Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (2024)
Personal tort actions; actions against certain professionals
✓ Justia copy: laws through about 2024 (2025 and 2026 sessions missing)
- (a)
- (1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), the following actions shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrued:
- (A) Actions for libel, injuries to the person, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, or breach of marriage promise;
- (B) Civil actions for compensatory or punitive damages, or both, brought under the federal civil rights statutes; and
- (C) Actions for statutory penalties.
- (2) A cause of action listed in subdivision (a)(1) shall be commenced within two (2) years after the cause of action accrued, if:
- (A) Criminal charges are brought against any person alleged to have caused or contributed to the injury;
- (B) The conduct, transaction, or occurrence that gives rise to the cause of action for civil damages is the subject of a criminal prosecution commenced within one (1) year by:
- (i) A law enforcement officer;
- (ii) A district attorney general; or
- (iii) A grand jury; and
- (C) The cause of action is brought by the person injured by the criminal conduct against the party prosecuted for such conduct.
- (3) This subsection (a) shall be strictly construed.
- (1) Except as provided in subdivision (a)(2), the following actions shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrued:
- (b) For the purpose of this section, in products liability cases:
- (1) The cause of action for injury to the person shall accrue on the date of the personal injury, not the date of the negligence or the sale of a product;
- (2) No person shall be deprived of the right to maintain a cause of action until one (1) year from the date of the injury; and
- (3) Under no circumstances shall the cause of action be barred before the person sustains an injury.
- (c)
- (1) Actions and suits against licensed public accountants, certified public accountants, or attorneys for malpractice shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrued, whether the action or suit is grounded or based in contract or tort.
- (2) In no event shall any action or suit against a licensed public accountant, certified public accountant or attorney be brought more than five (5) years after the date on which the act or omission occurred, except where there is fraudulent concealment on the part of the defendant, in which case the action or suit shall be commenced within one (1) year after discovery that the cause of action exists.
- (d) Any action to recover damages against a real estate appraiser arising out of the appraiser's real estate appraisal activity shall be brought within one (1) year from a person's discovery of the act or omission giving rise to the action, but in no event shall an action to recover damages against a real estate appraiser be brought more than five (5) years after the date the appraisal was conducted.
Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 234,s 1, eff. 7/1/2017.
Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 388,s 1, eff. 7/1/2015.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 618,s 2, eff. 7/1/2014.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 618,s 1, eff. 7/1/2014.
Code 1858, § 2772 (deriv. Acts 1715, ch. 27, § 5); Shan., § 4469; mod. Code 1932, § 8595; Acts 1967, ch. 283, § 1; 1969, ch. 28, § 1; 1969, ch. 293, §§ 1, 2; 1972, ch. 669, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 28-304; Acts 1990, ch. 970, § 2; 1990, ch. 1056, § 2.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 960
cases (299 in the last 5 years), 1981–2026 · leading case: Calvin Gray Mills, Jr. v. Fulmarque, Inc., 360 S.W.3d 362 (Tenn. 2012).
Calvin Gray Mills, Jr. v. Fulmarque, Inc., 360 S.W.3d 362 (Tenn. 2012). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (b)(1) (2000).”
John Howard Story v. Nicholas D. Bunstine, 538 S.W.3d 455 (Tenn. 2017). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (c)(1). Later, in response to the defendant attorneys' motion for summary judgment, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs' remaining claim, determining that the claim was also barred by the statute of limitations.”
Craig Robert Nunn v. Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 547 S.W.3d 163 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2017). “Tennessee has a one-year statute of limitations specific to “[c]ivil actions for compensatory or punitive damages, or both, brought under the federal civil rights statutes,” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (a)(1)(B), and a one-year statute of limitations for “injuries to the person.”
Shell v. State, 893 S.W.2d 416 (Tenn. 1995). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 . The Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the commissioner.”
Carvell v. Bottoms, 900 S.W.2d 23 (Tenn. 1995). “The issue for our determination is whether this action is barred by the statute of limitations applicable to legal malpractice actions, Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 , 1 under the facts of this case.”
