What is a good word-for-word liability waiver for 2 people who agree to fight it out? If I challenge someone to a fight, I would want to have all of my bases covered, right? What’s used in throwdowns to protect participants?
Thanks for your time!
V/R
Myn
Death match waiver, preferably via body-cam.
What good is paper in the digital age?
Get it on camera, bro.
[QUOTE=Pship Destroyer;2943208]Death match waiver, preferably via body-cam.
What good is paper in the digital age?
Get it on camera, bro.[/QUOTE]
Paper is great for a lawsuit - in the digital age paper is easier, faster, and more reliable to back up than webcam footage due to file size, ease of duplication, etc. Not to mention that terms would be very explicitly spelled out leaving no room for misconception or for adverse legal action.
Thanks for your input!
V/R
Myn
There are not a lot of places in the US where you can agree to fight legally, documents or not. You can spar at a gym if they allow it, and they will have to agree to your ruleset. You can enter a match of some sort. You can’t change some flavor of assault into something else by getting the participants to agree to it, or else dueling would be legal.
[QUOTE=ermghoti;2943211]There are not a lot of places in the US where you can agree to fight legally, documents or not. You can spar at a gym if they allow it, and they will have to agree to your ruleset. You can enter a match of some sort. You can’t change some flavor of assault into something else by getting the participants to agree to it, or else dueling would be legal.[/QUOTE]
Yeah but BJJ and Judo gyms are cheap and plentiful. Good MMA gyms are expensive but plentiful.
What more do you need.
If Kung Fu Deathmatch is your thing, I’m sure there’s a venue for that. Or whole cities like Seattle. Chacun son gout.
That’s what I was getting at. Get to a MMA joint or hop a bus to SEA.
Something like this is interesting to look at - http://www.iscfmma.com/LiabilityWaiver.pdf
What are the conditions under which fighting is legal? Is it having an event? A sanctioning body? What constitutes an event? Who provides a sanctioning body with authority? How hard would it be to get that authority? Etc. Etc.
Would be wonderful to get a legal perspective on this, I’m definitely no attorney though I’m familiar with paperwork 
Thanks everyone for your comments, thoughts, and feedback!
V/R
Myn
I was asked to do a waiver. I’ve really stopped acting as lawyer for the site, when I stepped down from staff in 2013. Please find a well written waiver used in your particular state and go with it.
[QUOTE=Sam Browning;2943229]I was asked to do a waiver. I’ve really stopped acting as lawyer for the site, when I stepped down from staff in 2013. Please find a well written waiver used in your particular state and go with it.[/QUOTE]
Thank you Mr. Browning,
Is a waiver all that’s needed in all states to remove liability, or just in some of them? Which additional requirements do you know of to protect participants from legal consequences?
Thanks so much for your time,
V/R
Myn
[QUOTE=ermghoti;2943211]or else dueling would be legal.[/QUOTE]
Mutually agreed upon combat is legal in some areas. I remember the “Superhero” Phoenix Jones here from Bullshido fighting a drunk asshole while a couple cops watched and ref’ed it.
[QUOTE=Myn;2943232]Thank you Mr. Browning,
Is a waiver all that’s needed in all states to remove liability, or just in some of them? Which additional requirements do you know of to protect participants from legal consequences?
Thanks so much for your time,
V/R
Myn[/QUOTE]
Varies state to state and sometimes, depending on the situation, no waiver will help you.
[QUOTE=BackFistMonkey;2943235]Varies state to state and sometimes, depending on the situation, no waiver will help you.[/QUOTE]
What do martial arts gyms have then that allow sparring? What specifically allows sanctioned fighting in these states?
V/R
Myn
insurance.
and shit … I can’t remember the term but it applies to sky diving, scuba and other extreme sports/hobbies too. It assumes the person being instructed understands that the activity is risky and could result in harm or death.
Well as a general principal a waiver cannot make illegal activity legal. For example a waiver would not make dueling or death matches legal.
While a sporting event MMA type waiver would work in most states and under most conditions I refuse to say the word “all states” because I don’t practice in all states. Only in Connecticut.
I’ll have to avoid the other questions since refreshing my recollection concerning this portion of the law would take hours, and I’m already overcommitted to the Seth Rich thread.
Sorry, I stopped providing free legal advice to strangers years ago.
[QUOTE=BackFistMonkey;2943238]and shit … I can’t remember the term but it applies to sky diving, scuba and other extreme sports/hobbies too. It assumes the person being instructed understands that the activity is risky and could result in harm or death.[/QUOTE]
It’s called the assumption of the risk doctrine, and while fairly predictable, I’m sure at least several states have limited it extent. And no, I will not be doing free research on this topic.
[QUOTE=Sam Browning;2943242]It’s called the assumption of the risk doctrine, and while fairly predictable, I’m sure at least several states have limited it extent. And no, I will not be doing free research on this topic.[/QUOTE]
Giving him the title gets him(/her?) closer to the knowledge than I managed to do. So yeah, you are still an invaluable treasure and resource to have around. Even if you don’t mean to be.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHa
[QUOTE=Sam Browning;2943242]It’s called the assumption of the risk doctrine, and while fairly predictable, I’m sure at least several states have limited it extent. And no, I will not be doing free research on this topic.[/QUOTE]
Your input is always appreciated - you’re a wealth of information on this forum, and I for one am really glad that you’re still here 
V/R
Myn
So, I will, since I am not currently a practicing attorney, provide SOME free advice, not legal though, just from experience and research with the law.
The assumption of risk doctrine applies fairly commonly to most martial arts and contact sports across the board, and in 2013 the California Supreme Court even extended it further to include certain other activities. HOWEVER, there is a GIANT caveat that you need to be aware of with regards to assumption of risk: It ONLY applies to those risks that a reasonable practitioner of that activity could and should foresee happening within the scope of the activity.
So for example, in Judo, leglocks are illegal in competition and generally forbidden in randori, so damage to someone’s leg from a too fast heel-hook because people were playing around that day, would not be covered under assumption of risk. The liability waivers most insurance companies have MA schools issue are an attempt to expand that assumption of risk to cover ANY POSSIBLE foreseeable injury. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s why you have insurance.
Former insurance company employee and long time martial artist here, that’s my 2 cents on it. Take it for whatever it’s worth.
[QUOTE=BackFistMonkey;2943238]and shit … I can’t remember the term but it applies to sky diving, scuba and other extreme sports/hobbies too. It assumes the person being instructed understands that the activity is risky and could result in harm or death.[/QUOTE]
Those sorts of waivers usually have wording on them to the effect you just described. I know the ones I sign(ed) for Judo do.
The other thing about waiver, and this is from the perspective of running tournaments (Judo).
The waiver protects, to some degree, for example, the tournament director, referees, etc, that are members of the sanctioning organization, plus other’s named on the sanction application (insurance).
But it only protects them if an accident was due to something other than negligence.
For example, if I’m the referee, and there is a big gap in the tatami, and I don’t stop the match to fix it (or notice it before the match starts), then that waiver won’t be worth a damn…
Because negligence on my part.
If two guys are in a match, and one gets injured due to the normal application of Judo, then no negligence involved.
No sort of waiver will stop you from getting sued, and all the funtastic stuff that goes along with that.