Health Care Liability
“Extraordinary Cause”
Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the court’s opinion.
Opinions of the Tennessee Supreme Court
Martin v. Rolling Hills Hospital, LLC, No. M2016-02214-SC-R11-CV (April 29, 2020)
“[W]hether [Plaintiffs] ha[ve] demonstrated extraordinary cause that would excuse compliance with [Section 121] is a mixed question of law and fact, and our review of that determination is de novo with a presumption of correctness applying only to the trial court’s findings of fact and not to the legal effect of those findings.” Myers, 382 S.W.3d at 307. Additionally, issues of statutory construction are questions of law, to which de novo review applies, with no presumption of correctness afforded to lower court decisions. Thurmond v. Mid-Cumberland Infectious Disease Consultants, PLC, 433 S.W.3d 512, 516-17 (Tenn. 2014) (citing Baker v. State, 417 S.W.3d 428, 433 (Tenn. 2013)).
Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Appeals
Moxley v. AMISUB SFH, Inc., No. W2021-01422-COA-R9-CV, p. 9 (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 29, 2022).
Because the trial court’s denial of the Defendants’ motion involves a question of law, our review is de novo with no presumption of correctness. Graham v. Caples, 325 S.W.3d 578, 581 (Tenn. 2010). The question of whether [the plaintiff] has demonstrated extraordinary cause that would excuse compliance with the statutes is a mixed question of law and fact, and our review of that determination is de novo with a presumption of correctness applying only to the trial court’s findings of fact and not to the legal effect of those findings. Starr v. Hill, 353 S.W.3d 478, 481-82 (Tenn. 2011). We review the trial court’s decision to excuse compliance under an abuse of discretion standard. “A court abuses its discretion when it applies an incorrect legal standard or its decision is illogical or unreasonable, is based on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence, or utilizes reasoning that results in an injustice to the complaining party.” Wilson v. State, 367 S.W.3d 229, 235 (Tenn. 2012) (citing Wright ex rel. Wright v. Wright, 337 S.W.3d 166, 176 (Tenn. 2011)).