John Kohl & Co. PC v. Dearborn & Ewing, 977 S.W.2d 528 (Tenn. 1998). “The issues before us are: (1) whether certain of the plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the one-year statute of limitations applicable to legal malpractice actions, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104, 2 and (2) whether the plaintiffs are entitled to recover legal fees associated with…”
Michael Lind v. Beaman Dodge, Inc., 356 S.W.3d 889 (Tenn. 2011). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104. Conclusion Because the claim by the Plaintiff against the Defendant under the theory of strict liability did not arise until the declaration of Chrysler’s insolvency, the claim was not barred by the statute of limitations.”
Wyatt v. A-Best Prods. Co., 924 S.W.2d 98 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995). “Both of these issues were examined by the Supreme Court in the context of the one-year statute of limitations found at T.C.A. § 28-3-104. The statute of repose at issue in the instant case was not at issue or even discussed in the Supreme Court's Wyatt decision.”
PNC Multifamily Capital Institutional Fund XXVI Ltd. P'ship v. Bluff City Cmty. Dev. Corp., 387 S.W.3d 525 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). “With respect to the Plaintiffs that were former clients of Fernley & Califf, Plaintiffs April Woods I Limited Partnership, Harmony Woods I Limited Partnership, and Eagles Landing I Limited Partnership, the gravamen of those claims is legal malpractice and, as such, those claims…”
Tip's Package Store, Inc. v. Com. Ins. Managers, Inc., 86 S.W.3d 543 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “According to Commercial, the “Statute of Limitations for tort actions involving negligence or fraudulent misrepresentation (T.C.A. § 28-3-104 — in 1997 Supplement) is one (1) year from the date of the occurrence.”
Potts v. Celotex Corp., 796 S.W.2d 678 (Tenn. 1990). “1 We hold that a cause of action for a separate and distinct asbestos-related disease does not accrue, under TCA § 28-3-104, until that disease becomes manifest.”
Gunter v. Lab'y Corp. of Am., 121 S.W.3d 636 (Tenn. 2003). “The trial court ruled that the case was “governed by the applicable one year statute of limitations” in Tennessee Code Annotated sections 28-3-104 and 29-26-116, which refer to injuries to the person and medical malpractice claims, and dismissed the action because the suit was…”
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(1): 1 case
Whitaker v. Whirlpool Corp., 32 S.W.3d 222 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(2): 3 cases
Woods & Woods v. Lewis, 902 S.W.2d 914 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1994).
Ronald Dennis Crafton v. John Van Den Bosch, Jr., No. W2004-02959-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 2005).
Ronald Crafton v. John Van Den Bosch, Jr., No. W2002-00679-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 19, 2002).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a): 85 cases
Tip's Package Store, Inc. v. Com. Ins. Managers, Inc., 86 S.W.3d 543 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “According to Commercial, the “Statute of Limitations for tort actions involving negligence or fraudulent misrepresentation (T.C.A. § 28-3-104 — in 1997 Supplement) is one (1) year from the date of the occurrence.”
Campbell v. Sundquist, 926 S.W.2d 250 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996).
Craig Robert Nunn v. Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 547 S.W.3d 163 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2017). “Tennessee has a one-year statute of limitations specific to “[c]ivil actions for compensatory or punitive damages, or both, brought under the federal civil rights statutes,” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (a)(1)(B), and a one-year statute of limitations for “injuries to the person.”
Hunter v. Brown, 955 S.W.2d 49 (Tenn. 1997).
Windsor v. a Fed. Exec. Agency, 614 F. Supp. 1255 (M.D. Tenn. 1984).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1): 55 cases
Whaley v. Perkins, 197 S.W.3d 665 (Tenn. 2006).
Abels ex rel. Hunt v. Genie Indus., Inc., 202 S.W.3d 99 (Tenn. 2006).
Evans v. Walgreen Co., 813 F. Supp. 2d 897 (W.D. Tenn. 2011).
Green v. Moore, 101 S.W.3d 415 (Tenn. 2003).
Reed v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 4 S.W.3d 677 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(3): 1 case
Sherman Alexander Henderson v. David Mills, No. W2005-01040-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 1, 2005).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A): 10 cases
Jairus Lee v. Estes Express, No. W2018-00642-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 11, 2019).
