Law Commons^™

Third-Party Liability And Adjustments Between Different Employers And Insurance Carriers In Tennessee, William J. Harbison

Vanderbilt Law Review

In this article the author discusses the Tennessee law as to the relative positions of employers and third party tort feasors in workmen's compensation situations. After discussing the employer's right to subrogation to his employee's right of action, the employer's right to a lien on any recovery in such an action, and the right of the third party to indemnity from the employer, he concludes by treating the problem of joint and successive employers, taking special note of the heretofore untapped resources of the Tennessee Second Injury Fund.

Insurance -- 1962 Tennessee Survey, Robert N. Covington

Vanderbilt Law Review

The courts of Tennessee were confronted by a number of interesting problems of insurance law during 1962. For the most part, the results were neither startling nor unsettling. There were, however, decisions that seem to qualify previous opinions, sometimes without citation, and there was one very troublesome opinion concerning credit life insurance.

Recent Case Comments, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conflict of Laws--Workmen's Compensation--Forum's Use of Foreign State's Tort Law for Recovery Against Third Party Does Not Require Forum's Use of Foreign State's Election Provision in Workmen's Compensation Suit

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Constitutional Law--Advertising-Statute Restricting Size,Number, and Location of Gasoline Price Signs Is Unconstitutional

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Evidence-Attorney--Client Privilege--Applicability When a Corporation Is the Client

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Evidence--Attorney-Client Privilege-Doctor's Report to Attorney on Condition of Client Is Within Privilege

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Federal Jurisdiction--In Federal Question Action Federal Court Is Competent To Exercise In Personam Jurisdiction Over Corporation if It Has Sufficient Contacts With United States

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Federal Rules of Civil Procedure--Counterclaim Not Compulsory in First Suit …

Policyholders' Interest Income From Life Insurance Under The Income Tax, Richard Goode

Vanderbilt Law Review

Life insurance policies usually combine pure insurance and saving features. This fact is recognized by the industry and by those who draw up national economic accounts but is not fully reflected in the income tax. None of the return on saving through life insurance is taxed to a policyholder prior to the maturity, redemption, or surrender of a policy. Part of the return, but apparently only a small fraction of the total, is taxed when policies mature for reasons other than the death of the insured or are redeemed or surrendered. Inasmuch as most forms of investment income are taxable, …

Insurance -- 1961 Tennessee Survey (Ii), Robert N. Covington

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Tennessee decisions in the field of insurance law during the survey period dealt almost exclusively with problems that may be characterized as the selection and control of risks. The importance of the principles used in the solution of these problems is obvious. Only by being able to select carefully those risks for which insurance will be offered can the insurer properly determine the premium that is to be charged. If policy language is interpreted to grant broader coverage than that actually intended, then the insurance fund is subjected to greater potential loss than estimated,so that the insurer's profits will …

Insurance -- 1961 Tennessee Survey, Robert N. Covington

Vanderbilt Law Review

The developments in the Tennessee law of insurance during the past year were important without being surprising. The various courts delivered opinions dealing with a number of the central issues in insurance law, especially in the field of risk control, and by and large followed the line of thinking established by past years. Many of the decisions are of less significance than one might suppose, because of their extreme involvement in particular fact situations.

Ancillary Rights Of The Insured Against His Liability Insurer, Robert E. Keeton

Vanderbilt Law Review

The primary right of the insured against his liability insurer is the right to reimbursement of loss falling within the coverage defined in the policy. The scope of that right is ordinarily determined by construction of the clauses defining the Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage Liability Coverages.' The present article is concerned with ancillary rights, arising in part from these and other policy provisions and in part from the relationship created by liability insurance. These rights of the insured are, from the opposite point of view, duties of the insurer--duties concerned principally with settlement of the tort claim or …

Semi-Direct Action Against Liability Insurers: Current Problems, Ronan E. Degnan

Vanderbilt Law Review

The legislatures of the various states of the union have by and large seen fit to forbid actions by an injured party directly against a liability insurer. This limitation, founded upon policy reasons which are doubtless apparent to the reader, has led the interested parties to seek out various indirect or semi-direct methods for reaching the insurance fund. This article is designed to discuss two particularly difficult problems which have arisen because of this semi-direct mode of proceeding: (1) By what appropriate methods can a judgment be obtained against a nonresident tort feasor or his estate so as to create …

