Shelby County Personal Injury Lawyer

Tennessee gives injured people one year, not two or three, to file a lawsuit, and that single fact shapes everything about how a serious injury claim in Memphis has to be handled. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a personal injury law firm that represents injured people and families in Shelby County and across Tennessee, handling car and truck crashes, wrongful death claims, premises liability, and catastrophic injury cases. If you are searching for a Shelby County personal injury lawyer, the first thing worth knowing is how quickly the evidence and the deadline both move.

Shelby County sits at a crossroads of interstates, rail lines, river freight, and distribution centers, which means its injury cases often involve commercial drivers, delivery fleets, and heavy traffic on routes like I-40, I-240, and I-55. Tennessee’s rules on fault, damage caps, and filing deadlines apply in every one of those cases, and understanding them early puts you in a stronger position when an insurance adjuster calls.

What to Do in the Days After a Serious Injury in Memphis or Shelby County

Start with medical care, even if you feel functional. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap between the crash and your first treatment gives an insurer room to argue your injuries came from something else. Keep every discharge sheet, prescription, and bill, and follow your doctors’ instructions, because missed appointments are routinely used to question how badly someone was hurt.

Make sure a police report exists. In a Shelby County crash, that means the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, or the Tennessee Highway Patrol depending on where it happened. If a driver appeared impaired, tell the responding officer. When a crash is fatal and an officer has probable cause that a driver was impaired, Tennessee law requires the investigation to trace where that driver was served alcohol and to notify the Alcoholic Beverage Commission within 48 hours, which can open a path to additional responsible parties.

Photograph the scene, the vehicles, your injuries, and any hazard that caused a fall. Write down witness names while memories are fresh. If a commercial truck was involved, tell your attorney immediately, because driver logs, maintenance records, and electronic data can be overwritten or discarded if no one demands that they be preserved.

Be careful with insurers. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s company, and an early casual comment about feeling “fine” can resurface later. Do not sign a release or accept a quick check before you know the full cost of your injuries, since settling ends the claim for good.

Then count the calendar. A personal injury lawsuit in Tennessee must generally be filed within one year of the injury. That period stretches to two years only in a narrow situation: criminal charges are brought against the person who hurt you, the prosecution begins within the first year, and you sue the person who was prosecuted. A property damage claim has a longer three-year window. Claims against a city, county, or other governmental entity fall under the Governmental Tort Liability Act and must be filed within 12 months. If the injured person is a child, the clock is paused until the child turns 18.

Lawsuits over injuries that happen in Shelby County are typically filed in the Shelby County Circuit Court, the state trial court of general jurisdiction, and some cases can proceed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, which holds court in Memphis. Smaller claims may begin in General Sessions Court, whose civil jurisdiction is limited by monetary caps. A lawyer can tell you which forum fits your claim before the deadline forces the question.

Injury Cases That Come Out of Shelby County

• Car and Motorcycle Crashes: Distracted driving remains a leading cause, and Tennessee’s Hands Free law bars holding a phone, texting, or watching video behind the wheel, which can matter when proving a driver was negligent. We also handle motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle cases, where the injuries are often severe.
• Tractor-Trailer and Commercial Vehicle Collisions: Memphis moves freight by road, rail, river, and air, so large trucks and delivery vehicles share the interstates with everyone else. These cases can involve the driver, the carrier, a maintenance contractor, or a cargo loader.
• Drunk Driving Crashes: A driver at or above the 0.08% per se limit is presumed impaired, though a driver can be impaired below that number. Intoxication can also lift Tennessee’s cap on noneconomic damages and support claims against a bar or restaurant that overserved.
• Wrongful Death: When a family loses someone to another party’s negligence, the claim belongs to the surviving spouse first, then the children or next of kin, or a personal representative. The one-year deadline runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death.
• Premises Liability and Slip and Fall: Property owners must keep premises reasonably safe and fix hazards they know about or should have found. Falls in parking lots, stores, hotels, restaurants, and apartment complexes can cause broken hips, shoulder injuries, and head trauma.
• Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries: These injuries carry lifetime costs for care, equipment, and lost earning capacity, and they are the cases where the way damages are documented matters most.
• Third-Party Workplace Claims: Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against your own employer, but a negligent driver, equipment maker, or outside contractor can be sued, and that claim can include pain and suffering.
• Visitors Hurt in Tennessee: Memphis draws travelers to Graceland and downtown attractions. If you live elsewhere and were injured here, we handle the investigation and filings in Tennessee while keeping you updated at home.

Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Shelby County Injury Case

Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette brings more than 170 years of combined attorney experience to injury cases for clients in Shelby County and throughout Tennessee, and the firm has recovered over $100 million for the people it represents. Clients pay no attorney fees in a personal injury case unless compensation is recovered, every consultation is free, and if your injuries make travel difficult the firm can meet you at home or in the hospital. Hablamos español; trial attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish and represents Spanish-speaking clients in their own language.

For a serious injury or death case, trial experience is the credential that carries weight with insurers. Co-founder Bruce D. Fox 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 Paladin Award and, more recently, its Lifetime Achievement Award. 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, who has tried cases across Tennessee, from the Tri-Cities to Chattanooga.

Two of the firm’s partners also spent part of their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses. That background matters when a claim is being valued, because they understand how adjusters and defense lawyers weigh liability and damages from the inside.

