How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate noneconomic damages — then apply Tennessee's fault rule and its statewide noneconomic damages cap.
A 50% bar that got stricter in 2021
Tennessee originally adopted modified comparative fault judicially in McIntyre v. Balentine (1992), allowing recovery as long as a claimant's fault "did not exceed" the defendant's — meaning up to 49.9% fault still recovered. Effective July 1, 2021, a statutory change under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-11-103 shifted this to a "50% or more" bar — a stricter line, since exactly 50% fault now bars recovery entirely rather than still permitting a reduced award.
A $750,000 cap across all personal injury cases
Tennessee caps noneconomic damages — pain and suffering, permanent injury, loss of enjoyment of life — at $750,000 under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102, part of the state's 2011 Civil Justice Act. The cap applies broadly across personal injury cases, not just medical malpractice, and rises to $1,000,000 when the injury qualifies as catastrophic. The Tennessee Supreme Court upheld this cap in McClay v. Airport Management Services, LLC (2020), rejecting challenges based on the right to a jury trial, separation of powers, and equal protection.
A separate cap that didn't survive
Tennessee's punitive damages cap — $500,000 or twice compensatory damages, whichever is greater — tells a different story. A federal appeals court applying Tennessee constitutional law found that cap unconstitutional in 2018, so it isn't currently enforced, even though the separate noneconomic damages cap was upheld two years later.