Asking for a Monetary Judgment in the Original Complaint
Nothing in Tennessee civil procedure requires a plaintiff to sue for a specific dollar amount in the original complaint. In cases where you don't know the full extent of your losses at the outset, you can use this to your advantage. Simply ask for an amount in excess of the court's jurisdictional limit (i.e., "compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial but in excess of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000)").
However, a long history of Tennessee case law says that a plaintiff cannot recover a penny more than the amount specified in her complaint. See generally, Gaylor v. Miller, 166 Tenn. 45, 59 S.W.2d 502, 504 (Tenn.1933). You must amend the complaint to state a specific ad damnum amount before trial or moving for default judgment. Also, be wary of waiting until the last minute to declare an ad damnum – a trial court does not abuse its discretion by denying a motion to amend to substantially increase the ad damnum amount on the eve of trial. See Benson v. Tennessee Valley Electric Co-op., 868 S.W.2d 630 (Tenn. App. 1993).