Memphis Personal Injury Lawyers

Here’s a general overview of some issues that can shape personal injury cases for people in the Memphis area. However, you should make sure to discuss your specific concerns with an attorney. Each case is unique.

Most often, a personal injury case in Tennessee involves proving that the defendant (the party being sued) was negligent. This basically means that they didn’t use the proper amount of care in the situation, and the victim was injured as a result. How much care someone needs to use depends on the circumstances. In most ordinary cases, it’s what a reasonable person would have done. For example, a reasonable property owner would probably address hazards on their property before a long time has passed. However, some cases like medical malpractice lawsuits require a more distinctive standard of care.

You also might have a claim against a business that employed a person who caused your injuries. This might be based on a concept called “vicarious liability,” which holds an employer accountable for negligence by an employee in the scope of their employment. You don’t need to show that the employer was negligent to hold it liable under this theory. However, you might have a claim of direct liability against a business if it didn’t use reasonable care in hiring, training, or otherwise managing its employees, and this contributed to your injuries.

A theory called “strict liability” may apply in certain types of personal injury cases, including many cases involving defective products. This can be useful because you don’t need to prove that the defendant was negligent. It’s enough to show that the defendant was responsible for an event or situation for which the law imposes strict liability, and this caused your injuries.

Sometimes a personal injury claim or lawsuit arises from the type of incident that might be charged as a crime, such as an assault. These cases are often called “intentional torts,” since the defendant meant to cause harm. You don’t need to worry about the outcome of a criminal case based on the same events as your lawsuit. The standard of proof in a civil case is only the “preponderance of the evidence,” which essentially means “more likely than not.” A prosecutor faces a much higher standard called “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Thus, you might win your case even if the defendant isn’t convicted.

If you’re thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit, you’ll need to keep a deadline called the statute of limitations in mind. A case filed after this deadline probably will get dismissed, no matter how persuasive your evidence is or how seriously you were injured. The Tennessee personal injury statute of limitations is usually just one year, which is shorter than the deadline in most states. This makes it critical to talk to a lawyer and get the ball rolling on your case as soon as you can.

It’s also a good idea to get started promptly so that you can preserve the evidence that you might need for your claim. As time passes, people’s memories might fade, and physical evidence might no longer be available. This could make it harder to prove liability.

Sometimes multiple people played a role in causing an accident. What happens if one of these people was the victim? Tennessee uses a rule called modified comparative negligence with a 50 percent bar. The injured person can get damages reduced by their percentage of fault if they were less than 50 percent at fault. Otherwise, they won’t be able to get any damages. To take an example, a driver who was 45 percent at fault for a crash could recover up to 55 percent of their damages. However, if they were 55 percent at fault, they wouldn’t recover anything.

There’s a limit on how much you can recover for certain types of damages in a personal injury case. These are non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, which are capped at $750,000 for most cases. In cases involving certain catastrophic injuries, a $1 million cap applies to non-economic damages. (There’s no cap for economic damages, which account for the financial losses of the victim.) Tennessee also limits punitive damages, which are meant to punish and deter behavior that’s especially egregious. The punitive damages cap is usually $500,000 or twice your total economic and non-economic damages, whichever is greater.

You may be able to sue a government entity if you suspect that it caused your injuries. However, these cases must go through a distinctive process. If you want to sue the State of Tennessee, for example, you’ll have to file your claim on a specific website that the Tennessee Department of Treasury has created. Meanwhile, the City of Memphis Claims Department maintains a website for processing claims against the city. You should strongly consider talking to an attorney if you’re thinking about this type of claim to make sure that nothing gets overlooked and your rights are preserved.

The majority of personal injury cases don’t go all the way to a trial in front of a jury or judge. Instead, the victim and the defendant or their insurer agree on a settlement of their claims. This means that the victim gets a certain amount of compensation in exchange for agreeing to end the legal process and release the defendant from any further liability.

A settlement can make sense because it removes the uncertainty of what a third party may think of your case. Even if you think that you have strong evidence, you never know for sure how a trial will turn out. Another key reason to take a settlement is that it resolves your case more efficiently. You’ll get faster compensation for your medical bills and lost income, and you may be able to move forward emotionally from the events sooner if you don’t relive them during a trial. However, you should carefully weigh any offer before signing an agreement.

Insurers primarily focus on their bottom line. They try to settle personal injury claims as inexpensively as possible. An early offer thus may undervalue your claim. In addition, if you’ve suffered serious injuries and potentially permanent disabilities, you may want to wait until you have a clear prognosis for your condition. This allows you to include any future damages in your settlement demands, such as ongoing treatment costs and long-term lost earning capacity. If you don’t take these items into account, you probably won’t be able to go back after signing a settlement and ask the defendant to cover them later.

You can likely assume that the defendant or insurer will have a skilled legal team defending them. This makes it important to hire a lawyer of your own so that you’re not at a disadvantage in negotiations or litigation. Getting a lawyer on your side becomes especially critical if you’re seeking a substantial amount of damages, or if you got injured in a complex series of events for which fault isn’t entirely clear.