The results reflect the kind of cases that matter in Shelby County. The firm 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, $1.9 million after a mother was killed and her daughter seriously injured by a driver who failed to yield, $1.6 million for a man hit head-on by a commercial delivery truck, and $1.5 million for a roofer with a traumatic brain injury after his safety harness failed. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

How Tennessee Law Shapes the Value of a Memphis Injury Claim

Fault decides the outcome of many claims. Tennessee follows modified comparative fault: you can recover only if you are less than 50 percent at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Tennessee also abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases, and a jury can assign fault to someone who is not even a party to the lawsuit, so identifying every responsible party early is part of protecting a recovery. Insurers know these rules and often try to push a larger share of blame onto the injured person.

Damages fall into two groups. Economic damages, such as medical expenses, lost income, and future care costs, are not capped. Noneconomic damages, which compensate for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, are generally limited by statute to $750,000. The limit rises to $1 million for a defined catastrophic loss: a spinal cord injury 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, or the wrongful death of a parent with minor children. A jury decides by special verdict whether a catastrophic loss occurred, and the court applies the limit afterward without telling the jury about it.

The cap is not absolute. It does not apply when the defendant intentionally caused the injury, was intoxicated to a degree that substantially impaired judgment, destroyed or concealed evidence, or was convicted of a felony tied to the conduct. Punitive damages, where available, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000. Claims against governmental entities have their own ceiling of $300,000 per person and $700,000 per occurrence.

Insurance limits are the other practical constraint. Tennessee’s minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, with $25,000 for property damage. Those numbers can be far below the cost of a serious crash, which is why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy, and the identification of other liable parties such as an employer or a trucking company, can decide whether a family is made whole.

Questions About Shelby County Injury Claims

How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Shelby County?

Tennessee’s general deadline is one year from the date of injury. The deadline can reach two years when criminal charges are brought against the person who caused the harm and the prosecution starts within that first year. Claims against governmental bodies must be filed within 12 months, and health care liability claims carry a one-year period with a three-year outer limit.

Does the one-year deadline apply to a wrongful death claim?

Yes. Tennessee has no separate wrongful death filing period, so the one-year limit is borrowed from the injury statute and runs from the date of the injury that led to the death. A person who dies weeks or months after a crash does not restart the clock.

Who can bring a wrongful death case?

The claim passes to the surviving spouse first, 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 children or next of kin prove the spouse abandoned the deceased or willfully withdrew for two years.

Can I recover anything if I was partly at fault?

Yes, as long as your share of fault stays under 50 percent. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage. Because the 50 percent line is absolute, disputes over fault percentages are often the most heavily contested part of a case.

What does a Shelby County injury lawyer cost?

Clients pay nothing up front. The firm is paid only if it recovers compensation, and the first consultation is free.

What happens if the at-fault driver has only minimum insurance?

A policy at Tennessee’s minimum may cover only a small part of a serious injury. Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may add to the recovery, and other parties, such as an employer of a driver on the job, may carry additional coverage.

Is the limit on pain and suffering damages ever lifted?

Yes. The noneconomic cap does not apply when the defendant intended to cause the injury, was impaired by alcohol or drugs to a degree that substantially affected judgment, destroyed evidence, or was convicted of a related felony. Economic damages were never subject to a cap.

My injury happened at work. Can I sue?

Against your own employer, workers’ compensation is generally your only remedy. If someone else contributed, such as a negligent driver, an equipment manufacturer, or another contractor, you may have a third-party claim that can recover damages workers’ compensation does not, though the employer or its insurer usually has a right to be reimbursed from the recovery.

Will my own insurance have to be repaid if I settle?

Often, yes. Health insurers, and sometimes government payers, may assert a claim on part of your settlement for treatment they paid. Resolving those claims before money is distributed is part of getting an accurate picture of what you actually keep.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if my injuries seem moderate?

It can be, particularly because of the one-year deadline and the way early statements and releases can limit a claim. A free consultation costs nothing and lets you learn whether the value of your case justifies pursuing it.

Can I still file if I do not live in Tennessee?

Yes. If you were hurt in Shelby County while visiting, the claim is generally governed by Tennessee law and the Tennessee deadline. The firm handles the investigation, negotiations, and court filings here and keeps you informed by phone and email wherever you live.

Can I sue a city or county government after an injury?

Possibly, but the rules are stricter. The Governmental Tort Liability Act requires filing within 12 months and limits damages to $300,000 per person and $700,000 per occurrence, so these claims call for prompt attention.

Serving Injured Clients Across Shelby County and Western Tennessee

The firm represents injured people throughout Shelby County, including Memphis, Bartlett, Germantown, Collierville, Millington, Arlington, and Lakeland, and across the Memphis neighborhoods and corridors where serious crashes and falls occur. Clients come from the areas around the I-40 and I-240 loop, along the I-55 corridor toward the river, and from the commercial and industrial districts where freight traffic is heaviest.

Beyond Shelby County, the firm represents clients throughout Tennessee, including Nashville, Johnson City, and the communities of East Tennessee, as well as Knox County, Sevier County, Blount County, Anderson County, and Campbell County. Whether you were hurt close to home or far from it, the firm can review your case, explain your options, and travel to you when injuries make it hard to come to us.

Talk With a Shelby County Personal Injury Attorney Before Your Deadline Passes

A Shelby County personal injury attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette can review what happened, identify who may be responsible, and explain what a fair result looks like under Tennessee law, all at no cost to you. With a one-year filing deadline and evidence that can disappear, the sooner you call, the more options you keep.

Call to schedule your free consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you, and if you cannot travel, we can come to you at home or in the hospital.