legal
Think You Will Never
Be Sued? Think Again!
By Randy Hughes
aka Mr. Land Trust
S
A family sues the Weather Channel
for not forecasting the storm during
which a family member on a fishing
trip drowned.
A man sues six bars and liquor
stores and the electricity company
because of injuries he sustained
when, while drunk, he climbed over
a fence with a locked gate and scaled
an electrical tower. A burglar sued the store he broke into
(and won a judgment) because he fell
through the suspended ceiling while break-
ing in, and injured himself.
The owner of a company settled a slip
and fall claim from one of his employees.
The next week he was sued by 11 other em-
ployees who happened to “slip and fall.”
A wealthy doctor was sued by his girl-
friend because she developed a cold sore on
her lips after going out on a date with him.
He settled for $50,000 and immediately be-
gan implementing an asset protection plan.
A fireman brings suit against an investor
for knee injuries brought upon him when
kicking the door down to respond to a fire
alarm call to the fire department.
A woman brings a liability suit against
an emergency room doctor, alleging while
the doctor was using a tongue depressor to
examine the back of her throat, that he stuck
his tongue into her mouth. The complaint
actually read as such.
Recently the New York Times ran an
article entitled, “Lawyers Who Sue to
Settle.” The article pointed out that there is
a sub-species of lawyer that exists solely to
“blanket the business world with hundreds
of lawsuits at a time, often making claims
that appear fanciful, even absurd.” These
lawyers make their money on settling cases
prior to trial (cases that they never intended
to go to trial), paid by defendants that want
to make the lawsuit “just go away.”
These lawyers call themselves, “bounty
hunters.” One interviewed lawyer said that
it is his “job to go out there and hunt these
people down.”
One critical part of a defense system
is to buy the proper liability and property
insurance.
It is better to have more coverage than
needed. A little tip as well --- the broader
the contract language in your insurance
policy the BETTER position you are in at
time of interpretation. The courts are typi-
cally more in favor of the insured’s position
rather than the insurance company if the
Realty411Guide.com
ome people are
interested in living a
quiet life unobstructed
by others. They have
few assets and just
want to be left alone
by the “sharks” in the
world. Receiving a phone call during
the dinner hour soliciting magazines
is considered an invasion of their
privacy.
Other people have substantial
assets to protect. They own busi-
nesses, investment property, live
in nice houses, have teenagers that
drive, drive expensive cars and hire
employees.
Most of the time when you think
about asset protection you can’t ex-
clude privacy issues. While becom-
ing more private is relatively easy,
protecting your assets is not. In fact,
if your goal is to protect your assets,
you MUST become more private.
In this article I am going to discuss
both Privacy and Asset Protection
as if they were one in the same. It is
my opinion that you should integrate
privacy and asset protection tech-
niques into your daily life in order to
be more successful at living free.
Still Think You Will
Not Get Sued?
PAGE 80 • 2014
language is ambiguous. Better safe than
sorry, right!
More Insurance Tips
to Remember
1) If insuring property make sure all
buildings are listed. Don’t forget to list
the shed or out building on the property.
2) If buying liability coverage, make
sure the wording is from a Commercial
General Liability policy form (provided
in most states by the INSURANCE SER-
VICE OFFICE general forms). You don’t
want a PREMISES LIABILITY policy or
form of coverage provided by an Excess
& Surplus Lines class of insurance
company.
Now that you have all the insurance
that you can afford, realize that this is
NOT enough to protect you and allow
you to sleep well at night. Insurance
policies are full of “exclusions” (read:
you have NO coverage). And, once your
Limits of Coverage are exceeded, your
insurance company will bow out of your
claims. You will be on your own to de-
fend yourself in court and pay any judg-
ment above your insurance policy limits
(assuming you even have coverage).
Continued on pg. 106
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