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04.26.2016

Welcome to Rebecca Simpson, estate planning attorney

We’re pleased to welcome Rebecca Simpson, who joined our firm as a senior attorney on April 18, 2016. Rebecca was most recently an attorney for Kentucky Legal Aid. She ran for Warren County Family Court Judge in 2014. She will serve as an estate planning attorney, among… Read More

04.12.2016

Tax Day is set for April 18

By Nathan Vinson, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Tax Day is a day that we know you celebrate with great abandon. Right? If you do in fact go all out for Tax Day, this year, you’ll need to move your Tax Day celebrations to April 18. Traditionally, Tax Day is April 15. In some circumstances, it is moved back a few days to accommodate a holiday. This year, Tax Day is April 18 because of Emancipation Day, which is a holiday in Washington, D.C. that marks the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the nation’s capital.  It is celebrated annually on April 16.  Because that date falls on a Saturday, Emancipation Day will be officially celebrated on April 15 this year, shutting down city offices. Tax Day is also moved when April 15 falls on a Saturday or Sunday. It is then moved to the following Monday. Read More

04.05.2016

Personal Injury Lawsuit Failed Due to Lack of Expert Testimony

The burden of proof is initially on the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit. In order to prevail, he or she must prove each of the four elements of negligence (duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages) by a preponderance of the evidence. This is usually done through a combination of expert witnesses and lay testimony. For instance, in many car accident cases, the basic facts of the crash may be explained by lay witnesses ("I saw the blue car run the red light and hit the side of the white van"). Evidence regarding certain damages, such as injuries and the reasonableness and necessity of medical expenses, requires testimony from an expert witness such as a physician. In the middle of these extremes are cases in which expert witness testimony would prove helpful but is not strictly required in order for a case to go forward. Sometimes, the parties disagree as to whether such testimony is an actual requirement under the circumstances, and the court must make a decision. Read More

03.31.2016

Underinsured motorist case filed in wrong state court

One of the first things that future attorneys learn in law school is that a court must have jurisdiction before it can act in a particular case. This power of the court to act is two-fold. The court must have both personal jurisdiction (power over the persons or corporations named in the suit), and it must have subject matter jurisdiction (authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter). If either is missing, the court lacks the power to adjudicate the matter and must dismiss the case. In the recent unpublished opinion of Taylor v. Bristol West Insurance Company, the Jefferson Circuit Court was called upon to decide whether a Kentucky trial court had jurisdiction over an insurance company that issued a motor vehicle insurance policy to an Indiana resident who was later involved in a car accident in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Read More

03.29.2016

Kentucky slip and fall case by store clerk fails in court

Workers' compensation was designed as a compromise. An injured worker does not have to prove that his or her employer was negligent (as is required in most personal injury cases), but the worker's monetary recovery is typically less than it would be in a negligence case. Whether or not this is a fair trade-off is a controversial subject. The good news for an injured worker is that he or she can receive medical care and payment of temporary and, if applicable, permanent disability benefits, even if he or she cannot show that the employer did anything to cause the injury complained of. The bad news is that, even if the employer was at fault, the payout to the worker remains the same, with no compensation for pain and suffering or loss of consortium to the injured person's spouse. Sometimes, the parties disagree as to whether an injury was sustained during the course and scope of employment. For instance, an employee may be away from the business premises at the time of an accident (such as a car crash) but still arguably engaged in work for the employer. Read More

03.29.2016

What to do when you get a letter from the IRS

By Nathan Vinson, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP We’ve heard more than one report of people getting called by scammers pretending to be the IRS, wanting money for back taxes or claiming that the IRS is going to sue you. Make no mistake: the IRS will not call you. This time of year, as many people are working on tax filings, anticipating returns and otherwise crunching numbers, the IRS is top of mind, and the scammers know it. Read More

03.22.2016

Kentucky Supreme Court says two-year statute of limitations in underinsured motorist claim is valid

Regardless of the merits of a party's complaint, it will never be heard unless the courts find that it was timely filed. Failure to comply with the statute of limitations isn't just a small "technicality." It is a deal breaker when it comes to negligence litigation. A recent underinsured motorist claim case in Kentucky highlighted the importance of hitting deadlines. It can also be a mistake to file suit on the eve of the running of the statute of limitations. As the plaintiff in the case set out below discovered, waiting until shortly before the expiration of the limitations period can be very costly. Read More

03.15.2016

Commercial insurance company not obligated to pay family of child injured in accident

By Kyle Roby, Attorney and Partner English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP The reported cases decided by the appellate courts sometimes come in batches of cases involving similar issues. Since a criminal case questioning the applicability of the death penalty, for example, involves an entirely different set of issues, research, and analysis than does a tort case arguing about liability in a medical malpractice lawsuit, there is judicial economy when the courts decide similar cases during the same time period. Lately, it seems the courts have been faced with a number of cases involving whether or not a given situation is covered under a particular insurance policy. In the recent case of Auto-Owners Insurance Company v. Holland, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville was called upon to decide whether a commercial general liability insurance policy provided coverage in an accident in which a child was injured by the gate of a trailer that an insured used to transport lawn care equipment. Read More

03.08.2016

House Sitter Was Not Covered Under Family’s Automobile Liability Insurance Policy

If someone asked you about your insurance coverage, what would you say? Many people would simply reply, "Yes, I have coverage," or "No, I don't have any right now." Those in the "Yes" contingent would probably consider the matter settled, not giving any thought to exactly what "having insurance" actually means. How much liability coverage do you have? Is your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage the same amount as your liability coverage? Who exactly is covered under your policy? Under which circumstances? A Tennessee family was faced with these and other questions when their house sitter (whom they described as a "close family friend") used their vehicle to go pick up a friend and was involved in a fatal accident on the way back. Read More

03.01.2016

Adding defendants to tractor-trailer accident lawsuit barred by Tennessee statute of limitations

In lawsuits involving motor vehicle accidents, it is not unusual for there to be multiple defendants. Sometimes, this is because two or more drivers' negligence may have contributed to the accident. It can also happen when a driver was on the job at the time of the accident. In this tractor-trailer accident case, just getting to the heart of who was responsible was difficult. Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer can be held liable for the tortious acts of a servant, agent or employee. This includes negligent driving. Discovering all of the possible defendants in a case can be a complex endeavor that may take some time. This is one of the reasons that it is best to contact an attorney as soon as possible after an accident. Read More