Rutherford County Personal Injury Lawyer

Most injured people in Tennessee do not realize how fast the clock is. The deadline to sue is one year, and it runs from the day you were hurt, not the day your treatment ended or the day an insurer stopped returning calls. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a Tennessee personal injury law firm that represents injured people and their families, and we serve clients throughout Rutherford County and across the state. If you are searching for a Rutherford County personal injury lawyer, the first thing to know is that the decisions made in the first few weeks often shape the whole case.

Rutherford County sits in the Sixteenth Judicial District alongside Cannon County, and its growth has put more drivers on its roads, more workers on its construction sites, and more families in its rental homes and shopping centers. More traffic and more building mean more crashes, falls, and job-site injuries. Each one comes with an insurance company ready to minimize what it owes.

We handle car and truck crashes, wrongful death, premises liability, third-party workplace claims, and catastrophic injuries.

Injury Cases We Take on for Rutherford County Residents

• Car Accidents: Distracted, drunk, and reckless drivers cause most serious crashes. Tennessee’s Hands Free law bars holding a phone, texting, or watching video while driving, and a violation by the other driver can become evidence of negligence in your claim.
• Tractor-Trailer and Commercial Vehicle Crashes: Freight and delivery traffic moves through Rutherford County constantly. Driver logs, maintenance files, and electronic data can be overwritten, so these cases call for early preservation demands.
• Motorcycle, Pedestrian, and Bicycle Cases: Riders and walkers absorb the full force of a collision. Insurers in these cases often lean on blame-shifting, which makes the comparative fault rules matter a great deal.
• Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims: Tennessee’s minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury. A serious injury can exceed those limits quickly, which is why your own policy’s coverage may come into play.
• Wrongful Death: When a crash or dangerous condition takes a life, the claim can seek lost income, medical and funeral costs, and the value of the life lost. The one-year clock runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death.
• Slip and Fall and Premises Liability: Wet floors, broken pavement, poor lighting, and icy walkways at stores, restaurants, hotels, parking lots, and rentals can all support a claim when the owner knew or should have known about the hazard.
• Workplace Injuries and Third-Party Claims: Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against your own employer, but a negligent driver, equipment maker, or outside contractor can be sued separately for damages that comp does not pay.
• Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries: These cases involve lifetime care costs and lost earning capacity, and they are where the state’s damage cap rules matter most.

Why Rutherford County Families Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette

The people who call us are usually dealing with the same things at once: medical bills arriving, a paycheck interrupted, and an adjuster asking for a recorded statement. They come to us because we can take over the investigation, deal with the insurance company, and be ready to try the case if the offer is not fair. There is no fee unless we recover compensation, and the first consultation is free. If your injuries make travel hard, we can meet you at home or in the hospital. Hablamos español, and trial attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish.

Our attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience, and the firm has recovered over $100 million for clients. Two of our partners began their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they know how those defendants value and fight claims from the inside.

Results matter more than adjectives. Our attorneys recovered $3.4 million for the family of a man killed in a rear-end collision caused by a construction company driver, $2.3 million for a motorcyclist who lost his leg when a driver struck him and fled, $1.6 million for a man hit head-on by a commercial delivery truck on his way to work, and $1.5 million for a roofer who suffered a traumatic brain injury when his safety harness failed. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other case.

Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and partner John Willis serves on the association’s Board of Governors. Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine.

What to Do After an Injury in Rutherford County

Get medical care first, and get it the same day if you can. Gaps between the injury and treatment give insurers room to argue the harm came from something else. Follow the treatment plan and keep every record.

If police responded, make sure a report was filed and get the report number. For crashes, photograph the vehicles, the road, skid marks, and traffic signals before anything is moved. Collect names and insurance details for every driver and witness. For falls or property hazards, photograph the exact spot and report the incident to the owner or manager in writing.

Be careful with the other side’s insurance company. You do not have to give a recorded statement, and early settlement offers tend to arrive before the full cost of your injuries is known. Do not post about the incident online.

Watch the calendar. Most Tennessee injury suits must be filed within one year. That can stretch to two years when the person who hurt you faces criminal charges that were commenced within the first year and you sue that same person. Property damage claims have three years. If a government entity or employee caused the harm, the Governmental Tort Liability Act requires suit within 12 months. A minor’s deadline is generally tolled until the child turns 18, after which the one-year period begins.

Most civil injury lawsuits in Rutherford County are filed in Circuit Court for the Sixteenth Judicial District, and smaller claims may go through General Sessions Court, whose civil jurisdiction is limited by dollar amount and type of case.

