If you’ve been injured in an accident in Tennessee, you need to have an adequate understanding of Tennessee’s personal injury law. The laws enacted by the legislature, coupled with a qualified attorney’s help, will subsequently assist you in filing a successful suit or negotiating a settlement with an insurance company.

Read on to learn about Tennessee’s Personal injury law.

How can You Prove Your Personal Injury Claim?

In order to successfully prove your personal injury claim, you must satisfy the following elements:

• Legal duty: This means that you must prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care to protect you from any harm arising from his actions.
• Breach of duty: The defendant’s actions constitute a breach as he or she failed to protect you.
• Causation: Your injuries are a result of the breach by the defendant either directly or indirectly.
• Damages: You have suffered physically or financially in order to be entitled to damages.

Is there a Time Limit For Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Tennessee?

Section 28-3-104 of the Tennessee code provides for a statute of limitation which applies to personal injury lawsuits. Under this law, you are expected to file a lawsuit within a time frame of one year. This denotes the limitation period. This means that if you are injured in an accident, the Tennessee statute of limitation will only allow you to file a lawsuit within one year after the date of the accident.

Therefore, if you fail to file a suit within this timeframe, the court may deem your suit time-barred.

What is Shared Fault in Tennessee Injury Cases?

Shared fault means that the injured person is also at fault- which means that they bear some of the blame for the accident that led to the injury suffered. In such a case, the court applies a modified comparative rule to assess and award damages.

Therefore, if you are injured and file a personal injury lawsuit, the Tennessee court will apply a modified comparative fault rule to either reduce or eliminate the injured person’s damages award.

Essentially, the comparative fault rule works to the effect that if you are at fault, and you are found to be less than 50 percent at fault, then you can still be entitled to damages. However, a fault of over 50% disqualifies you from recovering any damages from any other at-fault party.

Are Dog Owners liable For Dog Attack cases in Tennessee?

Tennessee applies a stringent law when it comes to liability for dog bites. Also known as the ‘one bite rule’, Tennessee code Ann 44-8-413 provides that owners are made to be strictly liable for the dog’s conduct. This means that a dog owner is liable for any attacks or dog bites regardless of the animal’s past conduct.

Are there Limits relating to the Amount of Damages Received in Personal Injury Cases?

State laws provide limits to the amount of money an injured person can receive in damages. These damages are capped or limited in terms of economic damages and non-economic damages. Through a tort reform in Tennessee, the jurisdiction capped non-economic damages at $750,000 and economic damages at $1,000,000.

Can You File a Personal Injury Claim Involving the Tennessee Government?

You are entitled to file a lawsuit if you are injured due to the negligence of a government agency or employee. However, this being a ‘special’ suit, there are some special set of rules that you must apply during the process. This includes filing the suit within one year or appealing your case within ninety days if you end up being denied damages.

Bottom Line

Tennessee’s law under title 20 provides for civil procedure while Title 55 deals with motor and other vehicles. These are some of the imperative laws related to personal injury cases which you ought to understand. However, personal injury claims may prove to be a difficult and complicated process.

Therefore, you need a qualified attorney to help you navigate through it. At Slaughter law firm, we will ensure your personal injury lawsuit is successful. We know the ins and outs of Tennessee personal injury law and how to help!