Smith v. Amazon.com, Inc. (TV2), No. 1:18-cv-00276 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 7, 2021).
Gooch v. Elec. Power Bd. of Metro. Nashville & Davidson Cnty., 608 F. Supp. 3d 572 (M.D. Tenn. 2022).
Townes v. City of Memphis, No. 2:23-cv-02672 (W.D. Tenn. Jan. 28, 2025).
Johnson for Est. of Debra Johnson v. Fitz, No. 2:24-cv-02722 (W.D. Tenn. June 10, 2025).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(B): 10 cases
Craig Robert Nunn v. Tennessee Dep't of Corr., 547 S.W.3d 163 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2017). “Tennessee has a one-year statute of limitations specific to “[c]ivil actions for compensatory or punitive damages, or both, brought under the federal civil rights statutes,” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (a)(1)(B), and a one-year statute of limitations for “injuries to the person.”
Smith v. Marion Cnty., No. 1:20-cv-00165 (E.D. Tenn. Sept. 30, 2021).
Kelly v. Haslam, No. 1:18-cv-00170 (E.D. Tenn. May 4, 2020).
Kelly v. Haslam, No. 1:18-cv-00170 (E.D. Tenn. May 8, 2020).
Porterfield v. Shelby Cnty. Jail, No. 2:19-cv-02885 (W.D. Tenn. Dec. 29, 2020).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(C): 1 case
Snake Steel, Inc. v. Holladay Constr. Grp., LLC, No. M2019-00322-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 22, 2020).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(2): 41 cases
PNC Multifamily Capital Institutional Fund XXVI Ltd. P'ship v. Bluff City Cmty. Dev. Corp., 387 S.W.3d 525 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). “With respect to the Plaintiffs that were former clients of Fernley & Califf, Plaintiffs April Woods I Limited Partnership, Harmony Woods I Limited Partnership, and Eagles Landing I Limited Partnership, the gravamen of those claims is legal malpractice and, as such, those claims…”
Cherry v. Williams, 36 S.W.3d 78 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).
Carvell v. Bottoms, 900 S.W.2d 23 (Tenn. 1995). “The issue for our determination is whether this action is barred by the statute of limitations applicable to legal malpractice actions, Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 , 1 under the facts of this case.”
John Kohl & Co. PC v. Dearborn & Ewing, 977 S.W.2d 528 (Tenn. 1998). “The issues before us are: (1) whether certain of the plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the one-year statute of limitations applicable to legal malpractice actions, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104, 2 and (2) whether the plaintiffs are entitled to recover legal fees associated with…”
Cardiac Anesthesia Servs., PLLC v. Jon Jones, 385 S.W.3d 530 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(2)(A): 3 cases
McGhee-Twilley v. CoreCivic of Tennessee, LLC, No. 3:23-cv-00077 (M.D. Tenn. Mar. 27, 2024).
Mallory Sandridge v. Hollywood Henderson, No. W2024-00242-COA-R10-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 19, 2024).
Reginald M. Younger v. Kibreab Kidane Okbahhanes, 632 S.W.3d 531 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2021).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(3): 35 cases
Dorothy Johnson v. Memphis Light, 777 F.3d 838 (6th Cir. 2015).
Alley v. Key, 431 F. Supp. 2d 790 (W.D. Tenn. 2006).
Booker v. Boeing Co., 188 S.W.3d 639 (Tenn. 2006).
Lindsey v. Allstate Ins., 34 F. Supp. 2d 636 (W.D. Tenn. 1999).
Ali v. Moore, 984 S.W.2d 224 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(4): 5 cases
Wynne v. Stonebridge Life Ins., 694 F. Supp. 2d 871 (W.D. Tenn. 2010).
Montesi v. Nationwide Mut. Ins., 970 F. Supp. 2d 784 (W.D. Tenn. 2013).
Kingvision Pay Per View, Ltd. v. Wilson, 83 F. Supp. 2d 914 (W.D. Tenn. 2000).
Daniel v. Cantrell, 241 F. Supp. 2d 867 (E.D. Tenn. 2003).
