Meeting News - August 11, 2008 - (Page 44)

chapter 1 2008 meeting planners handbook Points of Order: Reducing Legal Liability he most obvious way to reduce or eliminate legal liability is to delete (or at least tone down) any liability clauses in the contracts you sign.The hotel or convention center will, of course, initially try to tell you that it cannot budge on the liability clause. But if you are willing to walk away from the deal, the facility will often sing a different tune. If you are unable to eliminate the clause, there are at least three things you can still do to reduce legal exposure. First, make all exhibitors, contractors, and attendees at the conference sign an agreement in which they are obligated to indemnify your organization for any injuries or property damage arising Ben Tesdahl from their own actions.This language can be inserted into exhibitor agreements and also into any registration form signed by attendees. However, if the person has no money with which to pay the indemnity claim, the person may be “judgment-proof,” and the indemnity clause may not do you much good. T Second, consider putting reasonable restrictions on activities that may cause undue injury. For example, in the absence of a physician's statement indicating otherwise, you can probably restrict disabled patrons to normal electric scooters or similar devices that operate at a much slower speed than the increasingly popular Segway personal transporters. Even then, if you see exceedingly dangerous handling of an authorized mobility device, you may be justified in barring that person from the remainder of the conference in order to protect your organization from liability. Reducing the number of events at which a sponsoring organization serves alcohol will also go a long way in reducing liability exposure. Finally, check with your insurance broker to see if it is possible to get reasonably priced insurance that is broad enough to protect and defend the organization if it becomes contractually liable for exhibitors, guests, and other third parties beyond its control. Many insurance companies are going to be hesitant to insure against such a broad and unknown risk, but it is still worth looking into. ADA Contract Considerations It is critically important to ensure that your contract spells out the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) duties of the facility and of the organization that is holding the meeting. Yet, surprisingly, many organizations sign conference contracts with no ADA clause or a clause that places many of the most expensive ADA obligations on the organization and not the hotel. While there is no single ADA clause that will be acceptable to all conference facilities in every instance, a reasonable compromise clause that works well in many instances is the following: Hotel warrants that it is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and all regulations thereunder. Hotel will identify to Group, prior to acceptance of this contract, any ADA deficiencies that are "grandfathered" and that Hotel is not required to correct. The Hotel shall provide, to the extent required by the Act, such auxiliary aids and/or services as may be reasonably requested by Group for use in sleeping rooms and public areas of the hotel, provided that Group gives reasonable advance written notice to the Hotel of such needs. Group shall be responsible for the cost of any auxiliary aids and services (including engagement of and payment to specialized service providers, such as sign language interpreters) necessary for use in the meeting space used by the group, other than those types and quantities typically maintained by the Hotel. Hotel and Group will each indemnify and hold harmless the other from any liability arising from ADA violations that are the obligation of and are committed by the indemnifying party. A wide variety of other related contract provisions could be added, depending upon the number of disabled attendees, the nature of the event, and the size and sophistication of the meeting facility. The key is to plan ahead and get every important detail into the contract. Ben Tesdahl, Esq., is an attorney concentrating in nonprofit, corporate, tax, and contract law, including meetings and conventions law. He is with the law firm Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, PC in Washington, DC. He can be reached at (202) 466-6550 or at ben.tesdahl@ppsv.com. This article appears courtesy of sister magazine Successful Meetings. 44 MeetingNews August 11, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - August 11, 2008

Meeting News - August 11, 2008 Contents What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Inside the Meetings Industry Social Scene People Making News Hotels & Resorts Convention Centers CVBs International MN Webcast Report Southern Meetings Meeting Planners Handbook Destination Insider Advertisers Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - August 11, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.