After suffering an injury in an accident, your life can be thrown into turmoil. If your injury comes at the hands of someone else, then you have the option to pursue a personal injury action against them. Often, cases are successfully negotiated with the at-fault party’s insurer before filing a case in court becomes necessary. However, sometimes it is necessary to file cases in court. As each state has its own guidelines for how to litigate injury cases, here are the basics that you need to know for Tennessee.
Time Limitations
Tennessee places a statute of limitations on the amount of time that passes between the incident causing the injury and when a suit for damages must be filed. In most cases, your legal action for personal injury against a responsible party must begin no later than one year from the time of the incident.
Shared Fault
While some accidents are clearly the fault of one party, many others are the result of actions involving more than one at fault person (including yourself). When reviewing the incident that led to the injury lawsuit, the court can assign a share of the fault as a percentage to all those involved in the incident. If the Plaintiff ( the person bringing the action) is found to be responsible for 50 percent or more of the incident, then they will be able to recover damages. Otherwise, the percentage of fault that you receive is a direct modifier to the amount of the damages that are awarded.
For example, if you are found to be 10 percent at fault for an incident, a judge or jury award amount of $10,000 may be reduced to $9,000 to account for your percentage of fault in the incident.
Reward Caps
The total amount of reparations that you can receive often depends on the nature of the injuries. For economic damages such as medical bills or lost wages from missing work, the limit has an unrestricted cap as long as you successfully legally prove the connection between the damages and the injury. If you are seeking compensation for subjective elements (non-economic damages) like loss of quality of life, emotional pain or so forth, then a cap of $750,000 likely applies. Exceptions are made if the injury is determined to be catastrophic due to extreme injuries such as full-body burns, loss of limbs or the death of a child. In these cases, the cap for non-economic damages is raised to $1 million.
Get a Free Consultation
The Weir & Kestner Injury Lawyers have results-driven experience that can help you craft a case that navigates the Tennessee laws in order to keep you informed and work toward maximizing your reward. If you’ve been in a workplace accident, been involved in a motor vehicle accident, or slipped while on the job, then call or stop by the office for a free legal consultation on your avenues for compensation.
Are You the Victim of a Personal Injury Accident in Tennessee?
You have every right to seek justice. The experienced legal team at Weir & Kestner Injury Attorneys focus on providing the best possible representation to victims of all types of personal injuries caused by the negligence of others.
Contact us online or call our office directly at 615.220.4180 to schedule your free consultation. We’ll arrange a time to meet with you at one of our offices in Smyrna, Nashville, Murfreesboro or Chattanooga—whichever location is most convenient for you.