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Music and the arts have long played a vital role in Memphis’ identity to the world. Memphis is known as the home of the blues and soul music. Many great musicians have hailed Memphis as home, including Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes, Justin Timberlake, and the Academy Award-winning hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia. Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Carl Perkins all started their careers in Memphis on Beale Street and in Sun Studios. Memphis is also known as the pork barbecue capital of the world. Nearby communities that are part of its metropolitan area include Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Arlington, and Millington. If you have been hurt by a careless driver, experienced Memphis car accident attorney Matt Hardin can help you pursue the compensation that you deserve. Mr. Hardin has represented many victims of car, truck, and motorcycle crashes as well as slip and falls, wrongful death, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, and other types of accidents.
Many car crashes are the result of negligence by one or more drivers. A victim seeking damages through a negligence lawsuit must establish four elements:
As a general rule, everyone in Tennessee has a duty to drive with enough care to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm to anybody else. Breaking a traffic rule, such as speeding, running a red light, driving drunk, or texting while driving, may be considered a breach. A Memphis lawyer experienced in car accident cases can help you determine whether such a breach led to your accident.
Showing causation can be complex, and it may require expert testimony from a car accident reconstruction specialist. A defendant’s conduct must be not only an actual cause of a crash but also a “proximate” or legal cause. The victim must show that the accident would not have happened without the careless behavior that constituted the breach. However, the doctrine of proximate cause requires the injured person to also show that the crash was a reasonably foreseeable result of the breach.
If you are hurt in an accident, a Memphis car accident lawyer can potentially help you recover damages to compensate for your losses. Available types of compensation may include medical expenses, property damages, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering. In some especially egregious cases, a victim may consider pursuing a claim for punitive damages as well. Since it is subjective and thus more difficult to evaluate, pain and suffering is considered a non-economic type of damage. These forms of compensation are capped in Tennessee. There is a $750,000 cap on most non-economic damages, unless the defendant acted intentionally, destroyed records, or acted under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The cap is $1 million for non-economic damages involving catastrophic injuries, such as amputation, paraplegia, or the wrongful death of a parent with minor children.
After a crash, it is common for the other party’s insurer to contact you either to offer a small settlement amount or to get you to make admissions that could damage your case at trial. Rather than discussing the matter with an insurer’s representative, you should consult a Memphis auto accident lawyer about whether you have a viable claim against the other driver. We can advise you on how to hold a defendant accountable for harming you. Contact Matt Hardin by calling 615-200-1111 or sending a message through our online form.
“I'm super pleased with Matt and his whole team. I was hesitant to contact a lawyer after my accident, but I'm so glad I did!”
William