Tennessee Personal Injury Law Overview

Personal injury law is a very broad area of law that includes cases where someone is injured or killed due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing. Some of the most common personal injury cases in the state of Tennessee are medical malpractice, vehicle accidents, defective products, and premises liability.

Statutes of limitations

All fifty states have time limits for filing a personal injury claim, and this amount of time, called a statute of limitations, is different in all fifty states. In Tennessee, for most personal injury claims, you have only year to file a personal injury claim following the incident. However, in some cases, the amount of time you have to file is different. For instance, if you have an injury following breast implants, you have 25 years after receiving the implants or up to four years following learning of your injury. Also, the statute of limitations is extended for minors and the disabled in some, but not all, personal injury cases.

Fault

In personal injury cases, in order to prove "fault," you must prove negligence. Keep in mind, however, that negligence does not require that the responsible party intentionally caused you harm. Instead, negligence means that the responsible party failed to use reasonable care and that, then, caused your injuries.

The state of Tennessee follows the doctrine of "modified comparative negligence," which means that even if you were partly responsible for your injuries, you can still collect damages from other responsible parties. But you must be less than 50% to blame for your injuries.

Tennessee also follows the doctrine of "several liability," which means that if multiple parties were deemed responsible for your injuries, then each is responsible for paying a percentage of damages. Several liability states that if one party cannot pay his share, the other parties are NOT responsible for paying that party's share of the damages. You (the plaintiff) cannot collect his share from the other responsible parties.

Compensation

In Tennessee, your personal injury claim may allow you to collect money for:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Loss of wages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Permanent disability
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Property damage
• Other expenses related to your injury

If you live in Tennessee and feel you may have a valid legal claim, please contact an experienced Tennessee personal injury attorney in your area today.