May 22, 2008 by Zale.

Tennessee has struggled for a while to truly determine whether or not a doctor is an agent of a hospital when they are working as a contract laborer.  I’ve had a problem with hospital’s escaping liability for one of their doctors, simply because they pay him or her with a 1099 form and not as an employee.

It appears that our old and relative unclear way of determining whether or not a hospital can be held liable for the actions of a doctor has come to an end.  The recent opinion issued by the Tennessee Supreme Court is  Boren v. Weeks and it was released on May 6th.  On page 10 of the opinion, it states:

To hold a hospital vicariously liable for the negligent or wrongful acts of an independent contractor physician, a plaintiff must show that:

1. the hospital held itself out to the public as providing medical services;
2. the plaintiff looked to the hospital rather than to the individual physician to perform those services; and
3. the patient accepted those services in the reasonable belief that the services were provided by the hospital or a hospital employee.

So what’s this mean for the general public?  The above criteria is much easier to work with when one is trying to determine whether or not a hospital should be held liable for the errors of those they hire, regardless of whether or not those medical professionals are paid with a 1099 form or not.

Posted in Injury Law | No Comments »

May 12, 2008 by Zale.

Some states do not have much respect for the words in an insurance policy.  They consider all of the words as “fine print”.  Fortunately, Tennessee still respects the words in the policy. (Why is that good?  Predictability makes insurance rates cheaper and the law easier to predict.)

Finchum v. Patterson, was released today. This is a Tennessee Court of Appeals case where the heart of the dispute has to do with a theft loss to a show truck. The insurance company denied the loss based on the wording of the policy. There was probably a coverage that Finchum could have purchased to cover this loss, they just failed to do so.

What does this case teach us?

• Make sure  your specialty items are covered, especially when you have a $30,000 show truck.
• Periodically check with your agent as to whether or not there are any other coverages you may consider.
• Don’t assume  that your insurance agent speaks for the actual insurance carrier.
• Understand that you have the responsibility to know what is in your insurance policy.

You can’t cover every loss, but it’s in every business’s best interest to  make sure their risks are covered.

Posted in Insurance Law, Business Law | No Comments »

May 12, 2008 by Zale.

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Posted in General Law | No Comments »