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ddircksen

What if I need a skydiving lawyer?

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After reading a lot of the posts on here and having been in the States for 2 years now, I've come to realise that sooner or later I'm gonna need a lawyer.
Let's pretend the following happens:
I do a jump, open normally at 3.5K and as I open up someone else who's under canopy flies into me. We get entangled, I get loose and live to jump again. The other guy/gal isn't that lucky.
The scary thing is, this scenario has been described a few times before.
What I'm wondering is: If the family of the deceased jumper sues me, who do I call? If you answered Ghostbusters, have a beer.
In all seriousness, are there lawyers out there who defend jumpers? Do they understand the sport and the risks involved? Or do I get some whuffo and try to explain to him/her what happened?
Not that I'm fatalistic or anything, would just rather be prepared ;).

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I'm going to disagree with the notion that sooner or later you will need a lawyer. I've been around a looooong time, and know very, very few people that needed one. In fact, I cannot think of even a single person. Sure, DZ's need one occasionally, but a plain vanilla skydiver won't.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

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You can invest in a premier membership and do a user search looking for lawyers who are members of dropzone.com.

Or someone at your dropzone will know.

I've never needed one.

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I have never needed a lawyer for any skydiving-related matter in the 25 years I have been jumping. That said, my father, who has been jumping for twice that long and runs a DZ has needed one and it was very expensive for him to defend his dz and assets even though he and his plane/equipment/instructors had no part in the incident.

It's pretty common for DZ's to have to fight off frivilous lawsuits launched by angry, grieving parents/loved-ones of people who have done something wrong. It's not that common at all for an individual skydiver to be involved in something like that, unless he is the one suing for his own stupidity.

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In fact, I cannot think of even a single person



I know of one.
Quote


It's pretty common for DZ's to have to fight off frivilous lawsuits launched by angry, grieving parents/loved-ones of people who have done something wrong


I wouldn't agree that it is all that common. But it does happen.
I am not aware of an incident that has held up in the courts.








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This is a crappy data point, because I do not know any details at all, but I know there is a jumper at my dz who has been around a LONG time who was a defendant in a lawsuit over either a low altitude canopy collision or even a landing jumper vs. landed jumper collision. I think this happened way back in the good old days, but I really don't know.

Wow, rereading this it is a friggin useless post.

So to summarize, I heard that this guy got sued for something at some point in the past. You can quote me on that.

Brent

----------------------------------
www.jumpelvis.com

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Most standard homeowner's insurance policies (or renter's insurance policies, if you rent your home/apartment) provide general liability coverage which should cover any claim or lawsuit against you (the policyholder) accusing you of harming a person and/or damaging their property due to your own negligence, regardless of whether the incident occurred on or off of you home’s premises (except in a motor vehicle accident, for which you need auto insurance). Many people don’t realize that their homeowner’s/renter’s insurance covers them for off-premises incidents (not including auto accidents), but it usually does. Example: you’re walking down a city street and drop a banana peel on the sidewalk. Joe Pedestrian slips and falls on it, gets hurt and sues you. Your insurance should probably cover you for that, AND hire and pay for a lawyer to defend you. So, unless there’s some kind of exclusion in the policy that wouldn’t cover you for a negligence claim arising out of a skydiving or aviation accident or something like that, I’d think most homeowner’s/renter’s insurance policies should cover you for the “example incident” you described.

As far as getting a lawyer, whenever you get sued for anything, you should immediately notify your insurance company and forward them a copy of the lawsuit. In most cases, as long as your policy covers you for the claim, they will provide a lawyer to defend you at their expense. Will it be a “skydiving lawyer”? - No, very likely not. But it will be at their cost, and unless money is no object for you, you can’t beat that. (P.S. if you’re willing to pay for one, you’re allowed to hire your own “private” lawyer to back up or partner with the insurance company’s lawyer, but in most cases (there are certain exceptions in some states like California) your own private lawyer will be at your own expense.)

===============

Chuck: Re: a DZ/DZO having to spend a lot of money to defend against a claim, I’m sorry to hear that happened. If there was no insurance that covered the claim (and I realize private insurance can be very expensive & difficult to get), that’s one thing. But if there was insurance in place I would have hoped the insurance carrier would have paid for an attorney to defend the claim, and I’d be curious to know why they didn’t.

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I am one. I know of the existence of maybe 10-20 others in the UK alone... I suspect there will be significantly more in the States... in fact I met one last time I was out there.

I also think that statistically speaking; you are highly unlikely to ever require the services of a lawyer arising out of your skydiving activity. It is far from the certainty you seem to have concluded it is, in fact I suspect it's actually a very small risk indeed when compared to the risk you are assuming in performing the jump itself.

Additionally, lawyers are regularly involved in litigation surrounding activity in which they have no personal experience. For example, I have never worked as a banksman or dug a trench using a JCB... but that doesn't stop me being perfectly competent to argue a case in court involving a banksman who has been injured by a JCB.

Lawyers have to be good at turning their mind to activities with which they have no personal experience - it's a huge part of their job. Besides, this is the very reason courts make use of expert witnesses – it's their job to fill in the blank spaces in the Court's experience, not the advocates.

Any competent lawyer should be able to ask the right questions of an expert witness irrespective of their personal field of experience. If they can't then perhaps they are not as competent as they should be, for that is the very thing they have been trained to do.

