Mike Schoonbrood and I have been training together now for about 6 months here in the Orlando area. We are also looking for other working dog enthusiasts in the central Florida area with which to train. However, I am concerned that I might be held liable in the event my dog would bite a new helper in an unprotected area. My thought is to have any new "members" sign a waiver with indemnifies all of us from responsibility. I'm NOT an attorney and I understand that waivers don't mean that I can't be sued and or that I can lose such a suit in the event I am blatantly negligent. However, I am surmising that a good waiver would protect my assets in the event of an accidental bite not precipitated by gross negligence on my part. Being that I don't know any of this to be a fact I am asking for your input and would be most appreciative of anyone who might be willing to provide me with any waivers they are using for their clubs. Thank you.

Our club has insurance for that very reason.(the waiver thing) If you and Mike are the ones working the dogs, then I would get something to cover yourselves. I would also be very carefull about who you let work dogs. Many people will tell you how great they are, and then they jam your dog, and tell you it is a weak piece of crap while you are looking for that pipe you just know you left in the car for this very reason. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> There are many nice people out there, but there are a LOT of idiots that will screw up your dog/training just to make themselves look good.

We have sportsman's insurance for our club. I believe they require a waiver to be signed.

That is such a state specific question as the law of negligence varies somewhat between various states. In law school future attorneys learn common law along with modern majority and minority rules so that we can more easily learn the individual state law where we sit for the bar examination. However, it is not until a future attorney begins to study state law for the bar exam that they become aware of how that state addresses waivers. So, even though someone like myself has a law degree I can’t tell you what the law is like in Florida, because I’m too busy learning the law up here in Michigan. LOL.

I will tell you this though you need to find out whether your state is one that offers the defense of comparative negligence or contributory negligence because this will tell you a great deal about how far a waiver will go to protect you. In a common law contributory negligence state any contributory negligence will be a strict bar to recovery by the plaintiff. However, most states that adhere to contributory negligence have mitigated the harshness of that doctrine by the so-called “Last Clear Chance” rule. If a plaintiff is successful in establishing that the defendant had the last clear chance to avoid injury to the plaintiff, the plaintiff will have a full recovery despite his or her own contributory negligence. How states apply the “Last Clear Chance” rule varies greatly between states.

The great majority of states these days adhere to a form of comparative negligence where the plaintiff is allowed to recover for his or her damages reduced by the percentage of negligence contributed to the plaintiff. Once again how comparative negligence is applied varies greatly between the states with some taking a modified comparative negligence and some a pure comparative negligence approach.

Assumption of the risk ( volenti non fit injuria) differs somewhat from contributory negligence and has by some states been used as a separate defense. Here a waiver would be excellent proof that the person assumed the risk of being injured by a dog or by other physical activity related to dog training. The defense requires that the plaintiff knowingly entered into, or stayed in, a position of danger (ie. protection training). The problem with the defense of assumption of the risk becomes that it has become disfavored and in some cases abolished all together by some courts or by statute. Many comparative negligence states have also abolished assumption of the risk as a separate full defense, and merge the conduct that formerly constituted assumption of the risk into comparative negligence.

So, are you seeing why someone like myself, on the internet (as smart as I would like to think I am) is pretty much no good to you? The only one who can really answer your question about waivers is an attorney licensed in your state. Also be aware that waivers have to be drawn up very carefully as they have to be both precise, using language borrowed from state statute and/or controlling court cases, and very broad so that they are not too narrowly construed against you in a court of law. I have years of education and experience working in the law and it takes me considerable time to draw-up waivers or other various contracts that I’m comfortable with. Constructing a proper waiver is not easy.

My advice would be to look into a type of dog sport insurance and have your club members pay to cover the cost of that insurance

An Addition to the Above.

In the above I was assuming that the waiver or release form was its own seperate document. If however, the release is part of a provision of a contract it may be held to release liability for injuries in certain states.

A pre-injury release provision in a Contract for Schutzhund training (ex. a contract that offers training the offeree's dog in exchange for money) may be enforceable in some states to the extent that it is purported to release the trainer or club from liability for ordinary negligence. However, most states will not allow such a contract provision to release the trainer or club from grossly negligent conduct.

The key to whether a release provision will be accepted is whether the state has ruled that it does not violate public policy. The only way to know whether a state has found such a provision not to be a violation of public policy is to check Court decisions (ie case law) or in rare cases statutes that address such issue.

So,

If you have a waiver/release (also known as exculpatory agreements) provision from civil liability in your contract you can move for a declaratory judgment as to the contract to enforce it in order to protect you from civil liability. If the contract or the provision therein is found unenforceable as against public policy than it can still be used as evidence of assmuption of the risk in some states.

Keep in mind that, of course, the waiver or release provision will not bar liability in suits based on wanton misconduct (ie. I sick my dog on you for purposes of causing injury).

Hope that makes it clear. A mix of two areas of the law contracts and torts come into play.