We have now received the long-awaited decision from the Tennessee Supreme Court in Dedmon v. Steelman. The Court declined to extend the holding in West v. Shelby County Health Care Corp. to personal injury cases. West held that “reasonable charges” for medical services under Tennessee’s Hospital Lien Act are the...
I’m often asked whether a party can disclaim negligence in a contract. The answer is “yes” unless you are providing professional services, such as legal services, medical treatment or home inspections. The following is a brief highlight of the law that applies. It is well settled...
This is a good summary judgment ruling from the Davidson County Circuit Court in a slip and fall case. Boykin v. Moorehead Living Trust, 2015 WL 3455433 (Tenn. Ct. App., May 29, 2015). This case came out of Sixth Circuit in Davidson County Tennessee. The...
There is no duty to prevent an employee from leaving the premises driving his own vehicle while intoxicated. Thompson v. Best Buy Stores, 2016 WL 6946786 (Tenn. Ct. App., June 21, 2016). This is a companion case to Lett v. Collis Foods Inc., 60 S.W.3d...
There is an interesting premise liability case filed last year in the Circuit Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville that found vomit on the floor of a Hardee’s restaurant for approximately three minutes was a sufficient length of time to charge defendant with constructive...
A new case filed June 15, 2015 in the Circuit Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville found that vomit on the floor of a Hardee’s restaurant for approximately three minutes was a sufficient length of time to charge defendant with constructive notice of the...
The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently ruled on a curious case of slip-and-fall. In the case of Petros Goumas v. Jimmy Mayse, et al., the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville found that the Trial Court correctly granted summary judgments to the defendants. The plaintiff...
The doctrine of spoliation of evidence can cause major problems for both plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation. Often times, months or years pass before the defendant is notified of a claim. As a result, defendants may have no notice that there is a duty...
There is a new case in Tennessee interpreting the language if Tennessee’s Dram Shop Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 57-10-101 – 102. The case is Widner v. Chattanooga Entertainment, Inc. d/b/a Electric Cowboy, (Tenn. Ct. App., Nov. 4, 2014)(“Electric Cowboy”). This was an appeal by...
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has penned a new decision addressing the duty of a bar to protect its patrons from the foreseeable criminal acts of third parties. The case name is Nicole Goeser, et al., v. Live Holdings Corporation, et al., (No. M2012-01241-COA-R3-CV; September...