My child was injured at a ski resort that had bad snow conditions. Does the ski resort have any liability?

Who is telling you that you can’t sue—the ski slope or tour operator? If so, take anything they say with a huge grain of salt.

First, start with the basics: a lawsuit is always available for a child being injured, as long as there are grounds to find liability or fault, such as negligence or unreasonable carelessness. If it’s a minor child, the lawsuit will typically be brought by the child’s parent or legal guardian on the child’s behalf, but that’s a technical matter, which does not affect the underlying right to bring a lawsuit.

Second, the waiver. Generally speaking, courts do not like liability waivers. Some states will not enforce them at all; others will only enforce them if they are done precisely right, which includes having a very specific enumeration of the possible risks or injuries and the proper language. An attorney will be able to evaluate the waiver your child signed and see if it meets your state’s requirements.

However, more to the point, in many states—and Pennsylvania is one of them—any waiver signed by a child is void, or at least voidable; that means that the child can declare the waiver to be null and void if the child does so in the right way, at the right time. (Again, you attorney can help you.) The logic is that since a waiver is a contract, and minors generally cannot sign contracts, the waiver is not enforceable against the child.

In fact, Pennsylvania so dislikes preventing children from suing if negligently or wrongfully injured that it doesn’t even let a child’s parent waive the child’s right to sue.

So for your child being injured, you should definitely contact a personal injury attorney, who can evaluate the strength and value of your son’s case and, if it’s worth it, initiate a legal action for you and your son. Good luck.