Collierville Wrongful Death Lawyer

In Tennessee, the clock on a wrongful death claim starts on the day of the injury, not the day of the death. That surprises families who spend weeks in a hospital waiting room and then a year learning how to live without someone, only to find the filing window has already closed. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette represents families who have lost someone to another party’s negligence, and our attorneys serve Collierville, Shelby County, and communities across Tennessee. A Collierville wrongful death lawyer has to move on two tracks at once: preserving evidence while a family is still in shock, and building a claim that accounts for everything the loss will cost over a lifetime.

Collierville sits at the center of heavy traffic. Poplar Avenue, Highway 72, Byhalia Road, and the roads feeding Interstate 269 carry commuters, delivery trucks, and freight bound for the distribution corridors east of Memphis. Fatal crashes on roads like these often involve commercial drivers, impaired motorists, or drivers looking at a phone. Deaths also come from unsafe premises, defective products, and workplace incidents.

We handle these cases with a simple aim: find out exactly who is responsible, document what the family has lost, and hold the responsible parties and their insurers to account.

Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims Near Collierville

• Car and Motorcycle Crashes: Fatal collisions on Poplar Avenue, Highway 72, and the interchanges around Interstate 269 are among the most common sources of claims. Our attorneys handle cases involving distracted, drunk, and reckless drivers, as well as motorcycle riders, pedestrians, and cyclists.
• Tractor-Trailer and Commercial Vehicle Collisions: Freight moving through the Memphis area means large trucks share these roads daily. Driver logs, maintenance records, and electronic data can disappear quickly, so these cases call for immediate preservation demands.
• Impaired Driving Deaths: When a driver was intoxicated, Tennessee law can lift the cap on noneconomic damages, and the investigation may reach beyond the driver to wherever alcohol was served.
• Hands-Free Law Violations: Tennessee prohibits holding a phone, reading or sending texts, and watching video while driving. Phone records can show whether a driver broke that law in the moments before a fatal crash.
• Premises Liability Deaths: Falls from broken stairs, drownings, electrical faults, and carbon monoxide exposure can kill when a property owner ignores hazards they knew about or should have found.
• Workplace and Third-Party Deaths: When a worker dies because of defective equipment, a negligent driver, or another contractor, workers’ compensation may not be the only path for the family.
• Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries: Some families lose a loved one weeks or months after the initial injury, and the timing of that injury controls the filing deadline.

How Tennessee Wrongful Death Claims Actually Work

Tennessee has no standalone wrongful death deadline. Courts apply the one-year personal injury limitations period, and it runs from the date of the injury. If someone is hurt in a crash and dies three months later, the year is already ticking from the crash. It expires on the first anniversary of that injury.

There is one important extension. When criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the injury, the prosecution begins within a year of the injury, and the family sues the person who was prosecuted, the period can stretch to two years. A municipal traffic citation generally does not count. Different rules govern health care liability claims, which carry a one-year period and a three-year outer limit, and claims against government entities, which must be filed within twelve months. If the person who was injured was a minor, the clock is tolled until age eighteen.

Who may bring the claim is also set by statute. The right of action passes first to the surviving spouse, then to the children or next of kin. A personal representative can also bring the action. A surviving spouse can lose the right to bring or collect on the claim if the children or next of kin prove the spouse abandoned the deceased or willfully withdrew for two years. These ownership questions need to be settled early, because a dispute among family members can stall a case while evidence goes stale.

Fault, Damage Caps, and Insurance Limits

Tennessee follows modified comparative fault. A family can recover only if the person who died was less than 50 percent at fault, and any award is reduced by that person’s share. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Tennessee also abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases, and defendants may try to assign fault to people who are not even in the lawsuit. Insurers lean on these rules, which is why a thorough reconstruction of the crash matters.

Damages in a death case are shaped by a statutory cap on noneconomic damages. The general ceiling is $750,000, and it rises to $1 million when the person who died was a parent of minor children. Economic damages, such as lost income, medical bills, and funeral costs, are not capped. The jury is not told about the cap; the judge applies it afterward. The cap does not apply when the defendant intentionally caused the harm, was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony. Punitive damages, where available, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

Insurance is the practical ceiling in many cases. Tennessee only requires drivers to carry 25/50/25 coverage, meaning $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury. A policy that small rarely matches the loss of a breadwinner, so identifying other coverage, such as an employer’s commercial policy, uninsured motorist coverage, or a second responsible party, often decides what a family can actually recover.

Why Families Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for Wrongful Death Cases

Clients work directly with our trial lawyers, and when grief or injuries make travel difficult, we can meet at your home or in the hospital. Consultations are free, and in personal injury cases there are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation. Hablamos español; Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish and represents Spanish-speaking families in their own language.

Our results in death cases are part of the record. We recovered $3.4 million for the family of a man killed in a Morgan County rear-end collision caused by a construction company driver, and $1.9 million after a mother was killed and her daughter seriously injured by a driver who failed to yield in Sevier County. Across all our work, the firm has recovered over $100 million for clients, and our attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience.

Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and received the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a past president of that association and has been named to Mid-South Super Lawyers 17 times. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and sits on the association’s Board of Governors, as does partner John Willis. Two of our partners earlier defended insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they know how the other side evaluates and fights a death claim. Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine.

What a Family Should Do in the Days After a Fatal Accident

Start with the clock. Because the one-year period begins on the date of injury, call a lawyer early, even while funeral arrangements are still underway. A lawyer can send preservation letters to trucking companies, property owners, and others before logs, video, and maintenance records are overwritten or discarded.

Make sure a police report exists. For a crash in Collierville, that means the local police department or the Tennessee Highway Patrol, depending on where it happened. When an officer investigating a fatal collision has probable cause to believe a driver was impaired, Tennessee law directs the officer to look into where the driver was served alcohol and to notify the Alcoholic Beverage Commission within 48 hours. Ask for the report number and keep every document you receive.

Gather what you can: photographs of the scene, names of witnesses, medical records, funeral bills, and proof of the income the person earned. Do not give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster, and do not sign a release or accept a quick offer. Adjusters often move fast and look for words that shift blame onto the person who died.

Wrongful death lawsuits in Shelby County are generally filed in the circuit court, and estate matters such as appointing a personal representative are handled in the county’s probate or chancery court. Some cases belong in federal court, in the Western District of Tennessee, which sits in Memphis. A lawyer can tell you which court applies and who has the legal right to file. The process takes time, and most cases involve investigation, written discovery, depositions, and negotiation before trial is considered. When an insurer will not pay what a case is worth, our trial lawyers are prepared to take it to a jury.

Wrongful Death Questions Families Ask

How long do I have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Tennessee?

Generally one year, measured from the date of the injury that led to the death, not the date the person died. That period can extend to two years when criminal charges are brought against the person responsible and the case is brought against that person. Medical malpractice and government claims follow different rules.

Who can file a wrongful death claim?

The claim may be brought by the personal representative or the surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse, the children or next of kin may bring it. The right of action passes first to the spouse, then to the children or next of kin.

What compensation is available in a wrongful death case?

Families may recover lost income and financial support, medical and funeral expenses, and the value of the life that was lost. Economic damages are not capped in Tennessee, while noneconomic damages are generally limited by statute, with exceptions for cases such as intoxicated defendants.

What if my loved one was partly at fault?

You can still recover if the person who died was less than 50 percent at fault. The award is reduced by their percentage of fault. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred, so insurers often work to push the percentage up.

Is there a cap on what we can recover?

Noneconomic damages are generally capped at $750,000, or $1 million when a parent of minor children dies. The cap does not apply in certain situations, including when the defendant was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment, intentionally caused the harm, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony. Economic losses are not capped.

How much does it cost to hire your firm?

Nothing up front. We handle personal injury and wrongful death cases on a contingency basis, so there are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation. The first consultation is free.

What if the at-fault driver only carried minimum insurance?

Tennessee’s minimum is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury. When that is all the driver carried, we look for other sources: uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, an employer’s commercial policy, or other responsible parties such as a trucking company or property owner.

Can a drunk driving conviction help our civil case?

It can matter in several ways. Intoxication can remove the cap on noneconomic damages, and criminal charges against the driver can extend the filing period to two years in qualifying cases. But the civil case is separate from the criminal one, and a family does not have to wait for a criminal outcome before acting.

What if the death happened weeks after the accident?

The one-year period still runs from the date of the injury. This catches families off guard in cases involving severe brain or spinal injuries, where a person may survive for a time in the hospital. Calling a lawyer soon after the injury, not after the death, protects the claim.

Can we still bring a claim if a phone was involved in the crash?

Yes, and the evidence may help. Tennessee’s Hands Free law bars drivers from holding a phone, reading or sending text messages, or watching video behind the wheel. Phone records and device data can show whether a driver broke the law, but they must be requested before a carrier’s retention period ends.

Do you represent Spanish-speaking families?

Yes. Hablamos español, and trial attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish and represents Spanish-speaking clients in their own language.

Serving Collierville and Families Across West and East Tennessee

We represent families in Collierville and throughout Shelby County, including those who live in nearby Germantown, Bartlett, Cordova, and Memphis. Our reach extends across Tennessee, and we have represented clients from Johnson City to Memphis and everywhere between. In East Tennessee, we serve Knox County, Sevier County, Anderson County, Blount County, Campbell County, Roane County, Claiborne County, Morgan County, Jefferson County, and Monroe County, along with communities such as Knoxville, Clinton, Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and LaFollette. We also take cases involving Nashville and families who were hurt while visiting Tennessee from other states. When a loss makes travel hard, we can come to you.

Talk With a Collierville Wrongful Death Attorney

The deadline in a Tennessee death case runs from the injury, so every week counts for evidence and for the filing window. If you have lost someone because of another party’s carelessness, a Collierville wrongful death attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette can review what happened, explain who is entitled to bring the claim, and tell you honestly what the case may be worth. Call us for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.