August 31, 2009 by Zale.

Tennessee is typically a pretty conservative state when it comes to people being injured on the premises of a business.  However, the case law in Tennessee does not let a business owner completely escape liability for the bad acts of an individual on the business property.  If it can be proven that the business had some culpability for the acts of that person, even if those acts are criminal, then the business can be held liable for the acts of that person.

Recently a plaintiff won $10 Million, yes Million, against Ruby Tuesday.  What did Ruby Tuesday do wrong?  It sold alcohol to an already intoxicated person, who then beat the stew out of the customer / plaintiff.  Wow!  That makes one wonder if Tennessee is as conservative at the insurance defense bar once thought it was.

Posted in Litigation, Injury Law, Insurance Law, Business Law | No Comments »

August 18, 2009 by Zale.

Some folks think that rear end automobile accidents are a “shoe in” to win.  Over my years as an adjuster, covering most of the southeast and even some of the southwest, I’ve seen them lost from time to time.  Attorneys and claimants alike would think I was crazy when I would bring it up, but it does happen.

Here’s the latest case of this nature that I’ve seen.  Apparently the plaintiff won the issue regarding the defendant being at fault, but the plaintiff lost on the issue of any of the injuries being related to the accident.  Why?  Well, it appears to have been a fairly minor accident and the plaintiff appears to have had a history of medical problems, which lead up to this accident.  In short, the jury didn’t believe the plaintiff.

At the end of the day, its still a popularity contest and you never can predict what a jury will do.

Posted in Litigation, Injury Law, Insurance Law | No Comments »

August 6, 2009 by Zale.

It’s funny to me that there are those who want us, the tax paying public, to pay for public schools, whether we use them or not, but then when we want to pray over what we’ve paid for, they get all in a fuss.  Here’s the latest article in the Tennessean regarding the Wilson County, Tennessee “See You at the Pole” case.  Nate Kellum is the Alliance Defense Fund attorney who is heading up the case.  Nate’s a great guy and I’m proud of the fact that he gets to take on the American Civil Liberties Union, who has apparently decided to take on the mantle of the “Antichrist”.

Posted in Freedom of Religion, Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech | No Comments »

August 4, 2009 by Zale.

Tennessee recognizes a duty for business owners, in high crime areas, to take reasonable measures to protect their customers. It make sense right? If a business owner knows there is a lot of crime in their area and continues to invite customers to their business premises, then they should take the appropriate measures to protect those customers (and employees) from the criminal element that abounds in their area. This duty comes from the 1996 Tennessee Supreme Court decision McClung v. Delta Square 937 SW2d 894.

Recently, there was a case where a security company tried to escape liability by alleging that, even though they were hired to supply security for a business, they had no duty to Ms. Maggie Barron, an employee of one of the businesses.

Ms. Barron was abducted by two juveniles from her employer’s parking lot.  This was the parking lot the security company was paid to secure. The delinquents abducted her, threatened to kill her and assaulted her while driving her car around. Their activities ended when they eventually wrecked Ms. Barron’s vehicle. Fortunately, Ms. Barron lived to tell her story.

Ms. Barron sued several folks, including the security company. The security company filed a motion to allow them to be dismissed from the case. This had to have been an interesting argument for the security company’s attorney to make. Let’s see, “Your Honor, this was clearly not a high crime area, after all, they didn’t kill her.” Or maybe, “Your Honor, my client is a security company and therefore, clearly had no duty to protect anyone.”

For some reason, the trial court judge bought their argument and let them out of the case.  Ms. Barron, rightly so, was having none of that and she appealed the trial court’s decision. She won, as she should have, based on the McClung case.

What’s this tell us? If your business is in a high crime area, take the appropriate measures to make sure your customers and employees will have a chance to frequent your business again.

Posted in Criminal Law, Injury Law, Business Law | No Comments »