Knoxville Personal Injury Attorneys, Knox County, TN

Playing 2 Win for clients who were injured because of someone else’s negligence

No one ever anticipates a serious personal injury; we assume they happen to other people, not to us or to our loved ones. The sad truth is, though, that the average person is only one medical emergency from losing everything. When your injury was caused by the negligence of another person, you can make a claim for compensation that will help you keep your home, fix your car, pay your bills, and protect your family.

At Banks & Jones, our Knoxville personal injury lawyers have been fighting on behalf of the injured in Tennessee for more than 33 years. We offer you practical, honest advice about your chances and about your options, so you can make informed decisions about your future. If the only way to recover the compensation you’re owed is to go to trial, you can rest easy: we’re among the most aggressive, no-nonsense trial attorneys out there, and we don’t back down from a fight.

T.Scott Jones and his firm have been very professional and pleasant to work with. He is the best at what he does! Would highly recommend.

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What types of cases do our Knoxville trial lawyers handle?

Our firm handles a wide variety of personal injury cases, here in Knoxville and around the state. We are routinely called upon by clients who have been hurt or been made ill because of:

We handle injury cases that take place on private, public, and government-owned property throughout Tennessee. If you need assistance with workers’ compensation, we can represent you in those claims, too. Unlike most personal injury cases, there is no need to prove fault in a work injury case.

We also represent families when a loved one is tragically killed due to the fault of another. We file wrongful death claims for the damages individuals and companies cause.

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We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means we only get paid if your case settles (with your approval) or there is a trial verdict. The contingency fee is an incentive to fight as hard as we can for you.

What are catastrophic injuries?

There are certain types of injuries that are so devastating, so serious, that they alter your life forever. We refer to those as catastrophic injuries: the kind that leave you needing around-the-clock care, or in chronic pain, or require the use of adaptive technologies (like wheelchairs, prosthetics, or home modifications, for example) for years, if not forever. Our firm protects the families and victims of catastrophic injuries such as:

If you were hurt or made ill through no fault of your own, you should seek medical attention right away. You never know when a seemingly minor incident could have life-long repercussions.

What kinds of doctors work with personal injury victims?

Victims of catastrophic injuries, permanent injuries, and injuries that heal all normally begin their medical care with treatment by emergency medical technicians called to the scene of the accident and by emergency room physicians. Patients with burn injuries are often taken directly to burn centers.

Some patients, such as those with a traumatic brain injury or a whiplash, may not know that they need to seek treatment until days (or even weeks) after the accident

Patients who need surgeries are often treated by specialized physicians who also follow up with their initial care. They can include:

  • General surgeons
  • Neurosurgeons for TBI victims, spinal cord injury victims, and anyone with extensive nerve damage
  • Orthopedists provide care for broken bones and fractures
  • Cardiologists help people with heart attacks, heart strokes, and heart disease
  • Oral surgeons provide care for broken teeth and other dental care
  • Plastic surgeons help with scarring and disfigurement
  • Trauma surgeons help with emergency care injuries
  • Transplant surgeons help with transplanting organs from donor patients to patients with life-saving needs.

Other surgeons provide care for amputations, corrective surgery for medical malpractice, vison loss, hearing loss, and other injuries.

What type of rehabilitative care do personal injury victims need?

Rehabilitative care includes medical care after surgeries. Patients who don’t need surgeries also, usually, need rehabilitative care. For example, many people with soft tissue and muscle injuries don’t require surgery but do need extensive physical therapy.

Rehabilitative care can take weeks, months, or even years. Some people with catastrophic injuries may need a lifetime of care. Rehabilitative care includes care to improve the Knoxville accident victim’s condition and care to help reduce the risk of the condition worsening.

The various types of health providers that provide rehabilitative care include:

  • Physical therapists
  • Occupational therapists
  • Vocational therapists
  • Speech and language therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Grief counselors
  • Social workers
  • Rehabilitative nurses

Rehabilitative care generally requires that that accident victim go to an outpatient facility. In some cases, arrangements may be necessary for the health providers to come to the accident victim’s home.

Why the insurance company is not your friend?

When you sustain a serious injury, you have a few options. First, you can gather up all of your information – the accident report, your medical records, a letter from your boss outlining how many days you lost work – and send them to your insurance claims adjuster, and ask for compensation. (This is called a pre-litigation claim.) Almost every single time, your insurance company will come back with a settlement offer that seems perfectly reasonable to them, and practically criminal to you.