Snake Steel, Inc. v. Holladay Constr. Grp., LLC, No. M2019-00322-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 22, 2020).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(l): 23 cases
Calvin Gray Mills, Jr. v. Fulmarque, Inc., 360 S.W.3d 362 (Tenn. 2012). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (b)(1) (2000).”
Turner v. Aldor Co. of Nashville, 827 S.W.2d 318 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991).
Abels ex rel. Hunt v. Genie Indus., Inc., 202 S.W.3d 99 (Tenn. 2006).
Gunter v. Lab'y Corp. of Am., 121 S.W.3d 636 (Tenn. 2003). “The trial court ruled that the case was “governed by the applicable one year statute of limitations” in Tennessee Code Annotated sections 28-3-104 and 29-26-116, which refer to injuries to the person and medical malpractice claims, and dismissed the action because the suit was…”
Est. of Kirk ex rel. Kirk v. Lowe, 70 S.W.3d 77 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(b): 3 cases
Wyatt v. A-Best Prods. Co., 924 S.W.2d 98 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995). “Both of these issues were examined by the Supreme Court in the context of the one-year statute of limitations found at T.C.A. § 28-3-104. The statute of repose at issue in the instant case was not at issue or even discussed in the Supreme Court's Wyatt decision.”
Jones v. Methodist Healthcare, 83 S.W.3d 739 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001).
Milligan v. Am. Hoist & Derrick Co., 622 F. Supp. 56 (W.D. Tenn. 1985).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(b)(1): 5 cases
Calvin Gray Mills, Jr. v. Fulmarque, Inc., 360 S.W.3d 362 (Tenn. 2012). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (b)(1) (2000).”
Michael Lind v. Beaman Dodge, Inc., 356 S.W.3d 889 (Tenn. 2011). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 28-3-104. Conclusion Because the claim by the Plaintiff against the Defendant under the theory of strict liability did not arise until the declaration of Chrysler’s insolvency, the claim was not barred by the statute of limitations.”
Montgomery v. Wyeth, 580 F.3d 455 (6th Cir. 2009).
Donna Haley v. Am. Honda, No. 02A01-9704-CV-00086 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 29, 1997).
Donna Haley v. Am. Honda, No. 02A01-9704-CV-00086 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 29, 1997).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(b)(l): 2 cases
Montgomery v. Wyeth, 540 F. Supp. 2d 933 (E.D. Tenn. 2008).
Delano v. Abbott Labs., 908 F. Supp. 2d 888 (W.D. Tenn. 2012).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(c): 2 cases
Damiean Devon Tolson v. John E. Herbison, No. M2020-01362-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 12, 2021).
John Howard Story v. Nicholas D. Bunstein, No. E2015-02211-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 9, 2016).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(c)(1): 10 cases
John Howard Story v. Nicholas D. Bunstine, 538 S.W.3d 455 (Tenn. 2017). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (c)(1). Later, in response to the defendant attorneys' motion for summary judgment, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs' remaining claim, determining that the claim was also barred by the statute of limitations.”
JRS Partners, GP v. Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl, LLC, No. 3:19-cv-00469 (M.D. Tenn. May 22, 2023).
Hamid Houbbadi v. Kennedy Law Firm, PLLC, No. M2022-01166-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 9, 2024).
Mut. Work Comp Solutions, LLC v. BaronHR, LLC, No. 3:23-cv-00223 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 29, 2025).
Outpost Solar, LLC v. Henry, Henry, & Underwood, P.C., No. M2016-00297-COA-R9-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 29, 2017).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(c)(2): 2 cases
John Howard Story v. Nicholas D. Bunstine, 538 S.W.3d 455 (Tenn. 2017). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104 (c)(1). Later, in response to the defendant attorneys' motion for summary judgment, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs' remaining claim, determining that the claim was also barred by the statute of limitations.”
Damiean Devon Tolson v. John E. Herbison, No. M2020-01362-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 12, 2021).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(c)(l): 1 case
Allied Waste North Am., Inc. v. Lewis, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C., 93 F. Supp. 3d 835 (M.D. Tenn. 2015).
Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(d): 1 case
First Cmty. Mortg., Inc. v. Appraisal Servs. Grp., Inc., 644 S.W.3d 354 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2021).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.