Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

Re: liability exposure of throwing a party.

As far as the people attending are concerned yuou can design a "Waiver of liability" where all attendees agree not to sue for any cause of action arising out of negligence, another way to limit liability is to limite alcohol consumption, you can hand out tickets to participants so that after a person's tickets run out their service runs out. The more alcohol the more likely something bad is to happen. Of course, in all specifics, no waiver of liability will be effective as to occurances with respect to third parties who are not attending the function. Look into insurance.

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Re: liability exposure of throwing a party.

If the host group is simply friends inviting other friends, the liability will be on the tavern owner under the dram shop act. The facts determine the liability.

If it is a company or organization that is having a reception at a catering hall, they would have potential liability; the best way to avoid it is to obtain insurance.

You could also have a waiver of liability executed by the people who attend, however, to be enforceable it needs to be done properly.

Re: liability exposure of throwing a party.

What an interesting question. The members "might" have exposure for liability, but it depends on many different variables, particularly how the event is structured.

Whether there is a basis for liability or not, if someone gets injured while attending or not (remember, bars get sued by victims of drunk driving accidents), you can bet all possible parties will be sued. You must have insurance that will pay for your defense of the case, and further, will pay out any damages if somehow you are held liable.

NY tavern owners are liable for injuries arising out of conduct of illegally intoxicated individuals. This includes serving minors. But it's also illegal for a bar to serve an already visibly intoxicated person. If a person consumes a large quantity of liquor in a short period of time, the effects might not be visible for awhile, so it places the bartender in a tricky situation. But legally, the patron must be refused alcohol only if they are "visibly" intoxicated, which means there has to be evidence that they were slurring speech, stumbling, belligerent, glossy eyed, etc. at the time they were served. I just won a case where there was no proof of visible intoxication. It cost my client $40,000 in fees, but the plaintiff suffered brain damage and sued for millions. The lesson: Ensure that the bar has a "dram shop" policy of insurance and ask to see proof that hasn�t lapsed. Ask if the committee members can be added as additional insureds to the bar's dram shop policy just for the event. I assume if you are not a tavern owner, you probably can't get dram shop insurance, but try anyway. Most insurance requires extensive training for bar staff to maintain good standing.

If you can�t get dram shop coverage, the committee should have its own insurance, or each member an umbrella policy. Whether you obtain insurance or have existing insurance, make sure you review it with an attorney or insurance agent to ensure there aren't exclusions for these types of activities.

Make sure the bar will have somebody checking i.d. at the door, there will be adequate crowd control measures and bouncers. Make sure the bar is aware that visibly intoxicated patrons should be cut off, even if it may dampen your objective of selling more drinks to raise money. Ensure the bar is in control, and not the committee. The bar has the trained individuals to handle these types of events. If you staff the party with your own volunteers, you are inviting trouble and possibly negating the bar's insurance.

Have a contract with the bar describing some of these things and making it the bar's responsibility for added protection. One person I know actually hired an off duty cop to give breathalyzer tests to all drivers before they left his house to ensure nobody was driving while impaired. He had alot of house guests that night but it was a brilliant idea.