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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

New Tennessee Supreme Court Opinion on Comparative Fault: The Original Tortfeasor Rule "Tweaked"

Today, the Tennessee Supreme Court released its opinion in Banks v. Elks Club Pride of Tenn. 1102. No. M2008-01894-SC-S09-CV (Tenn. Jan. 13, 2010). Regarding the original tortfeasor rule, it held that joint and several liability no longer applies, to wit:

[T]he doctrine of joint and several liability no longer applies to circumstances in which separate, independent negligent acts of more than one tortfeasor combine to cause a single, indivisible injury. We hold that an actor whose tortious conduct causes physical harm to another is liable for any enhanced harm the other suffers due to the efforts of third persons to render aid reasonably required by the other’s injury, as long as the enhanced harm arises from a risk that inheres in the effort to render aid. In light of our consistent holding that the doctrine of joint and several liability no longer applies to circumstances in which separate, independent negligent acts of more than one tortfeasor combine to cause a single, indivisible injury, it is improper to maintain joint and several liability in cases involving subsequent medical negligence where there is even less cause....

Id., slip op. at 17.
However, consistent with our state's system of comparative fault, the original tortfeasors' fault is to be compared with the fault of subsequent tortfeasors as described in the opinion. Here's a link to it:

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