Case Brief: New York upholds release for negligence claim with purchase of paraglider

(Jun 30, 2008) -- Chieco v. Paramarketing, Inc., 228 A.D.2d 462; 643 N.Y.S.2d 668; 1996 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6617 A New York court has upheld a release signed when the plaintiff purchased a paraglider. The $4000 purchase also entitled the plaintiff to lessons at the defendant’s facilities. The court granted the defendant’s motions for summary judgment on three different counts, release, Assumption of the risk based on the written documents, and assumption of the risk because paragliding is a relatively dangerous sport. Read Full Story...

College successfully defends student high altitude fatality

(Jun 9, 2008) -- This case is a mixture of legal issues regarding the relationship between a student and the university. The court does not dwell on whether the deceased was a student, a volunteer, or a guided guest. The court seems to determine the relationship was between a guide and a client. The deceased student in this case volunteered to be part of a study in Nepal. He became ill and came back to the U.S. where he eventually died. His parents sued the college for his death. Read Full Story...

Foreign corporation must stand trial in Colorado for ski clothing product liability claim

(May 30, 2008) -- Alliance Clothing Ltd. is a longarm jurisdiction case. The legal question raised ponders whether the courts of Colorado have the right to subject the defendant, Alliance, a Hong Kong company, to the jurisdiction of the Colorado courts for a product liability case. Read Full Story...

Court confirms retailer is part of the product liability chain in a lawsuit

(May 12, 2008) -- Fronckowiak-Kelm is a very short New York appellate case that succinctly describes how retailers are part of the liability chain in product liability cases. In Fronckowiak-Kelm the plaintiff was injured when the quick release on her bicycle failed, causing her to be thrown her over the handlebars of her bike. Read Full Story...

Indiana ski binding case instructive on product liability law

(Apr 14, 2008) -- Indiana product liability law is controlled by statute which severely limits the defenses available to a defendant in a product liability case. Here the retailer and manufacturer were sued for injuries when a ski binding failed to release. The plaintiff had signed a “sales slip” which contained release language when she picked up the skis; however the sales slip containing the release was only effective against one of the three claims of the plaintiff. Read Full Story...

Legal Issues in First Aid #3: The prescription drug conundrum

(Mar 31, 2008) -- Everyone wants to be prepared, which is the motto the Boy Scouts have been promoting for almost 100 years. Every person who takes a first aid case wants to be a savior, to bring a person home alive, to rescue the dying and give the near-dead a second chance at life. Even more, no one wants to feel “if they had only”, they might have saved someone. To meet those personal needs, some first aid instructional programs have started training beyond what is defined as first aid. First aid providers are marketing themselves by saying they teach more than anyone else in the field. That includes teaching the use of prescription drugs and invasive procedures. Many Wilderness First Responder (WFR) programs teach that carrying prescription drugs into the woods is ok or even required to meet the standards of the industry. However industry standards, no matter how well-meaning, cannot violate the law. Read Full Story...

Warning labels found to be inadequate in climbing harness that was improperly clipped in

(Mar 17, 2008) -- Anaya v Town Sports International, Inc., et al., 2007 NY Slip Op 7875; 2007 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10819 In this case a manufacturer (Petzl) sold climbing harnesses to a New York-based climbing gym. A gym employee attached a beginner climber to the harness using a gear loop rather than the normal tie in points. The beginning climber fell and was injured. Even though Petzl had the requisite warning label on its harness, and even though it is common knowledge among anyone with any experience as a climber that tying into a gear loop is not safe (as the climbing gym employee did), the company became party to the lawsuit once an appellate court decided that the warning labels on the harness, which have been used in several other industries, were not adequate to keep the harness manufacture out of court. Read Full Story...

Will those confidentiality statements at the bottom of emails hold weight in a court of law?

(Mar 17, 2008) -- We’ve all seen it at one time or another on the emails that come across our computer. A glaring warning statement that reads: “This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the intended recipient, are confidential, and may be privileged.” Weighty words, but will they stand up in a court of law when push comes to shove? To understand the court’s final verdict about email confidentiality statements, we first need to understand what confidential and privileged communications are and the differences between the two. Read Full Story...

Challenge course product liability case from injury at Boy Scout camp instructive

(Mar 14, 2008) -- Carrel vs. National Cord & Braid Corporation Even though this case includes the Boy Scouts, a summer camp, a challenge or COPE course and Project Adventure and is a product liability case, the case boils down to a simple defense: Was the user a knowledgeable or sophisticated user of the product? As a knowledgeable user, not a sophisticated user, the injured party cannot win a product liability case against the manufacturer. Read Full Story...

Motion to Dismiss throws out claim against ski area for skier hitting a light pole

(Feb 12, 2008) -- Rayeski v. Gunstock Area/Gunstock Area Commission, 146 N.H. 495; 776 A.2d 1265; 2001 N.H. LEXIS 103 Rayeski v. Gunstock Area/Gunstock Area Commission is a short and simple case that examines the New Hampshire statutes dealing with skiing and ski areas and concludes the defendant did not owe the plaintiff a duty after he was injured skiing into unpadded light pole. The plaintiff was skiing late in the afternoon around 4:30 PM when he struck an unpadded light pole on the slope. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims against the ski area which was granted by the trial court. A motion to dismiss is a motion filed before an answer is filed by the defendants because the plaintiff has failed to make a legally recognizable claim in the plaintiff’s complaint. Read Full Story...

