The Tennessee Supreme Court has released its opinion in Binns v. Trader Joe's East, Inc., No. M2022-01033-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. Apr. 8, 2024). The syllabus form the slip opinion reads:  This interlocutory appeal involves an alleged slip and fall incident that occurred at the defendant’s grocery store. The plaintiff’s amended complaint included allegations of vicarious liability, premises liability, negligent training, and negligent supervision against the defendant. In an attempt to dismiss the plaintiff’s negligent training and supervision claims, the defendant filed a motion for parti ..read more

The Tennessee Supreme Court has released its opinion in Williams v. Smyrna Residential, LLC, No. M2021-00927-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. Feb. 16, 2024). The syllabus from the majority opinion reads:  Granville Williams, Jr., died while residing at an assisted-living facility. The central question in this appeal is whether his son’s ensuing wrongful-death action against the facility must be arbitrated. To answer that question, we must resolve two subsidiary issues—first, whether the attorney-in-fact who signed the arbitration agreement as Williams’s representative had authority to do so and, sec ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Bakker v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, No. E2022-00872-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 5, 2024). The syllabus from the slip opinion reads:  The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant hospital in this premises liability case, finding that the defendant had no notice of the alleged dangerous or defective condition on its premises. The plaintiff has appealed. Following our review, we determine that the plaintiff was not provided notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond to all issues t ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Salas v. Rosdeutscher, Nos. M2021-00449-COA-R3-CV; M2022-00130-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2024). The syllabus reads: Plaintiff’s attorneys appeal the trial court’s imposition of sanctions against them in the amount of $68,617.28 and the denial of their second motion to disqualify the trial court judge. We affirm the trial court’s discretionary decision to impose sanctions, but we vacate the amount of sanctions awarded and remand for the trial court to calculate the reasonable amount of monetary sanctions in keeping with the ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Plofchan v. Hughey, No. M2021-00853-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 5, 2023). The syllabus from the opinion reads: A man sued his arresting officers and others. He claimed he was neither drunk nor violent when he was arrested and charged with public intoxication, resisting arrest, and assault on an officer. During discovery, the man claimed to have no communications between him and a companion that were not protected by attorney-client privilege or as work product. When such communications were uncovered, the defendants moved for s ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Beasley v. Jae Nails Bar, LLC, No. M2022-01330-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 11, 2023). The syllabus from the slip opinion reads: This is a premises liability action in which the plaintiff slipped and fell while she was walking to a pedicure station in a nail salon. Two principal issues are presented. First, the plaintiff contends that the trial court erred by denying her Tenn. R. Civ. P. 34A.02 motion for spoliation of evidence by finding that the defendant was not put on notice that a video recording from a surveillance camera ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Christie v. Baptist Memorial Hospital, No. W2022-01296-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 15. 2023).  Plaintiffs appeal the dismissal of their health care liability claims against a hospital and two doctors who treated their daughter on the day of her birth and tragic death. The trial court reluctantly ruled that the plaintiffs failed to substantially comply with Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(a)(2)(E) and dismissed the claims as untimely. We conclude that the plaintiffs met their burden to show substantial compliance with ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Locke v. Aston, No. M2022-01820-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 25, 2023). The syllabus from the slip opinion reads: This is a health care liability action filed by a patient and her husband alleging serious injury as a result of surgery. The plaintiffs learned that the defendants had taken surveillance videos and sought discovery of those videos. The trial court allowed discovery of only the videos that the defendants intended to use at trial for impeachment purposes. The trial court gave the plaintiffs permission to seek an ap ..read more

The Tennessee Court of Appeals released its opinion in Vilas v. Love, No. W2022-01071-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 26, 2023). The syllabus from the slip opinion reads: In this health care liability action, the trial court granted summary judgment to the appellee surgeon based on the expiration of the statute of limitations and the appellant patient’s failure to show evidence of causation and damages. On appeal, we conclude that (1) there is a genuine dispute of material fact as to when the appellant’s cause of action accrued; (2) the trial court did not specifically rule on the propriet ..read more

The Tennesse Court of Appeals has released its opinion in Hamilton ex rel. McGill v. Methodist Healthcare Memphis Hospitals, No. W2022-00054-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 16, 2023). The opinion's syllabus reads: This appeal arises from a health care liability action filed in circuit court by a conservator on behalf of a ward. After a three-week jury trial resulted in a mistrial, the conservator took a nonsuit. The conservator refiled the complaint against only one defendant hospital, asserting that it was vicariously liable for the actions of a doctor based on a theory of apparent agency ..read more