Can a parent be held liable for injuries sustained to daughter's friend while horseback riding

Answer 1: How old is your daughter? Is she the "guardian" or did she represent herself to the rancher as the "responsible adult" for the injured girl? Without reading the cross-complaint, I am a bit fuzzy on the attorney's theory of liability against your daughter and am hardpressed to give any worthwhile legal advise.

Answer 2: Probably. But thank goodness for the United States Post Office! For the cost of postage, and the requisite filing fee (probably $320) your daughter can file her Answer and avoid having a default taken against her.

Although my office is in Los Angeles County, and the courthouse is up north, I would be able to assist your daughter in defending this lawsuit. Once again, fax machines, telephones and the United States Postal System have done wonders to make a large world a smaller place.

Your best move at this point is to make sure no default gets entered on the cross-complaint. That is the first priority, and sorting out whether the cross-complaint has merit is secondary because there is plenty of time AFTER the answer is on file to sort out the facts. For now, just deny everything with a general denial, and figure out the rest after the answer is on file (you have 30 days to file your responsive pleading). Also, there may be insurance to pay for the defense and any judgment under a home-owner's insurance policy, or other liability policy someone in your family owns. Rather than speculate which policy might have coverage, the better practice here is to simply tender the cross-complaint to all possible carriers (i.e., to every insurer that could possibly apply in this situation for all policies everyone owns) and demand coverage, and le the carriers figure out which of them is obligated to defend and indemnify this matter. Nothing herein constitutes the foration of an attorney/client relationship.

I can't say I agree with attorney Levinson. There is a motion called a demurrer which is the legal equivalent of saying "yea, so what"? It is essentially a motion to dismiss the case. If you file an Answer, you are stuck defending the lawsuit. And while you can file a motion for summary judgment and/or for summary adjudication (also motions to dismiss the case), there is a whole lot more work and time involved in those motions. Your best bet is to know how much time you have left to "respond" to the lawsuit. From the date your daughter was served she has 30 days to file a "responsive pleading". It could be an Answer or it could be a demurrer or motion to strike. If you are close to the 30 days, contact the other lawyer and ask them for an extention of time to file a responsive pleading. Most attorneys will be happy to grant you a brief extension of time. If not, then you may be forced to either A) file a quick Answer to protect your daugher's interests, or if it is too late and the default has already been entered B) file a motion to set aside the default and allow her to file a "responsive pleading". If time permits, and a demurrer is appropriate, I say try and kill the lawsuit NOW. Again, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have and happy to represent your daughter if the distance is not too much of an issue to you.

Well, here is my two cents worth. I agree with Brother Blanchard. In addition, I would think your daughter would be well served to hire a lawyer for these limited purposes: to request an extension of time to file the responsive pleading; review the cross complaint; do some legal research on this attorney's theory of liability (which I also think is faulty), and give him written authorities why his lawsuit is wrong, irresponsible and even "malicious".

This attorney courts personal liability himself for filing a groundless lawsuit against your daughter. Your daughter's attorney should firmly make that point in writing his letter, and demand an immediate dismissal, explaining why there is no legal basis for the lawsuit. All of that will cost money, but should be cheaper than either defending the lawsuit or filing a demurrer. By the way, a demurrer is usually a two step process with multiple court appearances, since the judge almost always grants the lawyer permission to file an amended lawsuit to see if he can cure the defects. Ie, you get to demur twice. So doing it the informal way seems a good investment in your situation. If this lawyer filing the cross complaint against your daughter has any sense at all, he will back off and dismiss.

For what it’s worth, I agree with Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Dinday. Without seeing the cross-complaint it’s hard to guess what the other attorney’s theory of liability is, but I’m guessing that the argument is that the girl’s injuries were exacerbated by her asthma and scoliosis and that if the ranch had known she had those two conditions they wouldn’t have let her ride.