Legal Question in Business Law in Indiana

Re: Personal Protection Liability

I presume you meant civilians? You can get a commercial general liability insurance policy to cover any negligence. A waiver agreement would also be a good idea. It would be in the form of a general release. I could work one up for you it you would like. Give me a call 219-340-3890 and we can discuss your needs.

Re: Personal Protection Liability

Your status as a sworn police officer would not offer any LEGAL protection when your are the agent of a private party. Even if you did not do anything wrong, you would definitely be in the line of fire as far as liability lawsuits are concerned. So you should contact an insurance agent for business insurance, which will cover your litigation expenses, whether you are at fault or not. As a practical matter, juries, judges, prosecutors and other police officers tend to give a lot of leeway to police officers, but they are not required to do so. Your government employer, in the event of any lawsuit, would probably be included as a co-defendant, which has both good and bad points for you: good, that the government attorneys will also be throwing sand in the face of the plaintiff; bad, that your employer will look at you like a bucket of fresh manure.

As far as written waivers are concerned, they are sometimes worth the paper they are written on. But no waiver between you and an employer would stop a plaintiff's lawyer (like me)from pursuing you personally. So your best peace of mind is insurance.

Re: Personal Protection Liability

While obtaining the proper liability insurance and waivers are a good start, you should also consider incorporating. This will also serve to help insulate you personally from the business and claims. As it would seem this would be a small company, you would also wish to consider obtaining a sub s classification from the IRS. This would give you the benefit of the corporation as mentioned while avoiding the normal corporate tax. It would be regarded as a pass through.