Lessons Learned From My Attorney: Tips For Not Being Sued & Being Fearless of It

Sample Law Book from MyIdeasBedroom

Before we start here, please let me set some things straight: 1)  This post is not out of blind arrogance or ignorance, inviting litigation (no one desires that)  2)  I am not an attorney so if you need legal advice, contact a legal professional.  

This post is merely sharing my experience so as to help others in the special event industry to relax a bit more and to go forward with confidence, and if the day comes where a client threatens to sue you, perhaps this post will have helped you realize more fully your power (or help you prepare to be more empowered) during the process.
 
Once upon a time, about 7 years ago, there was a mother of the bride who did all the planning for her out-of-state daughter bride. She hired me for "month of" planning.  Throughout the booking process and the entire month of the wedding, it was evident to me that she had a substance abuse problem.  Fast forward to the day of the wedding:
I was there (an hour earlier to my contracted start time, as I normally am) and like many other professional coordinators, not only did my job and contracted duties, but then some.  The mother of the bride arrived to her daughter's reception heavily intoxicated, and stayed that way - increasingly so- until the event end.  As a Coordinator, I keep a low profile, keeping out of sight, behind the scenes and only coming up to check with client and event partners in front of others when necessary.   As always, I never left the event site once and even stayed later than my contracted time, because that's what I do.  The event went seamlessly and we (all the event suppliers, my team and I ) breathed a sigh of relief to have this event (and the mother) out of our lives for good. 

The week after the wedding, I received a Certified, Return Receipt letter from the mother of the bride saying that nothing was as she had requested, including the event layout and positioning, and she further stated I was not even on site the entire event  and she was suing me for return of my entire fee.  I absolutely panicked.  I knew she was wrong, but this was a first for me and I felt powerless and terrified.  Then I reached out to my attorney and what ended up happening was one of the best investments in my business I have ever made.  Since then,  and in 20 years of weddings and events, I have had only one other person try to sue me.  Due to what I learned in this experience and the type of letter I now know to write, which includes a stern "shutting down" of the individual and their claim(s), and including a cease and desist to write any negative reviews, they never pursued legal action against me and disappeared completely once they received my response to them.  Why? Because I know my air-tight contract, I know all the liabilities that I am responsible for and not responsible for, I cross my t's and dot my i's and I'm able to address head-on their misconceptions, as well as insert a few more items for their consideration which stop them in their tracks.

Don't get me wrong: there are plenty of flighty event professionals who are more into the creative aspect than business aspect and as such, may be neglectful and clients may find it worthwhile to seek compensation.  But for most seasoned, reputable pros, it is highly unlikely that you will have to forfeit any part of your fee, let alone all of it.  

In my case, I had a copy of the diagram that the client did in her own handwriting showing

the layout of the entire event as it pertained to certain landmarks, so it was indisputable, as well as the detailed list of correspondence between us, my contract and a summary of all the duties I did "day of" and prior to "day of".  My attorney had me draft up an invoice that showed everything my contract promised and next to it, everything I delivered and then, on top of all of this, we did a whole section itemizing the areas she breached my contract with regard to deadlines, and the extra work I had to do because of her breach/negligence, and my new invoice came up with a balance she owed me of almost $10,000 in overtime fees.  

As it turns out, the money I invested in my attorney and the time spent going back and forth with the mother of the bride was the greatest investment I ever spent in my business.  Not only did she completely back off, I saved all all the letters and notes I took from my attorney to use in the future, should this happen again.  

Below are some of my top tips to event professionals, based on this experience:

Items to help prevent being sued in the first place, because these items will also protect you if a client decides to sue you:

1. Airtight contracts which spell out verbatim exactly the specific duties you will perform, the timeframes you (and your assistants will perform these duties) and what you are liable for and what you are not liable for.
2. Regular check-in's with the client during the planning process and making sure they are "signing off" on key items like timelines, decisions made, and diagrams. 
3. Regular check-in's with the client (with witnesses) during the event making sure they are happy. While you shouldn't stalk them, 2-3 check-ins that range over the entire event, with the last one being as the client is leaving, help protect you downstream.  The theory being that you gave them plenty of opportunity to bring to your attention any items with which they are not satisfied, and allowing you time to rectify them.  After the event, it is too late.  Set yourself (and the client) up for success by keeping in touch in small ways day of the event.  Make sure you have someone - an event partner , or someone from your team- to be there to hear how the client responds to your check-in and note the time of day/evening of each check in.  This will solidify your credibility more should you have to go to court.

