Knox County Wrongful Death Lawyer
Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette represents Knox County families who have lost a spouse, parent, or child because of someone else’s carelessness, and the firm also serves injured people and their families across Sevier, Blount, Anderson, Roane, and Campbell counties and the rest of East Tennessee. The people who call us after a death are usually dealing with a funeral, a household that just lost an income, and an insurance adjuster, all in the same week.
If you are searching for a Knox County wrongful death lawyer, the first fact worth knowing is how short the clock is. Tennessee has no separate deadline written for wrongful death. Courts apply the one-year personal injury limitation period, and it starts on the date of the injury, not the date of death. If someone is hurt on Interstate 40 and dies weeks later in the hospital, the year is already running from the crash. That single rule decides more cases than any dispute about fault, and it is why early contact matters.
The second fact is about who holds the claim. Under Tennessee law the right to sue passes to the surviving spouse first, then to the children or next of kin, or it can be pursued by a personal representative. Families often assume a claim is only about grief and funeral bills. It is also a legal action with a defined owner, defined damages, and defined limits, and getting those details right at the start shapes everything that follows.
Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims in Knox County
- Car and Truck Collisions: Interstates 40, 75, and 640 and the Alcoa Highway corridor carry heavy commercial traffic through Knoxville. A tractor-trailer crash often involves a driver, a carrier, and a maintenance contractor, and logs and electronic data can be lost quickly if no one moves to preserve them.
- Drunk and Impaired Driving: Tennessee’s per se limit is 0.08%, but impairment can be proven below that number, and there is no per se limit for prescription drugs. Under the state’s drunk driving prevention law, officers investigating a fatal crash with probable cause of impairment must look into where the driver was served and notify the Alcoholic Beverage Commission within 48 hours, which can open the door to claims against a bar or restaurant.
- Distracted Driving: Tennessee’s Hands Free law bars holding a phone, reading or sending texts, and watching or recording video while driving. A violation by the at-fault driver is evidence we look for in phone records.
- Motorcycle, Pedestrian, and Bicycle Deaths: Riders and walkers have no protection when a driver fails to yield or leaves the scene. Our firm recovered $2.3 million for a Knox County motorcyclist who lost his leg when a driver struck him and fled.
- Construction and Workplace Deaths: An employee’s workers’ compensation case is generally limited to the employer, but a death caused by a negligent driver, defective equipment, or another contractor can support a separate wrongful death action against that outside party.
- Premises Hazards: Falls, fires, drowning in pools or hot tubs, and carbon monoxide leaks in rental properties can all be fatal, and the owner or manager may answer for failing to fix known dangers.
- Medical Negligence: Health care liability claims follow their own rules, including a one-year limitation period and a three-year outer limit, so a death after a surgical or diagnostic error needs prompt review.
How Tennessee Law Treats Fault, Damages, and the Cap
Tennessee uses modified comparative fault. If the person who died is found 50 percent or more responsible, the claim is barred; below that line, the recovery is reduced by their share. Insurers know this and routinely try to push blame onto someone who cannot answer for themselves. Tennessee has also abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases, and fault can be assigned to people who are not even parties to the lawsuit, so a wrongful death case often turns on identifying every responsible party and proving each one’s share.
Damages are where the statute draws its most important line. Economic losses, such as medical bills, funeral costs, and lost income and support, are not capped. Noneconomic damages, which cover the human value of the loss, 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 judge applies it afterward, and whether the higher figure applies is decided by a special verdict.
There are exceptions. The noneconomic limit is lifted when the defendant intentionally caused the harm, destroyed evidence, was convicted of a related felony, or was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment. That last exception is why proof of impairment matters so much in a fatal DUI case. Punitive damages are a separate category, capped at the greater of two times the compensatory award or $500,000.
Insurance sets practical limits too. Tennessee’s minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, which can be far below the value of a death case. That is why a thorough search for every available policy, including the family’s own uninsured motorist coverage and any employer or commercial policy, comes early in our work. When the defendant is a city, county, or other government body, the Governmental Tort Liability Act applies: suit must be filed within 12 months and damages are capped at $300,000 per person and $700,000 per occurrence.
Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Wrongful Death Case
Families come to this firm after fatal crashes, workplace deaths, and tragedies at rental properties, usually when an insurer has already made contact and the facts are still being pieced together. The attorneys have more than 170 years of combined experience and have recovered over $100 million for clients. Two of our partners earlier defended insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they know how a defense team values a death claim and where it looks for weakness.
The results most relevant here are fatal-crash cases: $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 on Dolly Parton Parkway in Sevier County. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, but they show the firm takes these cases to value rather than to a quick payout.
Bruce D. Fox, co-founder, has tried more than 125 jury trials, is a past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025, and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and serves on the association’s Board of Governors, as does partner John Willis. Our attorneys are regularly voted among Knoxville’s Top Attorneys by CityView Magazine.
