RSE Conditions of Participation Doc Review by U.S. Lawyers
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 6:53 am
HI GUYS,
I have read with some interest "The RSE Conditions of Participation Document" and whilst I am not a lawyer and have had no legal training I did study "Law of Contract" in Australia as a prelude to obtaining my Real Estate Licence - I am not suggesting for one moment that Australian Law is similar to U.S. but I would be surprised if it differed all that greatly where contracts are concerned.
It would be interesting to have a U.S. Lawyer address the following points so that those students who are having some reservations relating to their ongoing participation in the school are not being intimidated or duped into believing that JZ can legally prevent them from speaking out about their experiences....
In Australia, no contract can be held to be legally binding if signed "under duress" - if potential schoolies were being told that they would be denied participation if they refused to sign the document and accept it's conditions then any Lawyer worth his salt could prove "duress" - and especially for those who were not aware in advance that they would be asked to sign such a document as a condition of their participation (those flying in from overseas for example).
No contract can be legally binding if the conditions of the contract cannot be properly understood at the time of signing or are sufficiently vague - how can a new participant possibly sign away their right to sue in the event of injury or otherwise as a result of participating in field exercises and/or the tank if they have no for-knowledge of what either of these events require them to do in a blindfolded state and/or the dangers that they might face - if they have no knowledge of the potential risk involved how can they legally sign away their right to sue....I don't believe that they can!
As I said - it would be interesting to get a U.S. Lawyer to pass judgment on my comments but logic tells me that clients can't sign away their rights "unconditionally" when they have no idea what is involved.
Any thoughts anyone?
We really should get an informed opinion on this one if we really want to help educate schoolies to their rights!
Regards,
COOEEE
RSE's Conditions of Participation Document Registration Form
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=41
I have read with some interest "The RSE Conditions of Participation Document" and whilst I am not a lawyer and have had no legal training I did study "Law of Contract" in Australia as a prelude to obtaining my Real Estate Licence - I am not suggesting for one moment that Australian Law is similar to U.S. but I would be surprised if it differed all that greatly where contracts are concerned.
It would be interesting to have a U.S. Lawyer address the following points so that those students who are having some reservations relating to their ongoing participation in the school are not being intimidated or duped into believing that JZ can legally prevent them from speaking out about their experiences....
In Australia, no contract can be held to be legally binding if signed "under duress" - if potential schoolies were being told that they would be denied participation if they refused to sign the document and accept it's conditions then any Lawyer worth his salt could prove "duress" - and especially for those who were not aware in advance that they would be asked to sign such a document as a condition of their participation (those flying in from overseas for example).
No contract can be legally binding if the conditions of the contract cannot be properly understood at the time of signing or are sufficiently vague - how can a new participant possibly sign away their right to sue in the event of injury or otherwise as a result of participating in field exercises and/or the tank if they have no for-knowledge of what either of these events require them to do in a blindfolded state and/or the dangers that they might face - if they have no knowledge of the potential risk involved how can they legally sign away their right to sue....I don't believe that they can!
As I said - it would be interesting to get a U.S. Lawyer to pass judgment on my comments but logic tells me that clients can't sign away their rights "unconditionally" when they have no idea what is involved.
Any thoughts anyone?
We really should get an informed opinion on this one if we really want to help educate schoolies to their rights!
Regards,
COOEEE
RSE's Conditions of Participation Document Registration Form
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=41