Court Reviews the Denial of a Motion to Amend a Complaint in an Automobile Accident Case

LAMAR REYNOLDS v. LOUIS R. TOGNETTI and WENDEE L. TOGNETTI (Tenn. Ct. App. March 4, 2011)

Before filing this personal injury action arising from an automobile accident, the plaintiff filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Although the plaintiff's personal injury action accrued prior to his filing for bankruptcy, he omitted the potential claim from a schedule of assets in the bankruptcy petition. The plaintiff received a discharge in bankruptcy, and, shortly thereafter, filed the instant action.

After the defendants moved for summary judgment, the plaintiff moved to amend his complaint in order to add the bankruptcy Trustee as a party. The trial court did not rule on the plaintiff's motion to amend, and instead granted the defendants summary judgment, finding that the plaintiff lacked standing and was judicially estopped from pursuing his personal injury claim. On appeal, we conclude that the trial court erred when it failed to rule on the plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint prior to adjudicating the defendants' summary judgment motion.

Opinion available at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/reynoldsl_030411.pdf