Automobile Policy Exclusions, A. L. Plummer

Vanderbilt Law Review

The exclusions in the automobile liability insurance policies have required much litigation to clarify and interpret the intent of the draftsmen and underwriter who wrote them. An exclusion takes away or modifies certain coverages given in the insuring agreements. The giving and taking-away provisions of insurance policies are necessary in the making of a limited contract. They tend to avoid duplication of coverage, limit the assumed risk or hazard, avoid underwriting the primary liabilities of others that should be covered by other policy forms, and otherwise limit the scope of coverage. Since 1936 there has been a constant effort by …

Overlapping Coverages In Liability Contracts; Subrogation, John A. Appleman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Within the last twenty-five years, approximately, a considerable transition has taken place in approaching the coverages of automobile policies. At one time, liability insurers used to require their policy-holders to pledge that they did not carry other insurance of like character. It is difficult to understand why this situation ever arose. It may have been an outgrowth of fire coverages, or health and accident provisions, in which a moral hazard actually might exist where excessive protection is carried. Thereafter, instead of making this a matter of warranty, policies frequently provided that in the event there should be any other valid …

Loading And Unloading, Norman E. Risjord

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since the automobile liability policies cover the use, loading and unloading of automobiles anywhere, the general liability policies (comprehensive or manufacturers and contractors or owners, landlords and tenants) correspondingly exclude, substantially, coverage for the automobile while away from premises owned, rented or controlled by the named insured, or the ways immediately adjoining, or the loading or unloading thereof. While the general liability policies do cover the use, loading and unloading of automobiles on premises owned, rented or controlled by the named insured and thus duplicate to a limited extent the coverage under the automobile liability policy where the accident occurs …

Insurance Coverage Against Explosion Damage, William C. Brewer Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Astronomers tell us that the world began with an explosion, and common sense tells us that it may end with one. Today, the explosion is the symbol of the corruption of knowledge. It has always suggested the devastation of property and the tragedy of death, reminding us that man is never in full control of the forces he has loosed for his material benefit. When accidental explosion became frequent enough for consideration by actuaries, it became a natural subject for insurance. It is proposed here to survey the contractual provisions under which explosion may be insured, and to examine briefly …

Insurance -- 1960 Tennessee Survey, William R. Andersen

Vanderbilt Law Review

One of the most delicate problems in insurance underwriting is that of describing the events whose occurrence is the primary condition of the insurer's obligation to pay. Several interesting cases were decided during the survey period involving disputes over whether or not an insured event had occurred.

Insurance--1959 Tennessee Survey, William R. Andersen

Vanderbilt Law Review

What is the meaning of the term "actual cash value" in the standard fire policy? The middle section of the court of appeals, following a prior Tennessee case and the weight of authority, held that the phrase is synonomous with "market value" only where the goods are readily replaceable in a current market. Where there is no market, or where the market value is inadequate to properly indemnify the insured, "actual cash value" means the "'value to the owner' or the loss he suffers in being deprived of the goods." Since the goods involved in this case were personal effects, …

Insuring Against Medical Professional Liability, Bernard D. Hirsh

Vanderbilt Law Review

The purpose of this article is to analyze the protection provided in medical professional liability policies. Part I consists of a discussion of some of the factors involved in the purchase of malpractice insurance and an examination of the principal insuring agreements, exclusions, and conditions stated in the standard policy. Part II is a summary of the results of a questionnaire sent by the Law Division of the American Medical Association to insurance companies to determine their opinions regarding insurance coverage in a series of hypothetical cases.

Liability Of An Insurance Agent Or Broker In Procuring Or Maintaining Insurance For An Owner, Jack D. Mcneil

Vanderbilt Law Review

The insurance agent or broker is vulnerable to legal attack on several grounds and may incur liability on a variety of theories ranging from breach of implied warranty to fraudulent misrepresentation. The basic fact situation here discussed arises when one desires insurance and the agent sought for the purpose of procuring that insurance fails to do so through a lack of reasonable care. The nature and origin of the duty owed by such an agent or broker, the various instances in which liability arises, the measure and amount of damages collectible, and the defenses available to the agent are discussed.