Wrongful death clients pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation, and every consultation is free. If grief or injuries make travel hard, we can meet you at home or in the hospital. Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish, and hablamos español.
Serving Wrongful Death Families Across Knox County and East Tennessee
Our work for Knox County families reaches from downtown Knoxville and the Fort Sanders and Sequoyah Hills neighborhoods through South Knoxville, North Knoxville, Fountain City, and Halls. We represent families in Farragut, Powell, Karns, Corryton, Mascot, Strawberry Plains, and Gibbs, and we serve people throughout Knox County whose loved ones were killed on its interstates and county roads.
Just beyond Knox County, we also help families in Maryville and Blount County, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg in Sevier County, Clinton and Oak Ridge in Anderson County, and LaFollette in Campbell County. We have represented people from Roane, Claiborne, Morgan, Jefferson, and Monroe counties as well, and we take cases from Johnson City to Nashville and Memphis and across the state.
What to Do Now After a Death Caused by Someone Else
The most useful step is to speak with a wrongful death attorney before the one-year anniversary of the injury gets close, and well before if a trucking company or a bar may be involved. Do not wait for a criminal case to finish. A criminal charge against the person who caused the death can extend the civil deadline to two years, but only if prosecution begins within the first year and you sue the person who was charged. Do not build your plans around that extension.
Keep every document: the crash report, hospital and EMS records, funeral invoices, pay stubs, and the insurance letters and voicemails you receive. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer, and do not sign a release or accept a quick offer. Settlements in death cases generally end the claim entirely, and the full financial loss often is not known for months.
In Knox County, wrongful death lawsuits are filed in Knox County Circuit Court in Knoxville, which sits in Tennessee’s Sixth Judicial District. Some cases belong in federal court, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee has a division sitting in Knoxville. Probate and estate steps, such as naming a personal representative, are handled through Knox County Chancery Court. We help families sort out which court and which filings apply.
One common mistake involves the surviving spouse. If the children or next of kin prove that the spouse abandoned the person who died or willfully withdrew from the marriage for two years, the spouse can lose the right to bring or collect on the claim. Family disagreements about who should file, and how any recovery is divided, are better raised with a lawyer early than discovered after a settlement is offered.
Questions Families Ask About Wrongful Death Claims
How long do I have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Tennessee?
Generally one year. There is no stand-alone wrongful death deadline; courts use the one-year personal injury period. It runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death, and it expires on the one-year anniversary.
Who can file a wrongful death claim?
The surviving spouse has the first right to bring the action. If there is no surviving spouse, the children or next of kin may bring it, and a personal representative can also pursue it.
What compensation is available?
Families can seek medical and funeral expenses, lost income and financial support, and noneconomic damages for the loss of the person’s life and companionship. Economic damages are not capped in Tennessee, while noneconomic damages generally are.
What is the damage cap in a Tennessee death case?
Noneconomic damages are generally limited to $750,000, rising to $1 million when the person who died was a parent of minor children. The cap does not apply in certain cases, including intentional harm, destroyed evidence, a related felony conviction, or substantial impairment by alcohol or drugs.
What if my loved one was partly at fault?
The claim can still go forward if they were less than 50 percent at fault, with the award reduced by their percentage. At 50 percent or more, recovery is barred, so this is often the central fight in a contested case.
Does a criminal case change the deadline?
It can. If criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the death within a year of the injury, the civil deadline can extend to two years, provided you sue that same person. The safer course is to treat the one-year date as firm.
What if the driver only carried minimum insurance?
Tennessee’s required minimums are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, which rarely covers a death. We look for other sources, including uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, employer or commercial policies, and other responsible parties.
Can a bar or restaurant be held responsible for a drunk driving death?
Possibly. After a fatal crash where impairment is suspected, officers are directed to investigate where the driver was served and to notify the Alcoholic Beverage Commission. That investigation can produce evidence relevant to a claim against the business, depending on the facts.
My family member died after a hospital error. Is the deadline different?
Health care liability claims have a one-year limitation period and a three-year outer limit. Because these cases involve extra requirements, they should be reviewed quickly.
Do we have to go to trial?
Not necessarily. Many cases resolve through negotiation, but insurers value a case differently when they know the firm will try it. Our attorneys prepare every case as if it will be tried to a jury.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. We work on a contingency basis and are paid only if we recover compensation, and the first consultation is free.
If the person who died was a child or the injury happened to a minor, does the deadline change?
Tennessee tolls the limitations period for an injured person under 18 until they turn 18. How that rule interacts with a death claim is a technical question, so do not rely on it without legal advice.
Talk With a Knox County Wrongful Death Attorney
If your family has lost someone because of another person’s negligence, a conversation with a Knox County wrongful death attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette costs nothing and carries no obligation. We will review what happened, explain who may be responsible and which deadlines apply, and tell you honestly what the case may involve. Call us to schedule a consultation, and if you cannot travel, we will come to you.