Montana: A Lawyer's Challenge

[Joane Pappas White <Lyoness@Castlenet.com>]

Ridecampers,  

Last week I accidentally mismailed to you a note intented for my riding
instructor about accidents in Eventing.  Many of you emailed to say you
appreciated the information.  That information seems particularly
significant in light of the Montana accident. The point of the article
forwarded by my instructor was that the Eventing world needed to
evaluate their accidents and seek solutions or they could find their
sport at great risk from liability suits.  

I have been reading your responses to the Montana accidents carefully. 
Like all people, you are being affected by the presentation of facts. 
As each new fact has been introduced, your evaluation of the accident
has changed. This is why juries are instructed not to allow themselves
to reach any conclusions until all the facts are in and until they have
been fully instructed in the law by the judge.  

  
How many of you read the Montana Equine Liability Statute before you
thought about lawsuits or claims?   I would encourage you to do so and
then we can continue this discussion, not to establish responsibility or
to discuss the specific people as that is counterproductive, but in the
format of a hypothetical case, let's explore how the statute affects
each group of people involved in an equine accident. I think you will be
surprised by the outcome of this process and I know your thoughts on how
to avoid similiar accidents will be a benefit to our sport.

The statute can be found at:  http://www.equispec.com/statute/mt.htm

Print it out so you can refer back to it as we discuss issues.

Joane Pappas White
Attorney at Law 
Price, Utah


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