Book Reviews, Stanley D. Rose (Reviewer), Wallace Mendelson (Reviewer), Lawrence Herman (Reviewer), William R. Anderson (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

THE PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS, THE COLLAPSE OF FEDERALISM, 1795-1800. By Stephen G. Kurtz-- Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957. Pp. 448. $8.50.

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THE JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANS, THE FORMATION OF PARTY ORGANIZATION, 1789-1801. By Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.-- Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957. Pp. x, 279. $6.00.

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THE SUPREME COURT FROM TAFT TO WARREN-- By Alpheus T. Mason-- Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1958. Pp. 250. $4.95.

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THE LAW OF AWOL. By Alfred Avins. New York: Oceana Publications, 1957. Pp. xxxi, 288. $4.95. --

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TRAFFIC VICTIMS, TORT LAW & INSURANCE. By Leon Green. …

Insurance -- 1958 Tennessee Survey, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

The case of Clinchfield R.R. v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.' involved the question of whether the insured, in a suit against his insurer, is bound by findings adverse to him in prior litigation between the insured and a third person.The liability insurance policy involved covered certain vehicles of the railroad company but expressly excluded from coverage injuries to employees in the course of their employment. One Harrison, a regular railroad employee, was injured while riding in an insured vehicle with a fellow employee. He sued the railroad company under the Federal Employers Liability Act. Before he could recover …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Conflict of Laws--Jurisdiction--Assumption of Personal Jurisdiction over Non-Resident Insurer on the basis of a Single Insurance Contract

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Constitutional Law--Taxation--Tax Immunity of Federal Government not Infringed by Local Taxes upon Possession of Government Property

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Evidence--Hearsay--Utterance of Employee under Emotional Stress Admissible to Establish Scope of Employment and Render Employer Vicariously Liable

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Insurance--Automobile--Duplicating Recoveries allowed under Liability and Medical Payment Clauses of Automobile Liability Insurance Policy

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Insurance--Business Indemnity--Radiation Decontamination Expenses not Recoverable under a Business Interruption Clause

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Insurance--Life--Variable Annuity Contracts not Subject to Regulation by Securities and Exchange Commission

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Physicians--Unprofessional Conduct--Willful Evasion of Federal …

Book Review, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

The National Probation and Parole Association has been working for over 35 years to improve the administration of justice and in the publication of "Guides for Sentencing" it has provided one of its most important services to judges who are charged with the administration of criminal justice and to juvenile and domestic relations courts. The book is the first of a series of practical manuals for all of the above named courts and it is the result of the combined labors of 37 specially selected United States, state and juvenile judges for a period of about five years. Bolitha J. …

Insurance -- 1957 Tennessee Survey, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

The case of Lee v. Occidental Life Ins. Co.' is one of first impression in this state, and considers the effect of a change in the by-laws and constitution of a labor union--with a corresponding change in coverage under a group insurance policy issued to the union--on the rights of an insured member of the union.

Life, Health and Accident Insurance In Alvis v. Mutual Benefit Health and Acc. Ass'n, the Supreme Court construed certain provisions of a ten-year annual increasing policy issued to the plaintiff's intestate by defendant insuror.

Restitution -- 1957 Tennessee Survey, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

Compulsion of Judgment: This year's most important decision in the field of Restitution is the famous case of New York Life Ins. Co.v. Nashville Trust Co.' This was the case in which one Buntin disappeared from his home in Nashville under circumstances which led the Supreme Court of Tennessee to hold that he had committed suicide and thus died while an insurance policy was still in effect. As a result the plaintiff insurance company was compelled to pay the defendant trust company, as trustees for the beneficiaries of the policy (Buntin's family), an amount of $60,000. Years later, Buntin was …