This is why your first step should be to gather up all that same information and hand it over to a Knoxville personal injury lawyer, instead. Your attorney has a much better chance at seeing a reasonable settlement amount. Our firm, for example, is often able to obtain just settlement amounts simply because of our reputation in jury trials. The insurance company knows we can and will take a case to trial, and they’d rather negotiate with just us, than leave their fate in the hands of a jury.

On occasion, your insurer will try to play hardball. They will continue to deny your claim, or offer you a ludicrous settlement offer. When that happens, we can file a personal injury lawsuit on your behalf. In that lawsuit, just like in the original claim, we will seek:

  • Economic damages. Medical bills, lost pay from work, and property damage
  • Non-economic damages. Physical pain and emotional suffering, loss of consortium, and scarring and disfigurement
  • Punitive damages. Compensation for especially egregious acts of negligence or malicious intent, designed to punish the accountable party for its conduct

What are the stages of a Knoxville personal injury case?

The immediate steps after an accident are to seek medical care – usually at an emergency room or with your family doctor. In some cases, such as car accidents, you may be required to report the accident to your own insurance carrier.

Once your condition is stable and you’ve fulfilled any insurance requirements, your immediate next step should be to hire a personal injury lawyer. It’s important to meet as soon as possible for several reasons:

  • The initial work on your case.
    • It’s critical that the cause of the accident be investigated while the memories of witnesses are fresh and while the accident scene or products haven’t been repaired. In this way, the correct defendants can be held accountable. Our investigators go to the accident and speak with knowledgeable witness.
    • Our lawyers work with many different medical providers. We’ll work with you team of doctors to help you see the correct physicians and health providers for your medical injuries.
    • We’ll shut down any effort by the insurance company to offer a low-ball settlement offer. We’ll prepare your case and negotiate just settlements – but only when your case is ready.
  • Preparation for a settlement discussion. Premier personal injury lawyers properly evaluate your case by:
    • Reviewing and obtaining the complete set of medical records and reports from your health providers
    • Obtaining statements from your employers verifying your lost income due to the injuries
    • Working with you, your physicians, and family members to fully document your pain and suffering
    • Working with any property damage appraisers such as car repair professionals
  • Negotiations with the insurance company. Once it’s clear who caused the accident and what all your injuries are, we work to try to settle your case. Our ability to obtain strong settlements is based on:
    • Our thorough preparation
    • Our track record of success in personal injury cases
    • Our knowledge of the law that applies to your case
    • Our persuasive abilities based on our extensive experience and knowledge
  • Preparation for trial. If your case can’t be settled, we prepare it for trial. This preparation includes:
    • Oral depositions of relevant parties and witnesses
    • Written questions to the defendants
    • Requests for production of necessary documents
  • Trial. If your case goes to trial, we help guide you through the ligation.
    • We have prep sessions so you can anticipate the questions that will be asked
    • We explain what to expect at trail
    • We work with you to select the jury
    • We professionally try your case before the judge and jury

Many times, cases do settle when the insurance company which had been holding out their best offer sees that we’re ready for a court fight. We have obtained numerous strong settlements and verdicts including an $8.1 million dollar wrongful death verdict in Blount County.

What is the Tennessee’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims?

In Tennessee, the statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim is generally one year from the date of the accident or event that caused the injury.

In the state of Tennessee, the statute of limitations for a personal injury action is one year. This means you only have one year from the date you were injured, or from the date you should have reasonably known you were injured, in order to file a claim for damages. Wrongful death and medical malpractice claims also give you one year to file, though product liability claims can be between one and four years, depending on the circumstances.

If you do not make your claim within the statute of limitations, you could be barred from recovering any compensation at all.

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Contact a Knoxville personal injury law firm that never stops fighting for you

At Banks & Jones, our Knoxville personal injury lawyers meet the toughest challenges head-on. We’ve been representing Eastern Tennessee injury victims for more than 25 years. Regardless of how difficult your case may be, our attorneys are prepared to fight relentlessly for you. We work to negotiate settlements but are ready to try your case before a jury when insurance companies aren’t fair. Please contact us or call 865-546-2141 today to schedule a free appointment.

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