The Hamilton Firm Blog

Now that former Durham Transportation school bus driver Johnthony Walker has been found guilty of six counts of criminally negligent homicide by a Hamilton County jury, the question arises as to whether the felony convictions lift Tennessee’s caps on noneconomic damages for victims of his negligence. Walker was driving 37 children from Woodmere Elementary School…

A recent Opinion from the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Jeffrey Sipler v. Trans Am Trucking, Civ.No.10-3550 (DRD) states very clearly that “no federal law requires set-aside arrangements in personal injury settlements for future medical expenses.” The defense tried to impose a confidentiality clause and sort of a Medicare Set-aside (MSA) arrangement on the…

The expert affidavit law, O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1, which was originally enacted in 1987, supposedly to reduce litigation by weeding out frivolous lawsuits, is still spawning litigation nearly 30 years later. What if the plaintiff’s expert is deemed not competent to testify in a medical malpractice case under the stringent requirements of O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702(c)(2) because…

As we look forward to cooler weather this fall, we should be reminded we are more likely to encounter fog on our highways. Fog is prevalent in areas where moisture is abundant, such our southern rivers and lakes. However, fog can occur anywhere. Abundant condensation nuclei enhances the formation of fog. Fog may form (1)…

In Skaan v. Federal Express Corp, an opinion filed by the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Jackson on December 13, 2012, the Court examined a contractual limitation provision in an employment contract. The plaintiff filed a workers’ compensation claim and was eventually discharged from his employment. Eight months after being termination, he filed a…

The Statute of Limitations is ONE YEAR: Statutes of Repose: $750,000 Cap on Noneconomic Damages: Comparative Fault: Liability Insurance is Not Discoverable in State Courts: UM/UIM Coverage (policies issued in TN): Products Liability: Premises Liability: Medical Malpractice (Health Care Liability): Governmental Tort Liability: Wrongful Death: Punitive Damages: Miscellaneous: Have you been injured by a truck…

Georgia’s modified comparative negligence system was radically altered by the tort reform legislation enacted in 2005. The legislation was rammed through the General Assembly so fast there was none of the usual vetting by the judiciary committees and the resulting laws, effective February 16, 2005, were poorly drafted and procedurally confusing. Until 2005, apportionment of…

Trial lawyers in Tennessee have now had over twenty years of experience with allocation of fault and the resulting apportionment of damages in tort cases since McIntyre v. Balentine, 833 S.W.2d 52 (1992). The lessons learned can be helpful to in Georgia where the courts are struggling with interpretation and implementation of O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33,…

Ahlborn has been brought back to life by Congress. The Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018, just passed by Congress and signed into law by the President on February 9th, permanently repeals a provision from 2013 that would have allowed states to recover medical expense subrogation claims from any portion of a Medicaid beneficiary’s legal…

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, and safety groups and insurance companies and agents, recently released its 15th annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, detailing which states have optimal traffic safety laws and which laws need to be enacted. The organization’s stated mission is the adoption of…