lawyers, legal issues and contracts...oh my!

[5flagsaudio]

I recently found myself in a situation where a technician at a venue destroyed my Neumann USM-69. The repair bill is $2350. The venue requires that their technicians handle rigging because their insurance only covers them up on ladders on in lifts. After some discussion, the venue decided they were "not negligent" and will not pay for the repair of the mic. As, up until that point, I was a trusting individual and had no contract stipulating such things, it looks like I'll have to foot the bill. To prevent this from occuring again, I decided I need to have a contract for such circumstances. How do you find a lawyer with experience in matters of our business?

[hughesmr]

I'd suggest that if you are going to hire a lawyer, hire one to sue the technician and venue for damages and court costs.

[joelpatterson]

The insurance that covers the technicians on ladders and lifts doesn't cover what they destroy when they're on the ladders and lifts?

[PoorGlory]

The cost of repair is significant. Sue the venue. The venue forced you to have their guy do the rigging and he ****ed up, therefore the responsibility is on the venue.

[staudio]

Originally Posted by PoorGlory

The cost of repair is significant. Sue the venue. The venue forced you to have their guy do the rigging and he ****ed up, therefore the responsibility is on the venue.

Go for it.

[KingDaddyO]

IANAL, but FWIW here's my .02 cents : I absolutely agree that if you are going to hire a lawyer, it should be to go after them. You can always do a form later (Nolo Press is great for this kind of DIY stuff). The good news however, is that you don't need to hire a lawyer. The damages are under 5000, and in most jurisdictions, that falls into Small Claims Court.

The only thing you need to effectively represent yourself in SCC, is to be pissed at the defendant. Ok - 2 things you need, the other being a well prepared case. Time line, detailed notes (he said, she said), asset values (receipts if you have them, are very important), written repair or replacement quotes, pictures (before & after), and so on. You don't need to agree with their 'findings' or whatever implications or intimidations they try to foist onto you. The fact that they required you (by some legal maneuver, mumbo jumbo, or implied threat) to transfer some of your responsibilities as a service provider, directly to their technical representative(s), should be sufficient proof in a small claims court, that a) the responsibility for 3rd party assets & property (which they de facto accepted, by mandating it in the first place) lies directly and completely upon them, in addition to b) their negligence during the handling of said property, and c) the subsequent post-period wherein they continue to exacerbate the damages already suffered by you, in the form of stress and financial uncertainty ... should paint them sufficiently as the low life scum that they are, who now need to make this right in a high profile kind of way.

Good Luck & Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

[MadTiger]

If your location was in your profile, it would be easier to help you along.

It is an open and shut small claims court case, really.

[Remoteness]

I would fight this situation.
At least do anything and everything you can until you get your contracts straight and the proper insurance for your equipment.

[Shadow_7]

Not that I have any experience in such things. But based on my auto accident and other party insurance that mirrors your venue. Insure your gear. When it gets broke, file a claim on your insurance. And let them take care of the lawsuits. Assuming you find decent insurance at affordable prices. In my instance uninsured motorist only covers personal injury, not property loss. One of the fine print things they don't tell you at time of purchase, or when you move to another state.

But I agree, go for it. But then again if it's your main employment you might be better off just eating the costs, and using less expensive (or more indestructable) gear next time and adjusting your rates vs. risk costs appropriately. If you're never going to use the venue again, then you don't have much to loose by going for it. And plenty of ways to return some of the hell they're giving you.

[Al Rogers]

You don't hire a lawyer to sue for that amount of money. Not worth it.

First, show "good faith" while you create a paper trail. Write letters. If you talk on the phone, follow it up with a letter confirming the details of the conversation. Be polite. Be nice. When you get your repair bill, then bill the venue--everything in writing. If they still won't pay, take them to Small Claims Court.

Chances are that when they realize you are going to pursue the matter they will reconsider and want to work it out with you.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and have never played one on television. This is friendly advice, not legal advice. If you are not savvy in these matters, an attorney should be willing to advise you on how to sue in Small Claims Court. You can also talk to a clerk at the Court and find out what the procedures are.

