Franklin Wrongful Death Lawyer

The most important date in a Tennessee wrongful death case is usually not the date of death. It is the date of the injury, and the clock for filing generally runs one year from that day. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette represents families who have lost someone to a crash, a dangerous property, a workplace failure, or another person’s carelessness, and we serve families across Tennessee, including Franklin and the surrounding communities of Williamson County.

Anyone searching for a Franklin wrongful death lawyer is usually doing so in the weeks after a funeral, when the practical questions begin: who is allowed to file, what the law lets a family recover, and how long they have. Those answers are more rigid in Tennessee than most people expect. The right to sue passes in a set order, damages for pain and loss are capped in many cases, and the deadline can expire while a family is still grieving and waiting on an accident report.

Franklin sits on the I-65 corridor south of Nashville, and many of the fatal collisions that affect families here involve interstate speeds, commercial freight traffic, and the busy approaches around Cool Springs and downtown. Wrongful death claims in this area often depend on evidence that is gathered in the first days, before vehicles are repaired, data is overwritten, or businesses change their records.

Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims in Tennessee

• Car and Motorcycle Crashes: Distracted, drunk, and reckless driving cause most of the fatal cases families bring to us. Tennessee’s hands-free law bars holding a phone while driving, so phone records can become evidence of negligence. Pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle deaths are handled the same way.
• Tractor-Trailer and Commercial Vehicle Collisions: Freight traffic on I-65 and I-840 puts families in the path of heavy trucks. These cases turn on driver logs, maintenance records, and electronic data that a trucking company may not keep unless someone demands it.
• Drunk Driving Deaths: When an impaired driver causes a death, the criminal case runs alongside the civil one. Tennessee law directs officers investigating a fatal crash with suspected impairment to look into where the driver was served alcohol, which can open a path to other responsible parties.
• Premises and Property Hazards: Fatal falls, pool and hot tub incidents, and carbon monoxide poisoning in rental cabins and hotels can all support a claim against an owner or manager who ignored a known danger.
• Workplace Deaths and Third-Party Claims: Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against an employer, but a negligent driver, equipment maker, or outside contractor can be sued separately for the full value of the loss.
• Medical Negligence: Deaths from health care errors fall under a separate set of rules, including a one-year limitations period and a three-year outer limit.
• Government-Related Deaths: Crashes involving public vehicles or unsafe public property carry shorter notice-style rules, a twelve-month filing period, and statutory damage limits.

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

Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a Tennessee personal injury firm whose attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience to serious injury and wrongful death cases, and the firm has recovered over $100 million for clients. We serve families in Franklin, throughout Williamson County, and across the state, and we work on a contingency fee basis: no attorney fees unless we recover compensation, and every consultation is free. If grief or injury makes travel difficult, we can meet you at home or in the hospital. Hablamos español, and trial attorney Michael C. Beehan represents Spanish-speaking families in their own language.

Wrongful death cases that cannot be resolved fairly end up in front of a jury, so trial record matters. Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials in state and federal court, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, which gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, serves on the association’s Board of Governors, and is a Keenan Trial Institute graduate. Partner John Willis also sits on that board and has tried cases from the Tri-Cities to Chattanooga. Two of our partners earlier defended insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they understand how a defense team will value a death claim and where it will push back.

The results reflect the kind of cases these families face. 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. We also recovered $1.6 million for an Anderson County man struck head-on by a commercial delivery truck. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine.

Who Can File and What Tennessee Law Lets a Family Recover

Tennessee does not let just any relative file. The right of action passes first to the surviving spouse, then to the children or next of kin, or to a personal representative of the estate. A wrongful death action may be brought by the personal representative or the surviving spouse, and if there is no spouse, by the children or next of kin. A spouse can lose the right to bring or collect on the claim if the children or next of kin show the spouse abandoned the deceased or willfully stayed away for two years. Families who are unsure how these rules apply to them, including blended families and estranged relationships, should sort this out before anything is filed.

Damages in a death case have two sides. Economic losses, such as medical and funeral expenses, the income the person would have earned, and the value of lost support and services, are not capped in Tennessee. Noneconomic damages, which cover the loss of the person’s companionship and the pain and suffering involved, are generally limited to $750,000. That limit rises to $1 million when the person who died was a parent of minor children, which the statute treats as a catastrophic loss. The jury is not told about the cap; the court applies it afterward. The cap is lifted in narrow circumstances, including where the defendant was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment, intentionally caused the harm, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a felony connected to the conduct.

Punitive damages are a separate category, aimed at the worst conduct, and are generally limited to the greater of two times the compensatory award or $500,000. Because the noneconomic cap is fixed, much of the work in a wrongful death case goes into proving the economic side thoroughly: the person’s earnings history, career trajectory, benefits, and the household services they provided.

Fault is the other major variable. Tennessee follows modified comparative fault, which bars recovery if the person who died is found 50 percent or more at fault and otherwise reduces the award by that percentage. Joint and several liability has been abolished in most negligence cases, and defendants can try to assign fault to people who are not even in the lawsuit. That is why a Franklin wrongful death attorney needs to investigate every possible contributor early, including other drivers, owners, contractors, and manufacturers, rather than accepting the first version of events in a police report.

