2020 Tennessee Code
Title 28 - Limitation of Actions
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 28-1-105. New Action After Adverse Decision — Contractual Limitations Periods

1. If the action is commenced within the time limited by a rule or statute of limitation, but the judgment or decree is rendered against the plaintiff upon any ground not concluding the plaintiff's right of action, or where the judgment or decree is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, and is arrested, or reversed on appeal, the plaintiff, or the plaintiff's representatives and privies, as the case may be, may, from time to time, commence a new action within one (1) year after the reversal or arrest. Actions originally commenced in general sessions court and subsequently recommenced pursuant to this section in circuit or chancery court shall not be subject to the monetary jurisdictional limit originally imposed in the general sessions court.
2. In the case of a contract which limits the time within which an action arising out of such contract must be brought, if such action is commenced within the time as limited by the contract but the judgment or decree is rendered against the plaintiff upon any ground not concluding the plaintiff's right of action, or where the judgment or decree is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, and is arrested, or reversed on appeal, the plaintiff, or the plaintiff's representatives or successors, as the case may be, may, from time to time, commence a new action within one (1) year after the nonsuit, dismissal without prejudice, reversal or arrest.

Code 1858, § 2755 (deriv. Acts 1715, ch. 27, § 6; 1819, ch. 28, § 3); Shan., § 4446; mod. Code 1932, § 8572; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 28-106; Acts 1985, ch. 344, § 1; 1989, ch. 225, § 1.

Compiler's Notes. Acts 1989, ch. 225, § 2 provided that subsection (b) applies to all nonsuits, dismissals without prejudice, reversals or arrests entered on or after May 2, 1989.

Cross-References. Monetary jurisdiction of general sessions court, §16-15-501.

Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), § 780.

Tennessee Forms (Robinson, Ramsey and Harwell), Nos. 1-13.01, 1-41.01-4.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 4 Tenn. Juris., Automobiles, § 36; 10 Tenn. Juris., Eminent Domain, § 66; 11 Tenn. Juris., 18 Tenn. Juris., Limitations of Actions, §§ 40, 44;  24 Tenn. Juris., Vendor and Purchaser, § 10; 26 Tenn. Juris., Workers' Compensation, § 13.

Law Reviews.

10 Significant Differences Between State and Federal Civil Procedure, 38 No. 7 Tenn. B.J. 27 (2002).

Adaptation of Program of Procedural Reform to Tennessee Practice (Walter P. Armstrong), 15 Tenn. L. Rev. 614.

Champerty as We Know It (R.D. Cox), 13 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 139 (1983).

Civil Procedure — Appeal and Nonsuit — Inconclusive Dismissal, 34 Tenn. L. Rev. 511.

Conflict of Laws — 1956 Tennessee Survey (John W. Wade), 9 Vand. L. Rev. 940.

Counterclaims, Amendments, Relation-back and the Statute of Limitations, 9 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 441.

Labor Law and Workmen's Compensation — 1959 Tennessee Survey (Paul H. Sanders and J. Gilmer Bowman, Jr.), 12 Vand. L. Rev. 1231.

Limitation of Actions — Broadening Scope of Tennessee Saving Statute, 32 Tenn. L. Rev. 326.

Nonsuits Don't Necessarily Save You (Donald F. Paine), 25 No. 1 Tenn. B.J. 28 (1989).

Nonsuits IV: An Updated List of Don'ts (Donald F. Paine), 39 No. 2 Tenn. B.J. 15 (2003).

Procedure — 1963 Tennessee Survey (William J. Harbison), 17 Vand. L. Rev. 1108.

Real Property — 1963 Tennessee Survey (Thomas G. Roady, Jr.), 17 Vand. L. Rev. 1124.

Savings Statutes v. Statutes of Repose: A Decision Is Reached with Cronin v. Howe (Philip E. Mischke), 32 No. 1 Tenn. B.J. 21 (1996).

Sex, Lies and Nonsuits (Donald F. Paine), 29 No. 5 Tenn. B.J. 17 (1993).

Statute of Limitations — Tolling of Statute by Suit in Court without Jurisdiction, 9 Tenn. L. Rev. 200.

Survey of Civil Procedure in Tennessee — 1977, II. Selecting a Proper Forum (John L. Sobieski, Jr.), 46 Tenn. L. Rev. 273.

Survey of Civil Procedure in Tennessee — 1977, IV. Pretrial Procedure (John L. Sobieski, Jr.), 46 Tenn. L. Rev. 308.

Tennessee Annexation Law: History, Analysis, and Proposed Amendments (Frederic S. Le Clercq), 55 Tenn. L. Rev. 577 (1989).

The Category of Tough: Nonsuits III (Donald F. Paine), 34 No. 5 Tenn. B.J. 16 (1998).

The Tennessee Saving Statute, 29 Tenn. L. Rev. 287.

Title by Adverse Possession in Tennessee, 5 Vand. L. Rev. 621.

Torts — 1956 Tennessee Survey (John W. Wade), 9 Vand. L. Rev. 1137.

Voluntary Dismissals and Nonsuits in Tennessee (Clinton H. McKay), 15 Tenn. L. Rev. 787.

Workers' Compensation Outline (Paul Campbell III), 18 No. 3 Tenn. B.J. 11 (1982).

Wrongful Death Actions in Tennessee (T. A. Smedley), 27 Tenn. L. Rev. 447.