Blog

When recent reforms to Tennessee’s medical malpractice laws went into effect in 2009, there were many changes that took place. One of those changes was that a plaintiff must give a defendant at least sixty days’ notice of their intent to file a medical malpractice claim. When the new notice requirement went into effect, there…

Just after midnight on Sunday, January 12, 2014, a fatal motorcycle crash occurred on Peachers Mill Road in Clarksville, Tennessee. The motorcycle that Andrew S. Hafen was riding was the only vehicle involved in the deadly accident. The crash appears to have happened when Hafen was unable to negotiate a slight curve in the road.…

While not every nursing home resident wants life-saving measures like CPR to be administered if they are found unresponsive, nursing home staff are required to abide by the wishes of their residents as they are spelled out in their advance directives. If a resident does not have an advance directive, the default directive is to…

If you feel as though it is more difficult to drive at night than it is during the day, you are right. Driving requires skill and concentration at any time of day or night, but after the sun sets, it is more difficult for drivers to see things like signs and pavement markings. Wildlife and…

On Friday, January 24, 2014, a horrific accident involving a dump truck occurred near the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The accident happened just before 9AM at the corner of Middle Tennessee Boulevard and Greenland Drive. The victim, a student at Middle Tennessee State University, was on his way to class when he…

Many times, trucking accidents claim the lives of passengers who are traveling in smaller vehicles. Sometimes, the victims of trucking accidents are truckers themselves. A 2009 crash in Lebanon County which involved two semi-trailers killed a truck driver and his passenger. This past month, a federal judge awarded $2.2 million dollars to the family of…

When you drive a car, motorcycle, truck, or any other vehicle, there is always some risk that one or more of the vehicle’s parts are defective, and that the defect will cause the vehicle to malfunction. Sometimes, if a part is defective and the vehicle malfunctions, the driver may be able to get the vehicle…

On Saturday, January 25, 2014, a series of accidents occurred on the eastbound side of I-30 in Cookeville, Tennessee. A chain reaction that began with one accident and eventually resulted in a total of ten accidents involving eighteen vehicles happened between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM, between mile marker 301 and mile marker 298. Both lanes…

The family of Marcelline Katherine Sommer Vale finally has the answer to a question that has been weighing heavily on them since 2007. In 2007, when Vale was a resident at a Louisville nursing home, she died from an overdose of insulin. Vale had not been prescribed insulin, because she did not need it as…

There are millions of commercial trucks on the road each day.  Many travel through Tennessee every day, which means that there are serious accidents involving tractor-trailers and Tennessee residents with all too much regularity.  Tractor-trailers are the means by which goods are shipped throughout the United States.  Due to the high cost of fuel and…

In October, 2013, truck driver Ronald Eugene Graybeal of Newport, Tennessee was sentenced to almost twelve years in prison after causing a fatal accident on Interstate 40 in Orange County, North Carolina in 2011.  The accident happened when Graybeal failed to stop in time at a place in the road where it went from three…

When you have made the effort to contact and retain an attorney, something serious happened to impact your life.  It is important for you to get the right help in order to get the justice that you deserve.  You have to trust that the attorney whom you hired will do everything possible to get you…

Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney behaves in a negligent manner or breaches an agreement while representing a client, which leads to actual harm that can be calculated in financial terms.  These cases are particularly difficult because the attorneys handling the legal malpractice case must demonstrate that the outcome of the underlying case would have…

The decision to put your loved one in a nursing home is an incredibly difficult one to make.  Usually, there are many discussions that take place, attempts made to meet the increasing demands of medical visits, personal errands, and physical assistance, and alternatives considered.  However, when the decision finally is made, it often involves relief…

In October 2013, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) released a study on falls in long-term care facilities.  This study reviewed footage that captured 227 falls and discovered that in thirty-seven percent (37%) of the falls, the victims hit their heads.  Of these falls involving impact to the head, sixty-three percent (63%) involved a fall…

When parents learn that they are pregnant, they plan for many things, including preparing the baby’s room for when they come home.  One of the things that they probably never think about is discussing with their doctor whether or not forceps would be used during the delivery.  However, the decision to use these tools at…

On December 28, 2013, a young Texas couple welcomed their newborn daughter.  However, the joy of her birth was short-lived as the infant was purportedly harmed through the unsuccessful use of forceps during labor and the infant suffered from severe injuries at the time of her delivery.  According to ABC News, the couple alleges that…

There are many different ways that a doctor can commit medical malpractice, including wrong site surgery, leaving a foreign object inside the patient, and prescribing the wrong medication, among many other errors.  However, one of the ways in which a doctor can commit malpractice is by failing to get the patient’s informed consent to the…

When you undertake a medical procedure, there always are risks involved.  It is the role of the doctor to describe those risks to the patient in a manner that the he or she can understand.  The doctor also needs to describe the potential benefits so that the patient can weigh the pros and cons and…

People who ride motorcycles do not do it because it is the easiest way to get from Point A to Point B, they ride because there in an indescribable sense of freedom in taking to the road with minimal barriers between the rider and the environment in which he or she travels.  However, the very…

In March 2012, our client Kathryn Sadowski was a passenger in a car being driven by her husband of 30 years, Emil Sadowski.  As the couple was pulling onto Hwy 64 near the Wolfchase Mall they were struck by an uninsured driver, Chamroerun Kheiv.  An independent witness confirmed that Kheiv was driving recklessly, speeding, swerving,…

People’s reasons for riding a bike may vary.  It could be a love passed along from parent to child or a pleasure adopted on one’s own.  Regardless of how a person became a biker, it is with a passion for riding that each trip is made, even if gas economy is used for a justification…

As a driver, you expect to get into at least one car accident during your lifetime.  This is not something to be anticipated, merely accepted based on the statistical probabilities that currently exist.  What you do not expect is the sudden and life-changing impact that sends your vehicle sideways at a great rate of speed…

The type of accident where one vehicle impacts the side of another vehicle is known as a T-bone accident in common parlance.  This type of collision also is referred to as a side-angle or broadside crash.  They frequently lead to serious injuries due to the high rate of speed at which the impacting vehicle usually…

On December 4, 2013, a 23 year old man from Hillsboro, Tennessee was traveling eastbound on Interstate 24 when he traveled from the left lane into the right lane and impacted the rear-end of a tractor-trailer traveling in the same direction.  The impact led to the 2013 Nissan Sentra that the man was driving getting…