What to Do in the Weeks After a Fatal Accident

The first priority is preserving evidence that will not wait. If a vehicle was involved, it should not be repaired, sold, or released to a salvage yard until it has been examined, because event data recorders and damage patterns tell a story the police report may not. In a trucking case, a written preservation demand sent promptly to the carrier is the only way to protect driver logs, dispatch records, inspection files, and electronic data. Photographs of the scene, the names of witnesses, and any surveillance footage from nearby businesses should be secured quickly, since many systems overwrite footage within days.

Request the official crash report from the responding agency, and keep the death certificate, medical bills, funeral invoices, and recent pay records together. If the death followed a hospital stay, gather the treatment records, because the date of the injury, not the date of death, starts the limitations clock. A person who is injured in a crash and dies months later still has one year from the crash, not from the death. Tennessee allows two years when criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the death and prosecution begins within one year, but a family should never plan around that extension. Deaths involving government vehicles or property carry a twelve-month filing period, and health care claims have their own one-year rule with a three-year outer limit.

Be careful with the insurance company. An adjuster for the at-fault driver may call within days, sound sympathetic, and ask for a recorded statement. Anything said can be used to argue shared fault. Tennessee’s minimum auto liability limits are low, $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, so a family should also look at the deceased person’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which can matter a great deal when the at-fault driver carried only the minimum.

Civil wrongful death cases for families in Franklin are typically filed in a Tennessee circuit court, the state’s trial court of general jurisdiction. Estate matters, including the appointment of a personal representative, are generally handled in the county’s probate and chancery court. If a criminal case is pending, the civil case can move on a separate track, and our attorneys coordinate with the prosecution without letting the civil timeline slip.

Wrongful Death Questions Franklin Families Ask

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

Tennessee has no stand-alone wrongful death deadline. The one-year personal injury limit applies, and it runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death. The deadline can stretch to two years when criminal charges are brought against the person responsible and prosecution begins within the first year.

Who has the right to bring the case?

The right passes to the surviving spouse first, then to the children or next of kin, or to a personal representative. In practice, the case is often filed by the personal representative on behalf of the family members entitled to recover.

What compensation is available?

Families may recover medical and funeral expenses, lost income and financial support, the loss of services the person provided, and noneconomic damages for the loss of companionship and the person’s own suffering. Economic damages are not capped. Noneconomic damages are generally limited to $750,000, or $1 million when a parent of minor children died.

Does the cap on damages apply to every case?

Not every case. The cap can be lifted when the defendant intentionally caused the harm, was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a felony related to the conduct. Whether any of those apply is a question for the facts of each case.

What if my loved one was partly at fault?

Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. If the person who died is found less than 50 percent at fault, the award is reduced by their share. At 50 percent or more, recovery is barred, which is why insurers work to shift blame onto someone who can no longer speak for themselves.

Does a criminal case against the driver affect our claim?

The two cases are separate. A conviction can strengthen a civil claim and may lift the cap on noneconomic damages if it is a related felony, but a civil case does not depend on a criminal outcome, and an acquittal does not end it. Because the civil deadline keeps running during the criminal case, we do not recommend waiting.

What if the death happened more than a year ago?

Call anyway. Exceptions exist, including tolling for a minor who was injured, and the start date depends on when the injury occurred. A family should not assume the claim is lost without a review of the exact dates.

The driver only carried minimum insurance. Is that all we can recover?

No. Minimum coverage limits what that policy pays, not what the case is worth. We look at the family’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, other responsible parties such as an employer or vehicle owner, and the defendant’s personal assets.

Can we bring a claim if a bar or restaurant served the drunk driver?

Possibly. Tennessee directs investigating officers to look into where an impaired driver in a fatal crash was served and to notify the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Whether a claim lies against the seller depends on the facts, so those records are worth securing early.

My relative died after a workplace accident. Can we sue anyone?

Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against the employer, but a negligent driver, equipment manufacturer, or outside contractor may be sued separately. Those third-party claims can include damages workers’ compensation does not pay, and the employer’s insurer may have a right to be reimbursed from the recovery.

What does it cost to hire your firm?

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

Can you meet us at home or in the hospital?

Yes. If you cannot easily come to us, we can meet you at home or at the hospital, and we can work with families who live outside Tennessee as well.

Serving Wrongful Death Families Across Franklin and Williamson County

We represent families in Franklin, from the historic downtown and the Cool Springs area to the neighborhoods along the Highway 96 and Murfreesboro Road corridors. Our work extends to neighboring Williamson County communities such as Brentwood, Spring Hill, Thompson’s Station, Nolensville, and Fairview, and to nearby Nashville. We also serve families in Memphis, Johnson City, and throughout the rest of the state, including East Tennessee communities such as Knoxville, Clinton, Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and LaFollette, and counties including Knox, Sevier, Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Roane, Claiborne, Morgan, Jefferson, and Monroe. Whether the death happened on a Franklin road, at a Smoky Mountain vacation property, or on a job site hours away, we take on the investigation and the court filings and keep you informed wherever you live.

Talk With a Franklin Wrongful Death Attorney Today

The filing deadline does not pause for grief, and the evidence that proves a wrongful death claim is often gone within weeks. If you have lost a family member because of someone else’s negligence, a Franklin wrongful death attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette can review the facts, explain who can bring the case, and tell you honestly what the claim may be worth. Call us for a free consultation. We will answer your questions, and we pursue the accountability and financial support your family needs to move forward.