Originally Posted by rickair7777
I hope you guys are kidding and are not actually that ignorant. I agree it is totatally ludicrous from the standpoint of fairness and reasonableness, but plaintiff's attornys are interested in only ONE thing and it's NOT fairness. Juries don't know sh*t about aviation, so they can be easily led astray. After all, every juror DOES know that all pilots are reckless thrill-seekers who endanger themselves and the public on a daily basis...
I'm not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice, just throwing out my thoughts here: If you're a starving CFI just starting out, don't worry about it. You'll get named in the lawsuit, have a $5 million verdict entered against you, but all you have to do is declare bankruptcy and get on with your life. They have to leave you with basic necesseties, so you get to keep your 1987 Honda civic and your TV set. It's older, more established folks who have houses and other assets who need to be VERY careful...
http://www.genebenson.com/Articles/liability_part_3.htm
http://www.geocities.com/cfidarren/r-cfiliability.htm
This article is interesting to me, because MY first solo cross-country could have ended in exactly the same manner due to unexpected reduced vis:
http://www.avweb.com/newswire/10_02a.../186416-1.html
Of the links you list, only one has a specific case of an actual lawsuit, and that entails a student pilot on a solo cross country. In that case, yes, you had better be VERY careful. Most flight schools and CFIs that I know have high weather minimums for solo cross country flights as the PIC is a "student" pilot, not a private pilot and the CFI therefore carries more responsibility.
Any specific examples of a CFI being held to task for a BFR or ICC sign off, or some other sign off for other than a student pilot? Again, I'm not looking for "I heard from a friend..." or "I read it might happen...", I'm looking for specific examples. Not to say you might not be the first, but this goes back to CFIs charging reasonable rates so they can pay for liability insurance.