Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: Legality of Teen Dances

You pose several issues, and I will deal with each briefly below. Overall, I suggest that you contact myself or another attorney who can help you to prevent what I see are a lot of future problems. The idea is to minimize your risk and exposure to lawsuits, while improving your business. A little bit of money spent on legal fees now will save you a ton later, when trouble does arise.

Regarding your profit. I don't know how often you through these parties, but you need to make sure that you are getting together with your CPA to make sure that you maximize deductions, pay proper income and employment taxes, as well as other particular tax issues that may confront you.

Intoxicated kids: If your security folks knew or should have known that kids they allowed in are intoxicated, and those intoxicated kids injure themselves or others while on premises that you rented or own, you may be liable, and you will be sued if there is a claim. The best thing you can do to minimize liability is to maintain insurance for these events. Your flyer advertising your events should also have warnings that a lawyer should go over to make sure they cover you as much as possible, and your tickets should be custom printed with warnings and disclaimers dealing with intoxication and other issues that are unique to your setting.

Last, in terms of licensing- YES! You need a license. You should also very strongly consider setting up a corporation to help with cash flow and business expense deductions, but more importantly, to limit your personal liability if anyone is injured at one of your events.

As I said in the beginning of this post, you should get in touch with an attorney to help you in each of these areas. I am happy to help you, and you should feel free to call or e-mail me anytime to set up a consultation.