An attorney can take the stress off you throughout the process. They’ll work on putting together the documentation and other evidence that you’ll need to support your claim. For example, your attorney might compile medical records and bills, photos of the accident scene, pay stubs showing lost wages, statements from eyewitnesses, and reports from experts. These types of evidence and others can show both the liability of the defendant and the scope of your injuries.

If the defendant starts making settlement offers, your lawyer can assess the strengths and weaknesses of each offer based on their knowledge and experience in the field. This will give you a general sense of whether to accept an offer or keep your case moving forward. The final decision is up to you, though. If you feel that going to trial makes more sense, your attorney will be able to navigate the nuances of this process more adeptly than you could on your own. Skillfully performing tasks such as selecting a jury or cross-examining witnesses can make a big difference to the outcome of a case. Your lawyer can handle all of these details, as well as the big-picture strategy for persuading a judge or jury to believe your side of the story.

Many personal injury attorneys and law firms advocate for injured people in the Memphis area. It takes time and careful thought to figure out who is the best option for you. If you have family members or friends who have needed to hire a personal injury lawyer before, you may get recommendations for an attorney from them. But you should also do your own research online through resources like the Justia Lawyer Directory. We offer not only comprehensive listings but also efficient ways to compare attorneys and contact those who interest you.

One of the most important factors to keep in mind is whether your attorney has relevant experience. There’s a lot of diverse areas within personal injury law, and not every attorney regularly handles every type of case. If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall at a store, for example, you’ll probably want to work with a lawyer who has experience in premises liability claims. If you needlessly developed complications because of an error during surgery, you should hire an attorney who handles medical malpractice cases.

Most personal injury lawyers put highlights of their verdicts and settlements on their websites. It’s worth checking out these numbers to get a sense of their track record, but you shouldn’t stop there. You also should look at reviews from former clients to see what they thought about the attorney’s professionalism, communication skills, and overall personality. If they have any endorsements from other attorneys, those can be a good sign that they’ve earned a strong reputation in the profession.

You should take the precaution of checking an attorney’s disciplinary record with the Tennessee Bar Association. It’s important to work with an ethical advocate, since any misconduct by your attorney could harm your overall case. One small mistake in the past might be forgivable if the attorney seems to have a strong record otherwise, but you probably should think twice before working with someone who seems to regularly get in trouble.

It’s wise to set up consultations with several different attorneys so that you can weigh their relative pros and cons. Most personal injury lawyers offer these initial consultations for free. While each attorney thinks about whether they want to take your case, you can think about whether you would feel comfortable working with them. Don’t underestimate the importance of personality fit in building a strong attorney-client relationship.

Many personal injury claims and lawsuits result from motor vehicle collisions. These may involve cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, and even pedestrians. However, personal injury law extends well beyond these incidents. Cases also may arise from:

• Medical malpractice by a healthcare provider
• Slip and falls or trip and falls on poorly maintained property
• Products with manufacturing, design, or marketing defects
• Abuse or negligence at nursing homes
• Dog bites
• Assault or sexual assault

If you were injured on the job, you might pursue a workers’ compensation claim. You can get these benefits without proving that anyone was at fault. The downside is that the workers’ comp system is usually your “exclusive remedy” as far as your employer is concerned. You can’t sue them for damages that aren’t covered by workers’ compensation, such as your pain and suffering. This doesn’t always mean that an injured worker can’t get these damages, though. They might be able to bring a claim against a third party that was responsible for their injuries. For example, you could potentially sue a manufacturer of a defective tool that you used for your work if you got hurt because of the defect.

According to a study of Tennessee personal injury trials, plaintiffs prevailed over 60 percent of the time. The average verdict in the cases in the study was well into six figures, but the median verdict was less than $20,000. This is likely because a handful of huge awards inflated the average, making it less representative of what a plaintiff usually gets. The median may be a more helpful number because it’s in the middle of the range, larger than half the verdicts and smaller than the other half.

Some memorable verdicts issued in Tennessee in recent years include:

• $32 million (mostly punitive damages) when a woman was struck by a concrete truck driven by someone with a record of license suspensions and violations
• $23.5 million (reduced to $2.25 million) when an intoxicated trucker rear-ended another vehicle after consuming expired drugs
• $12 million for a man who lost both legs after being first struck by another car and later struck by a semi-trailer in the same sequence of events
• $2.5 million (reduced to about $1.5 million) when a man was struck by a truck on an interstate highway, resulting in collisions with two other vehicles and a traumatic brain injury
• $630,000 (reduced to about $430,000) when a truck owned by a government entity struck a motorcyclist while the truck driver was allegedly intoxicated and speeding
• $300,000 in a wrongful death case based on medical malpractice, which allegedly involved giving too much morphine to a patient in the hospital for kidney stones

The amount of damages in each case depends on the specific details of what happened. You shouldn’t rely on an earlier verdict or settlement as an estimate, even if that case sounds like yours. Your attorney can give you a general idea of how much your case might be worth.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security tracks data on car accidents in cities and counties throughout the state. In 2024, there were 178 fatal crashes in Memphis and 441 crashes that caused serious injuries. These 619 collisions included 56 crashes that involved drunk driving, 47 crashes involving drug use, 56 crashes involving speeding, and two crashes involving drowsy driving. There were 124 crashes involving pedestrians, 56 crashes involving large trucks, and 50 crashes involving motorcyclists.