Insurance -- 1956 Tennessee Survey, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Pennsylvania, etc. Ins. Co. v. Homer,' it appeared that Homer had struck a parked vehicle but failed to stop. His identity was later established and he signed a statement admitting that the accident was his fault and assuming all responsibility in connection therewith, including damage to the vehicle and hospital and medical treatment to any person suffering injuries as a result of the accident. It was not until five months after the collision that Homer's insuror received any notice of the accident. The insuror thereupon filed this action in the chancery court for declaratory judgment to determine its rights …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Automatic Reversion of Land to Grant or Upon Use by Non-Whites

Constitutional Law--Federal Eminent Domain--Potentiality for Water Power Development as Element of Compensation

Contracts--Place of Making--Acceptance by Instantaneous Means of Communication

Insurance--Automobile Liability Omnibus Clause-Coverage of Sub-Permitee

Insurance--Insurer's Right of Subrogation--Waiver by Refusal to Pay Claim

Master and Servant--Borrowed Servant Doctrine--Contract as Proof of Assumption of Control

Wills--Anti-Lapse Statutes--Beneficiaries of Class Gift Dead at Will's Execution

Joint Tortfeasors In Tennessee And The New Third-Party Statute, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

Chapter 145 of the 1955 Public Acts' enacted by the Tennessee Legislature, purporting in some degree to permit a third-party action, has evoked considerable interest among members of the Tennessee Bar and liability insurance carriers.

The act provides that when a defendant deems some other party primarily liable to the plaintiff, then the defendant may file a cross action against the third party. It will be recalled that when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were first promulgated, Rule 14 provided that a defendant, deeming a third party liable to himsel for to the plaintiff, could make such third party …

Insurance -- 1955 Tennessee Survey, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

If a period of three years be sufficient time to detect any trend in the field of insurance litigation, there is reflected a decrease in the number of cases reaching our appellate courts having to do with automobile liability insurance and an increase in the number of cases having to do with health and accident policies--the latter probably being the result of the extension of group insurance. In the past year there were only two reported decisions in the state courts and one in the federal court sitting in Tennessee involving automobile liability policies. During the present Survey period, there …

Administrative Law Problems In The Unemployment Insurance Program, Reginald Parker

Vanderbilt Law Review

"A good government," Albert Einstein said recently, "not only gives its citizens a maximum amount of liberty and political rights but also provides for a certain amount of economic security."' Our Constitution provides for political rights and liberties but not for economic security. Unlike foreign federal constitutions it neither provides for it directly nor delegates social legislation to the states; nor does the Constitution expressly prohibit this type of law. As, however, the Constitution authorizes the states to exercise powers not reserved to the central government, it may be deduced that unemployment relief legislation is within the competence of the …

A Symposium On Unemployment Insurance, Stuart Rothman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Any statutory program which has such an impact on our economic life is worth consideration by law students and lawyers. More and more, workers and employers will need to consult with lawyers about their rights under the unemployment insurance laws. An increasing number of unemployment insurance cases are being appealed to the courts and an increasing amount of unemployment insurance legislation is being introduced in state legislatures. This symposium will give law students, lawyers, judges and legislators some background information, as well as a discussion of significant legal problems; it will help all to a better understanding of the unemployment …

Book Reviews, Lloyd P. Stryker (Reviewer), Howard J. Graham (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Book Reviews

The American Lawyer

Albert P. Blaustein Charles O. Porter with Charles T. Duncan Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,1954. Pp. xiii, 360. $5.50.

reviewer: Lloyd Paul Stryker

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American Business Corporations Until 1860; with Special Reference to Massachusetts

By Edwin Merrick Dodd. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954. Pp. xix, 524. $7.50

reviewer: Howard Jay Graham

Experience Rating: Its Objectives, Problems And Economic Implications, Edwin R. Teple, Charles G. Nowacek

Vanderbilt Law Review

Within a decade, the system of rate differentiation which has become one of the distinctive characteristics of the unemployment insurance program in the United States spread from the North Woods to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. The idea so vigorously advocated by Professors John R. Commons and Harold M. Groves, and their Wisconsin colleagues, having been first put into effect under the Wisconsin Law in 1938, was finally incorporated in the Mississippi Law in 1948. Though unknown to the older European systems, experience rating thus took a firm grip upon the program in this country.