How Tennessee Fault and Damage Rules Shape Your Claim

Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. You can recover if you are less than 50 percent responsible, and your award is reduced by your share. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Fault can be assigned to people who are not even in the lawsuit, and Tennessee has abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases, so each defendant generally pays only its own share. That is why insurers work so hard to move blame onto injured people, and why a thorough investigation matters.

Economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, are not capped. Noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, are generally limited to $750,000, rising to $1 million for catastrophic losses. Catastrophic losses include spinal cord injuries causing paraplegia or quadriplegia, amputation of two hands, two feet, or one of each, third-degree burns over 40 percent of the body or face, and the wrongful death of a parent of minor children. The jury decides whether a catastrophic loss exists, and the judge applies the cap afterward without telling the jury. The caps do not apply where the defendant intentionally caused the injury, was intoxicated, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony.

Punitive damages, reserved for the worst conduct, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

In wrongful death cases, the claim belongs first to the surviving spouse, then to the children or next of kin, or it can be brought by a personal representative. A spouse can lose that right if the family proves the spouse abandoned the deceased or willfully withdrew for two years.

Rutherford County Injury Questions Answered

How long do I have to file an injury lawsuit in Rutherford County?

One year from the date of the injury in most cases. The period can reach two years when criminal charges were brought against the person who hurt you within that first year and you sue that person. Medical malpractice claims also have a one-year period, with a three-year outer limit.

Can I recover if I was partly to blame?

Yes, as long as you are under 50 percent at fault. Your recovery shrinks by your percentage. At 50 percent or above, you recover nothing.

What does it cost to hire your firm?

Nothing up front. We work on contingency, so we are paid only if we recover compensation. The first consultation is free.

The at-fault driver had minimum insurance. Is that all I can get?

Not necessarily. Tennessee’s required minimum is only $25,000 per person for bodily injury. Your own underinsured motorist coverage may apply, and the at-fault party may have other assets or other responsible parties, such as an employer if the driver was on the job.

Is there a cap on what I can recover?

Medical bills and lost income are not capped. Pain and suffering is generally limited to $750,000, or $1 million for catastrophic injuries or the death of a parent of minor children. Exceptions exist, including cases involving intoxicated defendants.

Who can bring a wrongful death claim?

The surviving spouse or the personal representative, or if there is no spouse, the children or next of kin. The one-year deadline starts on the date of the injury that caused the death.

Does the other driver being cited or charged with DUI help my case?

It can. A DUI prosecution begun within a year may extend your filing deadline to two years, and intoxication can lift the cap on noneconomic damages. A traffic citation alone generally does not extend the deadline.

Can I sue if I was hurt while working?

Not against your own employer in most cases, since workers’ compensation is typically your only remedy there. You may still have a claim against a negligent driver, equipment manufacturer, or another contractor. The employer or its insurer usually has a right to be repaid from that recovery for benefits already paid.

My child was hurt. Is the deadline different?

For a minor, the clock is paused until the child turns 18, and then the one-year period begins. Medical bills and a parent’s own claims may be treated differently, so do not wait to get advice.

Should I hire a lawyer for a smaller injury?

A free consultation costs you nothing, and early mistakes, like a recorded statement or a quick release, are hard to undo. A lawyer can tell you whether the claim is worth pursuing and what your coverage options are before you sign anything.

How long will my case take?

It depends on how long you treat, how clearly fault is established, and whether the insurer offers a fair number. Many cases settle without a trial. We prepare each one as if it could be tried, because that preparation is what moves an offer.

Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?

Often yes, and you should use it so treatment is not delayed. Health plans and other payers may claim reimbursement from your recovery, which we address when settling.

Serving Injured Clients Across Rutherford County and Middle Tennessee

Our work for Rutherford County starts with the people who live, drive, and work here. We represent clients in Murfreesboro, Smyrna, La Vergne, Eagleville, Christiana, Lascassas, Walter Hill, Rockvale, Readyville, Milton, Almaville, Blackman, Kingwood, and Fosterville, and along the roads that connect them, including Interstate 24, Highway 231, Old Fort Parkway, and Church Street.

We also serve families in neighboring areas, including Cannon County, which shares the Sixteenth Judicial District, and clients from Nashville and the surrounding Middle Tennessee communities. Our firm represents injured people across East Tennessee, including Knox, Sevier, Blount, Anderson, Roane, Campbell, Claiborne, Morgan, Jefferson, and Monroe counties, and from Johnson City to Memphis. If your injuries make it hard to travel, we come to you.

Talk With a Rutherford County Injury Attorney Today

If you were hurt in Rutherford County, or you lost a family member, talk with a Rutherford County injury attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette before the one-year deadline gets closer. We will review what happened, explain your options plainly, and tell you what we think the claim requires. The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless we recover compensation. Call us to set up a time, and we can meet you at home or in the hospital if you cannot come to us.