In Shelby County as a whole, there were 203 fatal crashes and 546 crashes that caused serious injuries. These 749 collisions included 69 crashes that involved drunk driving, 53 crashes involving drug use, 74 crashes involving speeding, and five crashes involving drowsy driving. There were 133 crashes involving pedestrians, 65 crashes involving large trucks, and 62 crashes involving motorcyclists.

Based on data from the Memphis Police Department, local media identified the 10 most dangerous intersections in Memphis in 2023:

• Riverdale Road and Winchester Road (101 crashes)
• East Shelby Drive and Riverdale Road (82 crashes)
• Airways Boulevard and Ketchum Road (71 crashes)
• American Way and Lamar Avenue (68 crashes)
• Millbranch Road and East Shelby Drive (65 crashes)
• American Way and Getwell Road (62 crashes)
• East Shelby Drive and Lamar Avenue (60 crashes)
• Knight Arnold Road and South Perkins Road (60 crashes)
• East Brooks Road and Elvis Presley Boulevard (59 crashes)
• Winchester Road and South Germantown Road (59 crashes)

It’s always crucial to keep an eye on your surroundings as you approach an intersection in Memphis. You might need to navigate around pedestrians, bicycles, road hazards, and other factors that appear unexpectedly.

After a car accident, getting a copy of a police report by an officer who responded to the crash can help support an insurance claim or lawsuit. You can get an auto crash report through the Central Records Office of the Memphis Police Department. It accepts requests online, in person, or by mail or fax. The Central Records Office is located in Suite 7-11 on the seventh floor of 170 North Main Street. You can reach them by phone at 901-636-3650.

If you think that a healthcare professional hasn’t met the standard of care for their field, you can file a complaint through the website of the Tennessee Department of Health. A patient or other consumer who has concerns about the care at a licensed or certified health facility can contact the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission. However, this isn’t a substitute for filing a lawsuit against a healthcare provider or facility. You won’t receive damages through these claims.

During the aftermath of a violent crime affecting a loved one or you, you may want to reach out to the Victim Services Unit of the Memphis Police Department. It can provide crisis intervention, support, and referrals to helpful organizations. Another important resource to explore is the Tennessee Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund. You may be able to get benefits for financial costs and losses like medical expenses and lost income through this program. At the website of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, meanwhile, you can find resources such as community service providers and counselors who can help you get your life back on track.

People dealing with a job-related injury or illness should check out the website of the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development. It provides many resources for employees on topics such as the process of filing a claim, the benefits that you might be able to receive, and how to navigate a return to work.

1. How much will it cost to hire a personal injury lawyer?

   It probably won’t cost you anything to hire a personal injury lawyer unless they get compensation for you. If they do, they’ll take a percentage of the settlement or judgment in the case. This is usually between 25 and 40 percent. Many attorneys collect a larger percentage if the case goes to trial than if it settles, due to the extra work that a trial involves.

2. Will I need to go to court for my personal injury case?

   There’s a good chance that you won’t actually have to go to court or present your case to a judge or jury. If you have solid evidence on your side, the defendant or their insurer probably will be motivated to offer a settlement. It’s always smart to be prepared for a fight in court, though, in case you don’t get an offer that reasonably compensates you for your injuries.

3. Can I file a lawsuit after my spouse was killed in an accident?

   Yes, Tennessee law gives the spouse of a deceased person a right to file a wrongful death lawsuit if someone else caused the death. Essentially, the right that your spouse would have had to file a lawsuit if they hadn’t died transfers to you. However, you have only one year to file this type of claim, similar to the statute of limitations in ordinary personal injury cases.

4. Can I sue a dog owner for a bite that happened at the owner’s home?

   Yes, although Tennessee imposes certain requirements for these situations. You’ll need to show that the owner knew or should have known of the dog’s dangerous propensities if the dog bit you on residential property that their owner owned, rented, or leased. This is often called the “one-bite rule,” although you don’t literally need to prove that the dog bit someone before. Evidence of aggressive behaviors may be enough to establish dangerous propensities.

5. Should I see a doctor after an accident even if I don’t feel much pain?

   It’s always a good idea to get checked out after an accident. Some types of conditions might not cause much immediate pain, but symptoms might get worse and become harder to treat later. Going to a doctor allows you to address any issues promptly, reducing the risk of long-term complications. It also creates a record of your injuries in the immediate aftermath of an accident, which can provide vital evidence for a claim that you might bring later.