Law suits

[ninjanurse]

Contracts and liability releases don't stop someone from suing you if they want to. Been there personally, and while the outcome was in my favor, it was an experience that reminded us all of the inherent risks we all take just walking out our door in the morning much less stepping into a dojo. Your students aren'e even safe from other students.Unfortunately we live in a society were many put themselves before others...not what we as martial artists are used to in most respects. Our hope is that we can impact our students lives enough to help them become the kind of people we strive to be every day.

[tkdBill]

Contracts and liability releases don't stop someone from suing you if they want to.

That is so true. Even though you may eventually prevail in court because you have the liability release, it can cost a lot of money and time to go through the process of defending the lawsuit. Unfortunately, you cannot just go up to the judge and show him the release and you're done. You actually have to have lawyers, hearings, and arguments about the validity of the release, etc.

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[solar_kid]

You know, I wonder if any lawyer would recommend an arbitration clause in the initial membership agreement for MA schools. So many banks and other institutions are including clauses for that in their contracts. Essentially, if a suit is filed, either party can move the case into an arbitration setting, which is usually a lot faster and less expensive than going through the court system. I've heard that the arbitration route tends to also promote compromise solutions, and doens't tend to result in a defendant paying exorbitant damages.