Based on the recent decision handed down by the Tennessee Supreme Court, in the case of Donald M. Clark et. al. v. Aimee L. Cain et. al., Spicer Rudstrom attorney Robert Uhorchuk, a member of the firm’s Chattanooga office, is moving forward with the representation of one of the defendants in the case. The Clark case presented the question of whether tort reform caps on non-economic damages are constitutional as set out in the Tennessee Civil Justice Act, T.C.A. § 29-39-102.
Following a decision by the trial judge that the caps on non-economic damages were unconstitutional, the defendants filed an interlocutory appeal initially to the Tennessee Court of Appeals and eventually to the Tennessee Supreme Court. On October 16, 2015, based on those appeal requests, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s ruling and remanded the case back to the trial court.
The Tennessee Supreme Court held that a ruling on the constitutionality of the caps was and is not appropriate until the case goes through trial and to a jury verdict. The result is that statutory caps on damages remain in place pending any outcome in this case.