Sign Me Up?: A Critique of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Approach to Pre-Injury Sports Liability Waivers in the Wrongful Death Context

Volume 93, No. 2, Winter 2021

By David L. Teklits [PDF]

It is settled law in Pennsylvania that contracts waiving a party’s right to recover for the other party’s own negligent acts are generally enforceable if they meet certain criteria that follow general principles familiar to most first-year law students. Until recently, however, Pennsylvania courts had not considered whether this liability waiver might also serve as a complete defense to a spouse’s separate wrongful death action, despite her failing to sign it. This Note will examine this issue through the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent split decision in Valentino v. Philadelphia Triathlon, LLC, which resulted in affirmance of the lower court’s ruling upholding the liability waiver.

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