the insurance company, the trial court bifurcated the trial, hearing evidence concerning only the coverage issue first and then addressing liability if needed.

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Day on Torts

AUGUST 2, 2021

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled plaintiffs can pursue claims based on recklessness and gross negligence under the GTLA. If this section is fulfilled and immunity is removed, courts considering a GTLA suit “proceed to another step in their analysis,” considering the public duty doctrine. In Lawson v.

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Day on Torts

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Where defendant received a citation for violating a Tennessee municipal ordinance in a car accident, the one-year statute of limitations applied. The trial court ruled that the two-year extension did not apply here because the code violation was civil in nature rather than criminal, and it therefore granted summary judgment to defendant.

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The Crime Report

MARCH 30, 2022

The use of fines and fees to generate revenue for local justice systems constitutes a “predatory” relationship between law enforcement and citizens that violates the due process protections of the Constitution, according to a Tennessee Law Review paper. Supreme Court Rulings. As early as 1927, a Supreme Court cases, Tumey v.

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Day on Torts

MARCH 6, 2024

The facts showed that a few months before the mother’s death, defendant had traveled to her home in Tennessee and had the mother execute a power of attorney naming defendant her attorney-in-fact. Continue reading

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Day on Torts

OCTOBER 31, 2022

Where an HCLA plaintiff’s expert testified at his deposition that he was not very familiar with Kingsport and that he had only reviewed information about Kingsport the night before the deposition, rather than before forming his medical opinions, the trial court did not err by excluding the expert based on the locality rule.

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Day on Torts

MARCH 10, 2023

In an HCLA case discovery dispute, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiff’s testifying experts’ “notes, drafts, and communications with counsel” were discoverable under the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and that plaintiff had waived any claim that the requested items were privileged. In Starnes v.

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Day on Torts

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

The trial court eventually granted the motion for summary judgment, agreeing that defendant owed no duty here, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Court began its negligence analysis by considering whether defendant owed a duty under the contract. Code Ann. §

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Day on Torts

DECEMBER 5, 2022

Plaintiff responded by arguing that defendant had waived this argument and that there was material evidence to support the verdict, and the Court of Appeals agreed on both points. First, the Court of Appeals found that defendant waived his argument that the evidence supporting fraud was not legally sufficient.

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Day on Torts

MAY 11, 2022

April 14, 2022), plaintiff filed an HCLA claim against several defendants, including the State of Tennessee as the employer of Dr. Landry, who was allegedly negligent. On appeal, that ruling was reversed. The Court of Appeals began by looking at Tenn. Code Ann. §

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Day on Torts

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Defendants Goodall and the City both filed motions for summary judgment, which the trial court granted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Regarding the claims against Goodall, the trial court had found in part that the claim was barred by the applicable statute of repose found in Tenn. . § internal citation omitted).

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SCOTUSBlog

MARCH 20, 2023

7 Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey” manufactured by “Jack Daniel’s,” the toy refers to a “Bad Spaniel” that makes “Old No. 2 on your Tennessee carpet.” Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed on both counts. The main difference is that instead of describing “Old No.

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SCOTUSBlog

MAY 18, 2021

Share The Supreme Court on Monday issued its opinion in CIC Services v. In an opinion released on the 2021 deadline for Americans to file their federal income taxes, the court ruled 9-0 that the AIA does not bar CIC’s pre-enforcement lawsuit challenging the IRS notice. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the opinion for the court.

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Day on Torts

JANUARY 18, 2022

The evidence showed that in 2002, an HMA representative had rejected uninsured motorist coverage in Tennessee in a signed, dated document. This representative had “executed a new written rejection for Tennessee vehicles each succeeding year through 2010.” The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision.

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Personal Injury Healthcare Court Court Rules 59

Day on Torts

APRIL 5, 2023

The trial court agreed that the case fell within the HCLA and dismissed the suit without prejudice due to plaintiff’s failure to provide pre-suit notice. The trial court thus refused defendant’s request to dismiss the case with prejudice, which was affirmed on appeal. In Mears v. M2022-00490-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Continue reading

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Day on Torts

AUGUST 2, 2022

Defendant argued that plaintiffs knew about the alleged conversion in October 2009 and that the claim was therefore time-barred, but the trial court found that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until after the father’s death. On appeal, this ruling was reversed. Code Ann. § internal citation and quotations omitted).

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Day on Torts

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

City of Algood, Tennessee , No. At the close of plaintiff’s proof, defendant moved for involuntary dismissal of plaintiff’s claims pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 41.02(2), 2), which the trial court granted. In Cryer v. M2020-01063-COA-R3-CV, 2022 WL 150854 (Tenn. Ervin , 438 S.W.2d 2d 733 (Tenn. 20, 2015)).

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Day on Torts

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Where plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in his defamation case before defendants filed their petition to dismiss under the TPPA, the trial court erred by granting defendants’ petition for dismissal and awarding them attorneys’ fees and sanctions after plaintiff’s nonsuit. These rulings were reversed and vacated on appeal.

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Day on Torts

MAY 18, 2022

Plaintiff asserted various claims against defendants, including breach of contract, fraud, intentional misrepresentation, and negligence, all of which the trial court dismissed as untimely pursuant to the three-year statute of limitations applicable to claims of injuries to real property. Code Ann. § 28-3-105.) internal citation omitted).

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Day on Torts

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

After discovery, DSS filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. The trial court ruled that plaintiff had asserted a premises liability claim, and that “DSS did not owe Plaintiff a duty of care under premises liability.” Plaintiff then amended his complaint to assert claims against DSS as well.

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Day on Torts

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Where plaintiff’s personal injury claim was based on a Tennessee car accident for which defendant was given a traffic citation for failure to exercise due care under Tenn. A state trooper issued defendant a traffic citation listing three violations, including “failure to exercise due care, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-8-136.”

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Day on Torts

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, holding that “Plaintiffs’ claims for medical battery and intentional misrepresentation were based on false statements the Defendants made to [plaintiff] before they established a doctor-patient relationship,” and the Court of Appeals affirmed this “temporal analysis” on interlocutory appeal.

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Day on Torts

MARCH 28, 2022

The trial court agreed that defendant had affirmatively negated the elements of duty and notice and therefore granted summary judgment, which the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Court ruled that this response was insufficient and that the statement was thus admitted, explaining: Rule 56.03

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