How Effective Is A Waiver Of Injury Liability?

Law Blog

If someone gets hurt and thinks your organization is responsible for the injury, but they signed a waiver of release of liability, they may actually be in luck. These waivers aren't always upheld, and it will really depend on a couple of factors.

Your State

There is a lot of state variability in how closely a waiver is upheld. Some states have a high precedent of honoring liability waivers. Other states are willing to take a closer look at the language of the waiver and the circumstances surrounding the injury.

The Amount of Negligence

The best chance someone has of upturning a signed waiver is when the facility showed a lot of recklessness in managing the event or activity that you participated in. Say you went jetskiing and got hurt. If you are participating in a sport or activity that inherently involves some risk, a liability waiver stands to make you responsible for the risk you're taking by participating. But if the company provided you with a faulty jetski, that's not something that you expected or calculated into the amount of risk you were taking. And the facility is especially on the hook if they knowingly provided faulty equipment or had a record of poor maintenance on their equipment.

The Clarity of Language

Any waiver contains language about the specific situations where liability is waived; let your lawyer read the contract to see if all of your business situations are included.

The Structure and Explicitness of the Waiver Document

And finally, the actual location, size, and general visibility of the waiver can be considered. If someone signed a document with the words "waiver of liability" largely printed at the top of the page, there's less of a chance that they can claim they didn't know they were signing away their rights to sue. But if the language is in small print at the end of a lengthy document that includes lots of other information, then a personal injury attorney could argue that they unintentionally signed away their rights. If they mistakenly glossed over a waiver of liability, there is still some chance that they'll be able to pursue legal action.

In summary, since there are plenty of ways to get around having signed a waiver of liability, it's a good idea to choose a personal injury attorney and discuss your case with them. As an organization, always choose to print custom forms that are tailored to the situations your business might face; specificity and clarity are the best ways to prevent claims. For more information, contact a business such as American  Legal Forms.

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14 July 2017