If you are served with a letter threatening that you will be sued:

1. Don't stress.  Here is why:  The burden of proof is on the Plaintiff, or the person suing.  That means that they will have to take the time to go to the court, pay filing fees and get the court date set (and believe me, it can be months or a year for that).  All the expense is on the Plaintiff for filing costs. And if you make it to Court, the burden of proof is on them, not you.  You just show up with your materials to protect yourself and if you've done it properly, you will be able to walk away , while inconvenienced, none the poorer.  If in any doubt, contact an attorney. But here is another deterrent to clients trying to sue you, and that is, as the Plaintiff,  they will be required to file papers in the county in which the event took place.  For most Santa Barbara events, many clients are from out of town or state, requiring them to incur additional and significant expense for travel and more, just to file papers and make court dates.  This creates a challenge for any would-be litigant and as they realize this, suing sometimes becomes less attractive.
2. Quantum meruit.  Memorize this.  This is a Latin term used legally that means "what one has earned".  This phrase means that unless you did not show up or do any work whatsoever, no one is ever entitled to a full refund of your fee and services.  So, the trick is to document very carefully each line item for which you are contracted and how and when you fulfilled it.  You are entitled to be paid for the work you have done.  If you have done every piece of work in your contract and can account for it, the client is not entitled to one dime.  In a worst-case scenario and you aren't sure or notice an area that you missed, the Judge would most likely pro-rate the fee based on that small area you failed to provide and award the client the value of that small portion of your fee that represented a neglected service. You would never have to return your entire fee, and they are not entitled to your entire fee, no matter how poorly you performed, as long as you performed something that was in line with what you offered.  Bottomline:  the scope of how much you did not perform against your promised contracted items is in direct proportion to how much you may have to refund the client if sued.
3.  Always have a letter ready to go (we can help with samples of the one we have on file - including a cease and desist clause prohibiting the client from writing negative online reviews - as part of our business consulting fee for Engaging Inspiration ) that addresses the person threatening to sue (always have your attorney review anything to help protect you). The letter should have specific items of why the client is not due what they are requesting, should be professional and always courteous, but direct.  It also may itemize what the client owes you as a result of their negligence and your out-of-pocket expense or time necessary to accomplish your job for them.  I have yet to find a client who does not breach my contract in some capacities (some larger than others) and cause me to go into overtime because of it. I typically make note of it , keep it to myself and in client records, and use it in the event I need to respond to a client who is indicating they want a refund of some sort.  I  have documented itemization not only that I did my contracted duties, but due to their negligence, I will be invoicing them for the extra balance due of $ X.

As a twenty year veteran in this industry, I have seen event clientele change dramatically. 

Photo: Becca Rillo

Recent times seem to make folks sue-happy or looking to make back some of the money they spent after the wedding when they see all the bills that added up. In many cases, threatening to sue an event partner is a form of emotional and psychological terrorism and I will not engage with this type of blackmail at all. Especially when I know the extent of the quality I provide and how I painstakingly perform every contracted duty and then some. I've seen many event partners refund whatever the client asked because they were afraid of being sued, or bad reviews.  In my opinion, refunding out of fear is rarely a good idea, unless you truly know you have breached a part of your contract or were negligent.  But even if you are unsure, let the client who is threatening do all the work and pay all the initial expenses.  It's all on them financially and burden of proof-wise.  Let them work for it.

Good preventative work includes the pre-event planning stages with an air-tight contract, the follow up stages during the planning, and "day-of" protection strategy.  If you find yourself still being sued after all that, try and take a deep breath and remember the points above before you panic.  And always maintain contact with an exceptional attorney who knows and understands the intricacies of the unique detail of our industry throughout the year, in case you need counsel.  They are invaluable to helping protect you and keeping bullies at bay. 

Engaging Inspiration specializes in marketing, strategy, and leadership service training for the Special Event and Hospitality Professional and we are happy to provide consultation for your unique business to help set it up for success .  Remember what Ben Franklin said: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."