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I've been jumping for more than 25 years, with about 22 years of instructing, and never needed a lawyer for any skydiving related accident.

You should relax. If the need ever comes up, a good basic lawyer should be fine. If you want an aviation lawyer you could check with your local DZ's to see who they use.
Tom Buchanan
Instructor Emeritus
Comm Pilot MSEL,G
Author: JUMP! Skydiving Made Fun and Easy

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Doesn't USPA 3-rd party insurance cover you against most claims you'd have to worry about? I don't know about a collision with another jumper, that seems like a 2-nd party or something. Of course, you should also have health insurance in case you mess yourself up. That, and try to avoid colliding with or killing someone.

Added: Why can't you just wait to hire a lawyer once you need one? Is there an advantage to having one before the incident happens?
BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

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Added: Why can't you just wait to hire a lawyer once you need one? Is there an advantage to having one before the incident happens?



I don't think so, but it is nice to know where to turn if something did happen. I was just wondering what the procedure was if something should happen, but my paranoid heart has been laid to rest thanks to all the replies.
Seems most of the risk lies with the DZ in any case. :S

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I would say lay off the cocaine at sunset and the paranoia will ease away slowly....

but seriously for all you folks who talked about grieving parents...it is in my will that my parents get nothing and all the money goes to the USA Team fund should my parents sue :-P and then they get nothing and they know it fully...

ANd that was after explaining to them why I came back to the sport after my acicident...

Cheers

Dave
http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

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I would like to add to the comments of the good barrister from across the pond.

Quote

lawyers are regularly involved in litigation surrounding activity in which they have no personal experience.



True dat! There is a good reason for this. There are four elements to prove for an ordinary negligence case: 1) duty; 2) breach of the duty; 3) causation; and 4) damages. These elements are the same for whatever negligence case you have. Car wrecks, malpractice, etc. Including skydiving. Just apply the facts to this.

Any reasonably proficient attorney would be good for this. A skydiving attorney might be a little cheaper because experts won't have to explain everything to him.

Everything he wrote is dead on.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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If you ever need an aviation attorney, check with AOPA on their website. It's a good organization for anyone with an interest in general aviation. They deal with issues from medicals (important for TM's & jump pilots) to airport acess and lots in between.

With all of that said, I hope you never have need of an attorney for skydiving, especially as someone bringing a suit. That would be a damned shame.

Lance

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ddircksen

After reading a lot of the posts on here and having been in the States for 2 years now, I've come to realise that sooner or later I'm gonna need a lawyer.
Let's pretend the following happens:
I do a jump, open normally at 3.5K and as I open up someone else who's under canopy flies into me. We get entangled, I get loose and live to jump again. The other guy/gal isn't that lucky.
The scary thing is, this scenario has been described a few times before.
What I'm wondering is: If the family of the deceased jumper sues me, who do I call? If you answered Ghostbusters, have a beer.
In all seriousness, are there lawyers out there who defend jumpers? Do they understand the sport and the risks involved? Or do I get some whuffo and try to explain to him/her what happened?
Not that I'm fatalistic or anything, would just rather be prepared ;).



www.dropzonelawyers.com

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meatbomb1984


www.dropzonelawyers.com



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Kendrick is licensed to practice law in New Mexico and the federal courts*, holds a USPA A License, an FAA student pilot certificate, and serves on the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council.



I'm sorry, but an A license and a student pilot certificate do not equate to experience in the aviation world.

What kind of cases have you taken in relation to skydiving and aviation?
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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Re: "For litigation pending in other jurisdictions, the firm gains court admission on a pro hac vice basis and works with local counsel."

Are common people expected to know what "pro hac vice" means?

Oh, and the banner image contains truncated wording...

[inline Capture.jpg]

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theonlyski

***
www.dropzonelawyers.com



Quote

Kendrick is licensed to practice law in New Mexico and the federal courts*, holds a USPA A License, an FAA student pilot certificate, and serves on the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council.



I'm sorry, but an A license and a student pilot certificate do not equate to experience in the aviation world.

What kind of cases have you taken in relation to skydiving and aviation?

I've handled aviation matters ranging from multi-fatality aviation crash litigation involving manufacturers, air ambulances, general aviation operators, and schools to aircraft leases and insurance claims disputes. I teach classes to other attorneys on the law of liability waivers in the mountain west, I've defeated several injury lawsuits filed against dropzones in New Mexico and Colorado, and I drafted a bill currently working its way through the New Mexico legislature designed to grant complete tort immunity to drop zone and sponsor jump operators where the accident relates to an inherent risk of the sport. But I'm just here to answer a question. There are plenty of very capable skydiving attorneys. Call someone else--I'm stocked up on dickhead clients.

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I would never hire a lawyer that claims DROPZONE
LITIGATION DEFENSE and has a picture of a paraglider under that wording on their home page. Perhaps an ambulance would be more appropriate. They are obviously clueless.
Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

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I'm curious where this picture in the bottom right, the 10-way, from the Dane Law website came from.

The reason I ask is that I'm the guy at 9 o'clock, black and green suit. I remember this jump. The fellow with the blue suit and red helmet was making his 100th.

Going to the Dane Law website now does not show this picture.

Anyways, just curious how this picture ended up on this website.

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