Liability Waivers and Actual Liability

Many activities commonly engaged in by individuals require any hopeful participant to sign a liability waiver before being allowed to participate. These waivers have become increasingly common in our society as a hopeful deterrence against lawsuits in the event of an accident. They typically hold the location “harmless” for any and all accidents or injuries that occur on the premises.

In many cases, the liability waiver that is signed by a participant was not written by an actual lawyer but probably came from a friend or from a form book. The owner of the premises believes that the liability waiver is something of a magical shield protecting the premises from any lawsuits. While this sounds nice, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

The enforceability of the waiver can vary on a number of factors and so could actually be quite meaningless in the face of a filed lawsuit. Overall, the waiver’s validity and enforceability largely rely on the actual words of the waiver as well as the requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In simple terms, any liability waiver is a meaningless piece of paper without the proper words and compliance with state laws.

Working against the favor of any liability waiver is that they are typically not favored by law in general. They are seen as an extraordinary method of shifting the risks of the premises negligence away from the negligent party and onto the injured party. Liability waivers are contracts that agree to remove the common law duties that would have existed between the parties without the waiver.

Overall, liability waivers are not an automatic waiver of an individual’s rights to file a lawsuit after an injury occurs. They may help in some circumstances but are not fool proof and do not completely strip a person of his or her rights all the time.

Contact a Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured in an accident after signing a liability waiver, contact the Philadelphia personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 215-238-1130 to discuss your rights and the validity of the waiver.