This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for personal injury in Tennessee, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a personal injury in Tennessee costs on average $4,050, typically $1,650-$8,100 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 6-12 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($200-$500) and medical records and bills ($100-$500).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $400 | $1,200 | $2,400 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $1,650 | $4,050 | $8,100 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $4,150 | $12,500 | $25,000 | 12-36 months |
Last verified: June 2026
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</script>Personal injury cost formation works differently from most other legal matters because the attorney fee is usually contingent — a percentage of any settlement or verdict rather than an hourly bill. That percentage typically rises if the case proceeds to litigation or trial rather than settling early, since more attorney hours and case costs are involved. If there is no recovery, the client generally owes no attorney fee, though case costs (filing fees, expert reports) may still apply depending on the retainer agreement.
Separate from the attorney's percentage, a personal injury case accumulates its own case costs: expert witness fees (medical experts, accident reconstructionists), records requests, deposition transcription, and court filing fees if a lawsuit is filed. Simple claims that settle directly with an insurer before litigation avoid most of these costs; complex cases involving disputed liability, multiple parties, or serious injury typically require the full expert and litigation cost stack.
Take a moderate-complexity personal injury matter in Tennessee. The recorded median total is $4,050, with reported quotes clustering between $1,650 and $8,100. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,800–$6,000, which leaves roughly $0–$2,250 of the Tennessee median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $4,050, the median personal injury cost in Tennessee runs 18% below the $4,928 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Tennessee carries 3 rows — simple, $400–$2,400 at $0–$0/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $1,650–$8,100 at $0–$0/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $4,150–$25,000 at $0–$0/hr over 12-36 months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures place it in the lower quarter of the table.
$4,050 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,400 above the $1,650 floor, $4,050 under the $8,100 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 28.
Sorted by median cost, Tennessee is 25th of 28 for a personal injury, placing it in the lowest-cost quarter of the table: $1,150 and 22% below the $5,200 midpoint, with 3 states recording a lower median still.
North Dakota ($4,050) and Nebraska ($3,900) bracket Tennessee inside a $150 window — narrow enough that 25th is close to arbitrary.
Only one other tracked state, North Dakota, records a median within three percent of Tennessee's $4,050 — a pairing rather than a cluster.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Wyoming | $4,850 | +$800 |
| 20 | Iowa | $4,800 | +$750 |
| 21 | Texas | $4,750 | +$700 |
| 22 | Idaho | $4,400 | +$350 |
| 23 | Kansas | $4,250 | +$200 |
| 24 | North Dakota | $4,050 | −$0 |
| 25 | Tennessee | $4,050 | — |
| 26 | Nebraska | $3,900 | −$150 |
| 27 | Alabama | $3,600 | −$450 |
| 28 | Arkansas | $3,500 | −$550 |
$0 up or $150 down moves Tennessee a row, and only 3 tracked states sit within ten percent of the Tennessee figure: 2 above it and 1 below. The position is comparatively well separated from its neighbours.
Climbing five places would mean passing Iowa, Texas, Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota and adding $750 to the $4,050 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas: $550.
$2,600 short of Hawaii ($6,650), $550 clear of Arkansas ($3,500).
The Tennessee moderate band spans $1,650 to $8,100 — $6,450 — which is $1,875 narrower than the peer-median band of $8,325, so quoted personal injury figures cluster more tightly here than in most tracked states.
Spread across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $4,050 median works out to roughly $450 a month. A complex personal injury runs longer, at 12-36 months, but it also runs hotter — about $521 a month — so the extra cost is not simply the extra calendar time.
| Measure | Tennessee | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $4,050 | 25th |
| Hourly median | — | — |
| Implied hours | — | — |
| Simple median | $1,200 | 26th |
| Complex median | $12,500 | 22nd |
Tennessee moves up the table as complexity rises: 26th at the simple tier, 25th at moderate, 22nd at complex, a 4-place climb. The state's position on the headline moderate figure understates where it sits once a matter is contested.
$1,200 is 26th of 28 on a straightforward personal injury, under Kansas ($1,200) and over Nebraska ($1,150), $400 under the $1,600 tier midpoint.
$12,500 is 22nd of 28 once contested, between Idaho ($12,750) and North Dakota ($12,100), $3,400 off the $15,900 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Tennessee: the simple tier reaches $2,400 where the moderate tier starts at $1,650, and the moderate tier reaches $8,100 where the complex tier starts at $4,150. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Tennessee | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,200 | 26th | $1,600 | — |
| moderate | $4,050 | 25th | $5,200 | — |
| complex | $12,500 | 22nd | $15,900 | — |
$1,200 drops Tennessee to 26th of 28 on straightforward matters, 1 below its moderate position and $400 (25%) under the $1,600 tier midpoint.
Kansas ($1,200) and Nebraska ($1,150) bracket it — a $50 window.
2 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $1,200, denser than the 1 around the moderate row.
$12,500 puts Tennessee 22nd of 28 on contested matters, 3 up on its moderate position, and $3,400 (21%) under the $15,900 tier midpoint.
Idaho ($12,750) and North Dakota ($12,100) bracket it — a $650 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $12,500 here, against 1 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Arkansas | $1,200 |
| 25 | Kansas | $1,200 |
| 26 | Tennessee | $1,200 |
| 27 | Nebraska | $1,150 |
| 28 | Alabama | $1,100 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Georgia | $14,000 |
| 21 | Idaho | $12,750 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $12,500 |
| 23 | North Dakota | $12,100 |
| 24 | Iowa | $12,000 |
In Tennessee a personal injury is 5th of 8 at $4,050, between Immigration and Bankruptcy. At 48% of Criminal Defense ($8,500).
The state does not rank uniformly. Tennessee is 25th of 28 for Personal Injury but 41st for Divorce, a 16-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 25th on personal injury says little about what the other lines cost.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Immigration runs 1% below its own midpoint, while Personal Injury runs 22% below its own midpoint — 21 percentage points apart. A single "Tennessee is expensive" or "Tennessee is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
The practice areas sit unusually close together in Tennessee — the largest tracked median is 4.6x the smallest, against 5.1x for the typical state — so one figure travels further across matter types here than it would elsewhere.
0 of 8 matter types rank Tennessee in the upper third, 4 in the lower, 4 between; personal injury is 25th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 11th percentile of the 28 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,150 | $8,500 | $26,900 | 32 | 40th | −17% | North Dakota |
| Divorce | $2,800 | $7,400 | $18,550 | 28 | 41st | −13% | Indiana |
| DUI / DWI | $3,000 | $6,550 | $16,350 | 27 | 35th | −12% | Indiana |
| Immigration | $1,600 | $4,700 | $10,650 | 19 | 26th | −1% | Michigan |
| Personal Injury | $1,200 | $4,050 | $12,500 | — | 25th | −22% | North Dakota |
| Bankruptcy | $1,250 | $2,950 | $4,100 | 13 | 38th | −18% | Wyoming |
| Real Estate Closing | $900 | $2,100 | $4,150 | 10 | 27th | −6% | Wyoming |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $500 | $1,850 | $5,400 | 8 | 33rd | −11% | Michigan |
Borrowing the wrong row. Nebraska ($3,900) is $150 light, North Dakota ($4,050) is $0 heavy — but the $5,200 table midpoint is out by $1,150, 8x the neighbour error.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Tennesseecourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.