You can only go to court once with the same defendants and facts

(Feb 6, 2008) -- Schoeps v. Whitewater Adventures LLC and Mark Gholson, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1387 This case was quickly dismissed by the court because the defendants were able to raise and prove the defense of Res Judicata. Res Judicata (Latin for a matter already judged) is a legal term meaning this is the second time the legal arguments and facts are being plead by the same plaintiffs and defendants. Because we have gone through this argument once, the law says you cannot be forced to go through it again. Once a case is settled or tried and the appeals have ended or been decided the case is over forever. Read Full Story...

All kinds of dangers lurk worldwide for American travelers

(Jan 21, 2008) -- Aron Sobel had four days to see Turkey before coming home to graduate from medical school. The 25-year-old from Potomac, Md., had a guidebook listing sights to see and things to do but no advice on the dangers of traveling by bus. On May 3, 1995, a speeding Turkish bus crashed in a ravine, killing Sobel and 22 others. Since then his mother, Rochelle Sobel, has forged a network of bereaved relatives who lobby the State Department to warn American travelers about international risks of the road. Read Full Story...

College loses suit by parents of deceased student from snow skiing class

(Jan 11, 2008) -- This case points out two important issues of importance to the outdoor recreation and ski industry in the U.S. The first is to always get a release signed. The second is statutes that limit liability always have holes that a good plaintiff’s lawyer can exploit. For that reason, always get a release signed. In this case the parents of a college student who died in a ski accident in a for credit class on a ski hill owned by the college were successful in beating a motion for summary judgment against the college, even though New Hampshire has a skier safety act. Read Full Story...

Sports Authority artfully disentangles itself from a product liability lawsuit

(Nov 16, 2007) -- Alexander v. The Sports Authority, Inc., et al., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43317 This case explains how a retailer was able to successfully remove itself from a product liability case without damaging the case or the defenses of the manufacturer of the product. In this case The Sports Authority and Schwinn were accused of negligence and product liability in a bicycle accident case. The allegations were a little stretched for those of you in the cycling industry; however you can see how these same allegations could be used effectively in the future if not properly prevented. Read Full Story...

Non-participating spouses signatures on releases are essential

(Sep 16, 2007) -- How many signatures should you have on a release in an ideal scenario? The perfect answer is “all of them” but “not too many.” Allow us to explain. “All of them” means all members of the family and “not too many” means no one else but the family members. However the reality of life is 99 percent of the time one signature of the person undertaking the activity is going to be all you get. But that 1 percent of the time it may be important to get a non-participating spouses signature as well to avoid legal headaches down the road. Read Full Story...

Arizona allows a parent to sign away a minor’s right to sue for equine activities

(Aug 21, 2007) -- Arizona now allows a parent to sign a release on behalf of a child for equine activities under the Arizona Equine Liability Act ARS § 12-553(A)(2). A release will not apply to protect against willful, wanton or intentional acts or for gross negligence. Read Full Story...

Alaska enacts law allowing parents to sign releases

(Aug 16, 2007) -- Earlier this year the Alaska legislature enacted Alaska Stat. § 09.65.292 (2007). This statute allows a parent to sign a release on behalf of their minor child for participation in sports or recreational activities. Alaska now joins Ohio, Colorado and California in allowing a parent to sign a release for their minor child. Read Full Story...

Attacking Industry Standards

(May 15, 2007) -- One of the most annoying issues faced by many defense attorneys are expert witnesses who highlight an alleged industry standard-that does not exist. This article will focus on some key steps to verify if alleged standards exists in the sport, recreational, and athletic fields. The article is based on serving as an expert in numerous cases and listening to or reading testimony from alleged experts who claim that a standard exists and are proud to highlight which organization produced the alleged standard. They possibly thought that if it is published, it is a standard. The problem with such an approach is that numerous alleged standards in the industry are inaccurate or not followed. Read Full Story...

Assumption of Risk and Inherent Risk in Higher Outdoor Education

(Apr 16, 2007) -- The pedagogical and philosophical underpinnings of adventure to education are nearly as old as recorded history. Plato wrote in the Republic that youth should learn the cardinal virtues of wisdom, bravery, temperance and justice through adversity and adventure. Plato argued that young people could learn lessons about virtue best by impelling them into adventurous situations that demanded that virtues be exercised. Kurt Hahn and Paul Petzoldt carried the concept further and fathered Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School respectively in the mid-twentieth century and which, in turn, begat outdoor and adventure education. Read Full Story...

In the News: No criminal charges will be filed against BOSS, UK climbing gym fall, adult volunteer charged for injuries to Scouts, Dartmouth College sued for student death following ski outing, and much more....

(Apr 12, 2007) -- In the News: No criminal charges will be filed against BOSS, UK climbing gym fall, adult volunteer charged for injuries to Scouts, Dartmouth College sued for student death following ski outing, and much more.... Read Full Story...