Filing a claim against the government is much different than filing a claim against a business or an individual. There’s an initial question of whether accident victims have the right to sue the government. If a claim can be filed, then the government must be given timely notice that an accident and injuries happened. There may be caps on the amount of damages you can receive. Accidents can happen while a person is a passenger in a bus, train, or other mode of public transportation. Buses include municipal buses and school [...]

In 2011, Governor Bill Haslam signed the Tennessee Civil Justice Act into law, thereby limiting the amount of punitive damages a plaintiff can be awarded in a settlement or trial. He claimed, at the time, that “This tort reform legislation will help us attract and retain jobs by offering businesses more predictability and a way to quantify risk.” In reality, all that law did – indeed, all tort reform measures ever do – is inflict further harm on the victims. That is why the December 21, 2018 decision by the 6th [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for regulating workplace safety in the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor promulgates regulations and laws that govern labor and employment, and when a worker is injured or killed at work, it is often the case that the incident involved a violation of an OSHA regulation. OSHA has the authority to levy fines on employers when a safety regulation is violated, and a worker is injured or dies. When Tennessee workers sustain serious injuries at work, they may be eligible to [...]