Good luck.

-Al

[5flagsaudio]

Thank you all for the advice so far. To clarify, it isn't my intention to hire a lawyer to go after this venue. It is, rather, my intention to have one draft up some sort of contract covering me for any future engagements with anyone.

Regarding insurance, I saw a thread on here about it before. From my reading, and checking some of the companies mentioned, it is my impression that it's either very expensive, or hard to find insurance for unspecified locations. While I do record certain groups in the same venues over and over, mostly I find myself at different recital halls and churches for different groups.

What are your experiences on this front for those of you that are from venue to venue?

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by 5flagsaudio

What are your experiences on this front for those of you that are from venue to venue?

What were those posters back in the day... "This house has no bomb shelter. Peace is our only security."

I just keep a real watchful eye on everything I bring, none of which is really worth financially all that much... it's not nothing, it wouldn't be nothing to lose, but realistically if I escaped in my car from a concert, I could live to record another day.

[Indrestudios]

I feel for you, having your gear damaged gear really stinks - and in my experience, almost always ends in finger pointing and bad blood.

I'm curious, did the client request this particular mic? I'm guessing this was a classical gig? How exactly did it get damaged? Dropped from the lift? fell from the truss?



-MC

[5flagsaudio]

Originally Posted by Indrestudios

I feel for you, having your gear damaged gear really stinks - and in my experience, almost always ends in finger pointing and bad blood.

I'm curious, did the client request this particular mic? I'm guessing this was a classical gig? How exactly did it get damaged? Dropped from the lift? fell from the truss?



-MC

It was a classical gig, and the mic was my choice. According to the tech, he rotated the top of the mic at which point the top of the mic assembly came off and the capsule assembly fell out (since the mic was being hung upside down). He claims to have caught the assembly, and I did see fingerprints on the diagphram.

[Indrestudios]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a venue that will sign a contract like your proposing. The last thing they want to do is be responsible for a third party's equipment. I'm thinking that if they won't let you hang this $5k mic personally, you should probably look for a new mic position that you're comfortable with.

We carry general business liability insurance (a mic falls on someone), as well as comprehensive loss insurance (a mic gets run over by a truck). Yep, it's a big check to write each quarter, but in my opinion the only option for me to get a good night's sleep - knowing we're covered on all ends.

Steve can chime in about the scope of gigs that actually require folks like us to have this type of coverage.

-MC

[bove]

Originally Posted by Indrestudios

We carry general business liability insurance (a mic falls on someone), as well as comprehensive loss insurance (a mic gets run over by a truck). Yep, it's a big check to write each quarter, but in my opinion the only option for me to get a good night's sleep - knowing we're covered on all ends.

Steve can chime in about the scope of gigs that actually require folks like us to have this type of coverage.

-MC

I'm interested in what other freelance/small recording business folks do about possible accidents on the job at various venues. Is it typical to carry some type of insurance?

I'm thinking about situations where someone manages to tangle themselves up in your mic stand, fall, and smack their head into your fancy preamps.... and then sue you for hurting them.

[fifthcircle]

Get insured.... Both Liability and equipment and get somebody good who understands what we do.

This year, one of my resolutions was to finally get good insurance for my business. I called Joe Montarello at the Recording Studio Insurance Program through Peerless Insurance.

I could not be happier that I did. I'm now completely covered for both equipment and liability. And talk about service.

One of their coverages is for computer problems. I had a disc die on my main studio machine last week. I sent it to a data rescue place (drive savers who did a great job saving my @$$), but the bill was steep (over $5K). I filed a claim with them, I was covered with no complaints and a couple days later, I had a check in hand for all but my deductible.


--Ben

[Indrestudios]

thumbsup for Joe Montarello. He has handled our insurance for the past couple years - Business and Commercial Auto. Great guy and knows the ins and outs about our goofy industry.