Law Office of David A. Bates

11/19/2021

Congratulations to our law clerk (now attorney), Whitson Smith, on getting sworn in as a new attorney today!

06/25/2018

Congratulations to Keaton on being officially admitted to practice before the Federal Court for the TN Middle District!

01/25/2017

We are excited to welcome associate, Keaton Rye to our firm!

Keaton grew up in the Franklin, TN area. He attended high school at Ensworth High where he played basketball and football. Keaton was the captain of a state championship basketball team and received the City Civitan Sportsmanship and Leadership Award for Tennessee in 2009. After high school, he attended the University of Alabama, where he graduated with a degree in Finance, while being named to the dean’s list in multiple semesters for academic excellence. While at Alabama, Keaton served as a Baptist Campus Intermural leader, where he oversaw over forty sports teams.

Keaton obtained his law degree from Belmont University in 2016, where he was involved in the Health Law Society, Christian Law Society and the American Inn of Court. During law school he worked with in-house counsel at large Healthcare companies including Vanderbilt Medical Center, and Change HealthCare in Donelson.

When Keaton is not practicing law, he can be found enjoying bass fishing and duck hunting on Kentucky lake. Keaton is also PADI certified and enjoys scuba diving, hiking and rooting on the Crimson Tide (much to the chagrin of David and Crystal, but they vow to not hold it against him). :)

Welcome, Keaton!

04/27/2016

Nice vehicle! And proudly built right here in Spring Hill!

01/11/2016

Some good news for big dog owners - the Court of Appeals recently rejected a request to adopt a "big dog" rule, which would have made dog owners potentially liable for simply having a dog of an “extraordinarily large breed.”

Instead, the general rule still applies that a dog owner is not liable for an incident on their property unless they knew or should have known that the dog has a "dangerous propensity" (but, per the Court, size alone is insufficient to prove the same).

Note that there is really no such thing in Tennessee as the "one free bite rule." Instead, the general rule of liability is whether an owner knew or should have known that the dog had a dangerous propensity (for example, the owner might be aware that the dog is "vicious," even though he has not bitten anyone yet; or, an owner might be liable if they were aware that a dog was dangerous from "playfulness" or "mischievousness," such as knocking someone down).

Also note that if your dog hurts someone outside of your property, you might be liable even if you were not aware that your dog is dangerous, due to a special statute for "at large dogs."

For anyone who would like to read more, I am attaching a copy of the Court's opinion below:

http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/moore_v_gaut.pdf

12/27/2013

Interesting TN Supreme Court case this month: a Wal-Mart in Red Bank, TN could be liable when, allegedly, their employees ordered a visibly intoxicated customer to leave the store, who then hit another customer with her car in the parking lot. The link to the case is below.

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/sites/default/files/cullumjolyn.opn_.pdf

06/03/2013

We are happy to welcome Ashlyn White, who will be an intern at our office this summer. Ashlyn just finished her second year at UT's College of Law, and is originally from Columbia.

11/12/2012

If you are interested in what is happening in the courts, I am providing the below link to my article in the local newspaper about a recent Tenn. Supreme Court decision.

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