Legal Question in Personal Injury in Wisconsin

Skateboarders in our church parking lot

Hi:

I am a Deacon at a local church where we've had a recent increase in the number of local area teens who use our parking lot for skateboarding without our permission. Our parking lot is remote enough, and has enough challenging obstacles, so that it really attracts the interest of these kids. If one of them should get injured in our parking lot, could we be held responsible in any way? Are there any other legal issues that we should consider relating to this?

Thank you in advance for your answer.


Asked on 5/09/02, 6:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael End End, Hierseman & Crain, LLC

Re: Skateboarders in our church parking lot

I just handle medical malpractice cases, so your request is a little outside of my area of practice. However, I think that you should be OK as long as you prohibit skateboarders from using your property for their activity and as long as a skateboarder is not injured by some hidden danger that you knew about and did not repair or remove. The theory of law that might come into play in your situation is called "Attractive Nuisance". My memory of that theory from my law school days is that you could be found liable if you maintained a dangerous place that lured children to trespass and use it. If such a child were injured, that child might conceivably have a claim. I assume that you have adequate liability insurance coverage. You might want to speak with your insurance agent about your potential liability to the skateboarders. You may call me if you would like to discuss this further, although, as I have stated, this is really beyond the scope of my usual practice.

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Answered on 5/09/02, 2:17 pm


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