Today, the Albany Times Union shared an article explaining a piece of legislation which would alleviate liability for local small businesses; bowling alleys. The bill states that if proprietors place signs warning of the dangers of wearing bowling shoes outside, they would in turn be protected from the subsequent lawsuits from slip-and-falls. This is a very common sense measure which would increase personal responsibility and decrease lawsuits in our state; however, not surprisingly, there is one group in opposition to this being passed, the New York State Trial Lawyers.
An excerpt:
“Amid fears that increasing numbers of plaintiffs are “bowling for dollars” through slip-and-fall lawsuits, operators of New York’s bowling alleys hope a legislative proposal will spare them some grief.
Trial lawyers, however, say the bill crosses the foul line when it comes to a person’s right to sue.
…
Word of the proposed legislation was news but not a surprise to Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, which fights what it characterizes are a plague of frivolous lawsuits. He notes that New York has twice the number of lawyers per capita, about 84 per 10,000 people, than the national average of 40 per 10,000″.
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