The tragedy at Six Flags Over Georgia recently has made local and national headlines.
A man lost his life. A family is grieving. And there is still a great deal we don't know about what happened or why.
But here's something we do know: Six Flags includes a mandatory arbitration provision in its ticket terms and conditions. It also includes broad liability waivers that purport to release the company from responsibility for injuries and deaths, even those allegedly caused by its own negligence.
Whether those provisions are enforceable in this situation remains to be seen. I expect those issues could be vigorously litigated (in Georgia, liability waivers cannot release claims for gross negligence).
But this tragedy highlights a much larger problem. Corporations routinely require consumers to surrender their right to a jury trial as a condition of doing business with them.
As trial lawyers, we should be fighting against these practices. Which brings me to something I find deeply disturbing.
Personal injury law firms whose business is built around protecting injured people from powerful corporations are using the same legal mechanism corporations use to keep those people out of court.
How can you criticize corporations for taking away consumers' rights to a jury trial while defending the same practice when it benefits your own law firms?
The right to a jury trial shouldn't be something we champion only when its profitable for us. It should be a principle we believe in. Even when protecting that principle means giving our own clients the right to hold us accountable.
As trial lawyers, we should call this out and try to put a stop to other lawyers doing it. And we certainly shouldn't be glazing over the firms that engage in these anti-consumer practices and promoting them.
What do you think? Join this and other conversations with me on LinkedIn.
