Lawyers

[rhu]

The kids went to a close friend's birthday party today at a local kids' gymnastics place. But I was somewhat put off by the fact that in order to let the kids participate, we had to sign a liability waiver that read, in part (I've elided most of my ellipses because they made it unreadable):

I hereby voluntary [sic] release [name of facility] from any and all liability including those allegedly attributable to the negligent acts or omissions of [name of facility] or their staff, including but not limited to paralysis, death....

Now, if we decide as a family to sign our kids up for a gym class, and we have the chance to read the waiver and include that in our decision-making process, that's one thing. But there is no way in hell that waiver could realistically be considered "voluntary." Not when the kids were looking forward to this party for weeks, and we were handed the forms as we walked in the door.

And the kicker is, the birthday girl's parents are both lawyers.

Comments

[sethg]

This looks like a classic example of a contract of adhesion.

[cellio]

Exactly what I was thinking. In Pennsylvania (don't know about elsewhere), I was once told by a contract lawyer, ambiguities in contracts of adhesion are judged in favor of the person signing it.

All that aside, though, it was rude of the parents to not mention this in advance so you could factor it into your decision to go.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Interesting. We've done a fair number of gym-party invitations, but I'd never heard about the waiver requirement. It's sad but I can kind of see both sides.

[introverte.livejournal.com]

Technically, we knew about it in advance - it was in the fine print of the pre-printed invitation.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

In the fine print on the back of the pre-printed invitation.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how relevent this is...but when I had my back surgery in my teens, they had me sign a bunch of waivers just before surgery.

And I mean that literally. I was on the gurney in a flimsy hospital gown, having been wheeled into the corridor just outside the operating room, when I met the anestheseologist. He introduced myself, and handed me a whole bunch of papers to sign, acknowledging that I knew the risks (like 1 in 300 that after the anesthesia I might have trouble with my voal cords) and the like.

Now, the fact is that I wanted the surgery, and was of course fine with signing the forms. But I would have preferred to sign them in advance, and somehow I think that the hospital's liability would be even more protected if they let patients do that. Otherwise, I could have easily testified that I felt like I was signing under duress.

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if they would have noticed if you had crossed off "including those allegedly attributable to the negligent acts or omissions of [name of facility] or their staff,", and then signed the altered form.

Since I am not a lawyer, nor have I any direct legal experience with the consequences of such an action, I do not know if altering a boilerplate contract would be admissible in court, should the need arise.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_opus_/]

Er, that was me.

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

Best I've heard along these lines is when, recently, a good friend of mine was about to have emergency surgery. She was asked to read and sign a consent form comprising multiple pages of tiny text.

The surgery was to repair a detached retina.