Lawsuit isn't what you think

It's a knee-jerk world. Jumping to conclusions ought to be an Olympic sport.

I'm pretty good at it. Take the other day. I was reading the competition when a headline caught my eye: "Woman who lost thumb wake-surfing sues sis."

The article explained that a woman who lost her thumb after her hand got tangled in a rope while wake-surfing filed a lawsuit against her sister and brother-in-law for not providing adequate equipment in their boat. The rope that severed her thumb was meant for wakeboarding, not wake-surfing, the suit contended.

What a world! I thought.

I envisioned a commentary about our increasingly out-of-control, over-litigious, sue-happy, run-over-grandma-if-it-means-money society.

I had the column half-written in my head.

Then I called the injured woman's attorney.

The attorney's name is Dustin Lance, a personal injury lawyer in Salt Lake.

His client is not the bad guy here, said Lance. The bad guy is the insurance company that covered the boat and is refusing to pay a claim.

He explained that the company can't be sued without first suing the people it insured — in this case, that would be the owners of the boat the thumbless woman wake-surfed behind, namely her sister and brother-in-law.

Only if they are found negligent in court can the insurance company be ordered to pay damages.

As Lance pointed out, the one and only reason the boat's owners took out an insurance policy and paid its premiums was to cover injuries and damages arising out of unforeseen accidents.

They are sick about what happened, he said. They wish they could wave a magic wand and their sister and sister-in-law could get back her thumb. They wish they had provided the right kind of rope.

They also freely and honestly admit they were negligent — and want the injured party to have her medical expenses covered by the insurance policy they paid for.

"They're saying, 'Please, sue us."' says Lance.

The only way the insurance company would not be liable is if the injury occurred as a result of the inherent risk involved in the activity, as opposed to negligence that could have been avoided.

Attorney Lance is confident he can prove negligence over inherent risk.

"They violated the cardinal sin of wake-surfing — they used the wrong kind of rope," he says.