Some ‘Party Animals’ Can Put the Bite on a Host’s Pocketbook

You’re a spirited, gregarious, generous person who wants to give a big holiday or New Year’s party for all your friends. You have the good sense to know you shouldn’t get your guests drunk and turn them loose on the streets.

But also knowing that this is a litigious society, you want to protect yourself against other potential liability claims from guests.

What to do? Personal injury lawyers say you must be alert to hazards when you play host to parties in your home.

Despite your enviable accident-free record in your own house, there’s no end to the ingenuity visitors can show in injuring themselves--from slipping on wet floors, to falling down stairs, to turning bottoms up on frayed, loose or torn carpets. They fall over skateboards, lamp cords and tablecloths. They fall into Christmas trees, fireplaces and swimming pools. They put their hands through doors, windows and shower doors.

Even when they walk out the front door, you’re still not home free. Sometimes guests fall off sidewalks or suffer criminal attacks on the way to their cars.

John Hill, a Los Angeles lawyer who defends insurance companies in personal injury suits, says he handled a case in which a couple took marijuana cookies left from a party and put them in the refrigerator, where, two days later, the cookies were eaten by a 14-year-old baby-sitter. The sitter, temporarily hospitalized in a mental ward, claimed to have “psychological problems that altered her life.” And the resulting settlement, Hill says, was more than $100,000.

This is not to say party-goers should be required to sign legal release forms when they enter the door at an event, says Bruce Krell, a San Francisco lawyer specializing in negligence and tort law.

Claims Are Rare

Personal injury claims against homeowners are rather rare, especially when compared to automobile accident claims, says Tom Smith, director of liability claims for Farmers Insurance. And most guests are gracious if they trip, slip or are otherwise hurt at a party.

Far from blaming a host, Hill says, guests tend to say, “Gee, I was clumsy. I had too much to drink. I don’t even want to talk about it.”

But there are some people who are more mercenary, he notes. And when they trip, their first thought is to “find a phony doctor to treat them and a lawyer to press the case against the person who was so nice to invite them to the party in the first place.”

With friends like these, the truth that a guest fell off her own high heels or ate so fast he choked on a drumstick may not be enough legal protection, Hill notes, adding, “They will argue that ‘No one knew the Heimlich maneuver (to help a choking victim). No one called the paramedics. They didn’t arrive soon enough . . . and my husband passed away and left me with five kids.’ They hardly ever say, ‘I’m sorry you’re not covered.’ ”

Even when guests initially are disinclined to sue, if they have injuries requiring medical attention the matter may end up in court without anyone really wanting it to.

Hill recommends that hosts protect against potential problems by carrying homeowner or renter insurance--at least $250,000 in personal liability, and even $500,000 or $1 million; the more extensive coverage usually is available at relatively small additional cost.

Claims Can Escalate

It’s also important that when guests make claims that they are turned over to an insurer. Some people don’t do this, fearing their rates will increase or their policy will be canceled, says Smith of Farmers Insurance. But this is a dangerous, unnecessary practice, given that seemingly insignificant claims can escalate over time.

Policyholders also neglect to turn in claims because they assume they’re uncovered--another mistake in light of court rulings that tend to favor them over insurers, Smith and Hill agree.

Insurers, Hill says, often will defend policyholders in borderline cases for fear “the courts will take their heads off” and award a policyholder millions of dollars in punitive damages if unfairly denied a claim.

As for drinking, parties and hosts, a 1979 state law and a 1981 California Supreme Court decision generally make most hosts secure from damages resulting from liability claims.

Serving Drugs Is Out

But as with all matters of the law, such protection is not absolute. Jim Mosher, a lawyer and program director for the Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, says liability still may exist if a host served an obvious drunk, someone under age or a guest known to have “a potential for violence when he drinks.”

“Serving cocaine and marijuana are clearly negligent,” Mosher notes. “You would be opening yourself up to liability, for sure.”

Of course, the best protection against a damage award is to never give anyone an excuse to sue you in the first place; even when fully covered by insurance, defendants in liability claims still face headaches--time lost, other inconveniences and potential credit problems.

To keep holiday bashes merry, hosts should ensure that their dwelling is in good condition--no badly lighted stairs or loose treads. Stairs should have secure handrails. It also pays to be sure your address is clearly visible from the street, so guests won’t get their cars rear-ended while stopping to make out the numbers on your door.

Ham Made Them Sick

Krell, the San Francisco lawyer, says he knows of a case in which a host had a brick sidewalk in front that was safe and dry in summer, but which became hazardous in winter when the rains caused moss to grow on it. In another case, says Hill, some dinner guests won a small settlement when they claimed that a ham their host served was improperly refrigerated and made them sick.

The bottom line, the most important thing that hosts can do to avert potential legal cases is to exercise common sense and good judgment, says Los Angeles trial lawyer Joe Kleinberg, who notes: “Keep roller skates out of the living room. Don’t provide guests with shotguns to shoot off at midnight.

“And remember what the California Supreme Court once said about a drunk who fell in a hole in a sidewalk: ‘A drunk is as much entitled to a safe sidewalk as a sober person and much more in need of it.’ ”