[hackerspaces] Hackerspace legal formation and insurance

[Carlyn Maw]

I haven't sought clarification on this point, but in the original
conversations it was partially about convincing people to be on you
board/ be an officer, not just how given individuals can get their own
ass covered.  More along the lines of "this is what responsible
501-c-3s do to protect the people putting their neck out for them, and
if you really want to live by safety third, here's a way to make sure
the org and the people who've helped it can survive a catastrophe" It
was not a point made by people trying to earn commissions, or with
million dollar homes they are trying to protect - I imagine people
with million dollar homes have liability policies :)

We haven't moved on it yet, btw... it's still sitting on the table
staring at us...

I'll keep the thread updated...



On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 3:39 AM, john arclight <arclight at gmail.com> wrote:
> I would add that if you are wealthy/have significant assets and are
> worried that you might get sued over something that you did for the
> hacker space, then a better insurance bet might be a "personal
> umbrella" liability policy.  They are usually pretty cheap if you
> already have auto/homeowners with the same company. Any comments from
> the legal team on this option?
>
> Arclight
>
> On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Nick Farr (hackerspaces.org)
> <nick at hackerspaces.org> wrote:
>> The problem with D&O for organizations without investors is that the
>> polices almost never pay out, if they ever get invoked.  The policies
>> are more or less a deep pocket for larger entities to help avoid more
>> costly shareholder litigation.
>>
>> Ask any of those MBAs and/or Laywers one instance where a D&O policy
>> paid out for a non-profit and what the circumstance was.  I'm actually
>> curious, because in all the states I've worked, I've never seen an
>> organization carry one let alone hear of one claim where the policy
>> actually covered a definable loss or judgment.
>>
>> Philippe and Koen are largely correct...but this is no reason to not
>> carry insurance as required by one's lessors.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nick Farr / http://nickfarr.org / 8B13F204
>> Washington, DC, 20013-1208
>> P: +1 (707) 676-FARR
>> F: +1 (866) 536-2616
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 19:21, Carlyn Maw <carlynorama at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> What I was hearing was more like if someone gets pissed at your policies, or
>>> screws up on bookeeping or you miss some a deadline for delivering something
>>> that is core to your mission, or someone get hurts on a machine and thinks
>>> it is because the safety training policy wasn't strict enough that the
>>> officers and directors can end up getting sued. Not as individuals a la
>>> piecing of the vail, but as officers and directors, even elected or hired
>>> individuals not on the corp paperwork. But I know a lot of MBAs and Lawyers,
>>> maybe they're paranoid but they seem pretty adamant...
>>>
>>> On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 3:52 PM, Leigh Honeywell <leigh at hypatia.ca> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On 10-05-25 05:15 PM, Carlyn Maw wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I've been told by a number of people that we should have D&O insurance.
>>>>> Anyone have any thoughts on that?
>>>>
>>>> I was told by a (Canadian, but still seems relevant) lawyer that the main
>>>> thing D&O covers that a good common general liability policy doesn't is
>>>> slander/libel.  So if you're going to keep a public blog with controversial
>>>> content, that would be a good reason to get D&O.
>>>>
>>>> -Leigh
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>