Metcalfe v. Waters
Tennessee Supreme Court
970 S.W.2d 448 (1998)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
Billie Metcalfe was injured in an automobile collision. Attorney Larry Waters (defendant) filed an action on behalf of Metcalfe and her parents (the Metcalfes) (plaintiffs) against the driver and others. The action was dismissed because Waters was not prepared for trial. Waters refiled the complaint a year later but failed to pay the filing fee or properly issue summons. The court dismissed as to some defendants on statute-of-limitations grounds and dismissed as to the remaining defendants because Waters failed to appear for trial. When Waters advised the Metcalfes of the dismissal several months later, he said the case was not worth appealing without revealing why it was dismissed. The Metcalfes sued Waters for legal malpractice. The court directed a verdict for the Metcalfes on liability. The jury’s verdict included punitive damages. The appellate court reversed, finding that Waters’s conduct was merely negligent and that punitive damages could not be based on Waters’s concealment of his malpractice because the concealment was not contemporaneous with the original wrongdoing. The Metcalfes appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Anderson, C.J.)
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